“Hmm?” His lips trailed to her ear and she shuddered.
Maybe a few more minutes…no. “Noah.” She gripped his shoulders and pushed slightly, giving them enough space to breathe even though his arms remained around her. She hated the thought of him leaving. But… “Cade still hasn’t come back with our snacks. He could walk in any minute.” And see her mussed hair and swollen lips. Was that lip gloss on Noah’s shirt?
Noah’s eyes met her, glazed and unfocused, until her words sank in. Understanding registered. “Right. I better go check?—”
The thought of his absence, even for a moment, was enough to undo her. “Maybe one more.” She pulled Noah back in, and he immediately acquiesced.
A sudden beam of light cut through the room and landed directly on them. “There they are.”
Noah stepped back, bumping into the shelf as he jerked one hand up in front of his eyes. Elisa blinked rapidly, shielding her eyes as the beam swept the room and then darted back to them.
“Found ’em.” A brusque voice was interrupted by the squawk of a walkie-talkie. “Roger that. We’re clear.”
Another flashlight clicked on, illuminating Cade standing in the doorway of the room, surrounded by Sheriff Rubart and two policemen. Cade shrugged sheepishly, then held up a pack of M&Ms and a bag of Cheetos. “Hungry?”
Elisa glanced up as Noah’s face blanched white. A rock settled in the pit of her stomach, and she pressed her fingers to her lips as she surveyed the officers and their hard stares. “Looks like that ‘need-to-know list’ just got a bit longer.”
seventeen
He’d heard a country song once about falling in love in the back of a cop car, but Noah’s real-life take on the matter sure was looking different.
“Dude.” Cade gestured out the window of the police cruiser as the blue and red lights flashed, sending colored shadows across the deserted parking lot. The package of chips in his lap rustled with the sudden movement. “Don’t worry. As soon as they get my dad on the phone, this will all go away.”
Noah wrung his ball cap in his hands. “Or not. Pretty sure Sheriff Rubart hates me.”
“Why? The whole feud thing?” Cade frowned. “He wouldn’t put you in jail because of your ancestors.”
“No, but he might if he figures out I was one of the middle-schoolers who filled his car with Jell-O that one spring.” Noah winced.
“I almost forgot about that. He smelled like watermelon everywhere he went for weeks.” Cade snorted. “Remind me, why haven’t I ever used that against you?”
Noah shot him a look. “Because I was a kid watching my parents’ marriage crumble. Maybe that was why?”
Cade sobered. “Right. Probably so.”
“Why did these guys even show up, anyway? You were supposed to be finding a vending machine.” Noah craned his neck to catch a glimpse of Elisa, who was perched in the back of the second car several yards away. Did her car smell vaguely of sweat and criminal activity like theirs did?
She wiggled her fingers in a wave, and he waved back. She seemed okay. Thankfully, Sheriff Rubart hadn’t cuffed anyone. The older man now paced the lot between the two cars, cell phone glued to his ear as he periodically glared at Noah and Cade.
Hopefully Mayor Landry talked fast.
“I apparently set off some kind of silent alarm.” Cade shrugged, crossing one ankle over the other. “But hey, after what we walked in on, I’m surprised they didn’t turn a water hose on you two.”
Heat surged up Noah’s neck. “Whatever.” Not an exaggeration, though. The second Elisa had touched him, he knew he was toast. Then when she practically leapt into his arms, well... He’d spent twelve years trying to forget how good she felt in his embrace, and clearly, he’d not forgotten a single thing. His body and heart had responded as if they were both eighteen again, and not a moment of time had passed since their last kiss. Maybe with the exception that this time, his heart thrummed a fearful warning to appreciate it a little more.
And boy, had he.
“You told menear-kissthe other day.” The continual flashing of the red and blue strobes lit Cade’s face, highlighting his arched brow. “New evidence indicates that was a lie.”
“It wasn’t at the time.” They’d finally gotten it right. His lips still tingled, and he swore her vanilla honey scent lingered in his nose. His stomach churned…be it from lingering adrenaline or anxiety over what was next, Noah couldn’t quite tell. It felt like another of Grandpa’s favorite lines fromThe Count of Monte Cristo, one Noah had memorized during their frequent fishing adventures.
“Come now,” he said. “Have you anything to fear? It seems to me, on the contrary, that everything is working out as you would wish.”
“That is precisely what terrifies me,” said Dantès.
Kissing Elisa after all these years had been exactly that—a terrifying wish granted.
“Would have been a lie tonight. That was something.” Cade popped a chip in his mouth. “I wasn’t flirting with her earlier, by the way. I could tell you thought I was.”
