Page 40 of Whiskey and Whispers
“It’s constant,” he replied with a mock heavy sigh, as if he were truly put upon in life. “It was only a matter of time beforeyou succumbed as well. I’m surprised you held out as long as you did. It’s a testament to your self-control.”
They both burst into laughter at that point, not able to keep a straight face.
“I kissed you because I wanted to,” she explained. “Because I couldn’t imagine not doing it. Because…”
The rest of the sentence scared the crap out of her. If she said it out loud, everything would change.
“Because?” he prompted.
“Because I still feel things for you. Or maybe that’s wrong. It’s not like before. It’s different. Maybe I feel something new for you. Does that sound dumb?”
She held her breath for his response. She’d stepped out on a limb here. Would he saw it off like a Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner cartoon? Or would he reach out and lend a hand?
Tate steepled his fingers, looking down at them for a long time. Too long. He was about to tell her that he didn’t feel the same.
I’ll be fine. Life hurts sometimes. At least I took a shot.
“Something new,” he echoed. “That’s an interesting take. I don’t feel what I felt before, Cat. Whatever we had back then wasn’t what I’m feeling now.”
She wanted to ask what he was feeling, but a little voice in the back of her head told her to shut up and let him finish. Tate had a habit of doing his thinking out loud.
“I can’t deny that seeing you again has stirred up feelings in me,” he went on. “I wanted to be angry at you, Cat. I didn’t want seeing you to affect me in any way.”
“But it did affect you?”
“Yes. It did. As I said, I don’t regret our kiss last night. I’m glad it happened, but I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do now. If we were still teenagers, we’d go to a movie and get pizza.Maybe go out to the lake and make out in the car until curfew. What do we do as adults?”
Joy rushed through her veins, suffusing her body with a heady warmth. She wasn’t out on that limb alone anymore. He was willing to go out there with her.
“I’d be willing to do all of that,” Cat replied. “Especially the part where we go make out at the lake.”
Sitting in the car, cuddled in Tate’s arms under a full moon? Sign her up.
“Then it’s a date,” Tate replied with a nod of his head. “We have an official date. Movie. Pizza. A private display of affection afterward, possibly at the lake, although we should keep our options open. We’re both in?”
It had all happened so quickly. She hadn’t expected Tate to grab onto this so easily.
And why was she hesitating? This is what she wanted.
Because if it all goes crashing down, I’ll be sad. I want this to work.
Taking a chance wasn’t easy. It could all go horribly wrong.
But they might just find something in each other that they’d both been seeking for a long time. Something old, but something new. They couldn’t go backwards, but they could move forward together.
“I came by to thank you,” Finn said, standing in front of the bar where Tate worked on next week’s kitchen schedule. “I’m sorry you had to deal with it, though.”
Finn looked infinitely better than he had the last time Tate had seen him. His color was normal, and his eyes were no longerglassy. All in all, the lawman had thrown off his flu pretty damn quickly.
“It’s no big deal,” Tate assured him. “I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”
“Me and you both,” Finn said. “I hate being sick. Usually, I’m the only one standing, but I ran out of luck this time. Hopefully, this is it for another ten or fifteen years.”
It had been about five years since Tate had suffered from the flu, and he wasn’t in any hurry to repeat it. It had been a miserable week.
“Can I offer you something to eat or drink? The soup of the day is chicken and rice.”
“I won’t say no,” Finn replied, sitting on a barstool. “I’m hungry, but not much sounds good. Soup, on the other hand, might just be what I need.”
