Page 87 of Choosing You

“A kiss.”

His grin broadened. “A kiss?”

She nodded again. “Rumor has it that you kiss like a dream.”

He chuckled and moved in a little closer. “That’s no rumor. That’s the God’s honest truth.”

“Prove it,” she whispered.

Cupping her face in his hands, Will did just that. The moment his lips met hers, she was lost. It was just like every kiss they’d shared at the festivals and so much better, because this time, she knew she’d be leaving here with him.

Bolder, his tongue teased hers and more than anything, Sloane wanted to crawl over the counter and wrap herself around him. She was just about to do that when a massive round of applause thundered around them.

Lifting her head, she smiled. Will was a little more confused as he looked around. “Wait…what? What’s happening right now?”

It seemed as if the entire town of Sweetbriar Ridge was standing around witnessing their kiss and celebrating with them. He smiled and laughed out loud when he spotted Devin, who was giving him a thumbs up, and yelled, “Finally! Now we can all go on and enjoy the festival!”

Looking over his shoulder at Sloane, a wicked grin crossed his face. With a curt nod, he turned and walked around the back of the booth and pulled Sloane out. Then he cursed.

“What’s the matter?” she said loudly in his ear, to be heard over the ongoing applause.

“The ice pack!” he said. “I need to get…”

She cut him off and turned him toward the crowd. He spotted the injured woman—who didn’t look as if she were having any problem standing on her feet, holding out his cowboy hat to him—and then looked at Sloane in confusion.

“My Aunt Kate and Uncle Shane,” she said. “They wanted to be in on the surprise!”

That had him laughing again. “I’ll have to thank them,” he said. “Tomorrow!” And then he scooped her up in his arms and made his way back through the crowd amidst the hoots and hollers. When they got back to his truck, he slid her in, climbed in after her, and kissed her again.

As they backed out of the parking lot, Sloane took Will’s hand in his. “Now I can see why you love these festivals! They’re so much fun!”

Will kissed her hand and turned the truck toward home. “Sweetheart, you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

He kept her hand tightly held in his as she simply stared at him with the biggest smile on her face. “Surprised, right?”

“I’m still not sure how you pulled this off!”

Laughing, she twisted slightly in her seat. “Will, I have a ton of family here in town, and, as you’ve pointed out numerous times, everybody knows everybody. I mentioned to Hailey how after those first few delays, I really wished I could surprise you and just show up when you least expect it.”

“I certainly did not expect to find you in the first aid tent tonight,” he said with amusement. “But you’re definitely wearing that coat tomorrow when we’re walking around the festival. You nearly gave me a heart attack because you’re so sexy.”

“Aww…” Glancing down at her cleavage, she had to admit that she looked pretty damn good. “We’ll discuss that tomorrow.”

“Anyway, you were saying?”

“Oh, right. So, I mentioned it to Hailey, and she got a family text started looking for ideas, and let me tell you, that chat took on a life of its own! I am related to some very clever people!”

“So whose idea was this?”

“Ashlynn’s. She basically demanded that we do it at the festival.” She giggled before adding, “She claimed the people of Sweetbriar Ridge desperately wanted to see how it all turned out for us and it would be perfect making you run across the festival and finally catch me.”

He burst out laughing. “Well, I’ll be damned. I want to be a little mad, but I can’t! It was a brilliant idea!”

“I know, right?”

He kissed her hand again. “I’ll have to thank her tomorrow when we see her.”

“You may need to tell her how brilliant and diabolical she is. Those were her words, and she basically insisted that you use them.”

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