Page 15 of Choosing You

Will’s eyes went a little wide, but he didn’t say anything.

“I drove into town and stopped here to grab something to eat and then I realized I had no idea where to go or how I was supposed to even go about looking for you.” When he still didn’t say anything, she gave a mirthless laugh. “I certainly didn’t expect you to be driving by and find me here.”

“Looks like I made your search a little easier,” he said after an awkward silence. There was a little less of an edge to his voice—which was kind of deep and gravelly and very sexy.

Sloane nodded. “I suppose I should thank you.” She smiled shyly at him and almost sagged with relief when he seemed to relax and gave her a small smile. Holding out her hand, she said, “I’m Sloane.”

Will didn’t hesitate to take her hand in his. “Will.”

She almost said, “I know”, but decided against it. “It’s nice to meet you, Will.” He was still holding her hand and she was in no rush to take it back. They already knew each other, but not really. All Sloane knew was that she liked the way his hand felt, and she had to fight the urge to step in closer to him.

“So, where were you going to start?”

She looked at him oddly. “Start?”

“Looking for me,” he said, his smile growing.

“Oh…um…I was sitting here staring up and down the street trying to figure that out. Should I just drive around? Or walk around? I really had no idea. Which is crazy because I’d been planning this for a few days and…”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why were you planning this? You’ve been coming to the festivals for three years. Why come to town looking for me now?” he asked, still holding her hand in his.

“Honestly?”

“I always find it to be the best policy,” he said teasingly, his head tilting toward her.

She sighed. “I heard about the upcoming festival and…I felt bad.”

Will looked at her curiously. “You felt bad about Meet in the Streets? Why? Don’t you like carnival rides? Food trucks? Supporting small businesses?”

She chuckled. “That’s not what I meant. I felt bad because of the way I’ve been behaving. You seem like a really nice guy and you kiss like a dream, and when I think of the Sweetbriar Ridge festivals, it’s you I think about—you who I’m really coming to see. And I feel like an idiot for taking a stupid dare and kissing you—repeatedly—without taking the time to get to know you.”

“I kiss like a dream, huh?”

And then she let out a hearty laugh, her hand slipping from his. “That’s what you got out of that entire speech? I’m kind of pouring my heart out here and confessing everything to you, and that’s the one thing you heard?”

Will laughed with her, and he had a really great laugh. “I heard everything you said, Sloane. I just wasn’t sure how to respond to most of it. I kind of tend to take the humorous approach to things. You’ll learn that once you get to know me better.”

She definitely liked the sound of that. It was…well…it gave her hope. “You think so?”

He nodded. “Definitely.”

“So…what were you doing today?” Sloane asked. “You know, before you spotted me trying to spot you.”

He laughed again. “I was just going out for a drive. It’s my day off and I didn’t really have anything planned.”

“It’s the weekend,” she commented. “Most people have the weekend off.”

Will shook his head. “Not me. I’m a mechanic here in town, and I normally work every other weekend.” He shrugged. “It goes with the territory and I don’t mind it. Not really. What about you? What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a social media manager with an ad agency down in Fort Lauderdale.”

“Fort Lauderdale? You come all the way here from Florida?”

She nodded.

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