“Not in this town,” she chuckled.
My eyes left hers for only a moment, but it was long enough to see the entire bar staring at us. “Alright, fair enough.”
“You know, I’ve had a crush on you since you helped me off the monkey bars in second grade.”
“Third,” I corrected. “You climbed up there in that pink dress, determined to be just like the boys.”
“You remembered.”
If she only knew how much I watched her. “There’s not much I don’t remember about you, Bailey Bennett. I’ve had my eye on you since I saw those cute little hearts on your underwear.”
“Liam!” she laughed, attempting to smack my chest with the hand I was holding. “You weren’t supposed to look! You promised!”
“I did the gentlemanly thing and never told you. And I beat up Randy when he started laughing at you.”
Pressing her forehead to my chest, she laughed in embarrassment. “He told everyone he fell off his bike.”
“And I let him save face.”
I spun her again, this time dipping her slightly before pulling her closer to me.
“So, are you going to tell me why you waited so long to ask me to dance?”
My lips quirked at the corners at her insistence. “You don’t give up, do you?”
“Not really. I’ve been waiting a long time.”
“You’re very direct, aren’t you?”
“Well, if I weren’t, I’d be waiting even longer for you to admit that you’ve been biding your time for the right moment to ask me out.”
“Yeah? What makes you so sure I want to ask you out?”
“Well, you haven’t stopped watching me all night. You stop by the garage at least twice a month with some vehicle emergency, even though you hate dealing with Wyatt. And you regularly call to check in with my momma.”
“That’s just because I’m a nice guy.”
“Is that why you always ask about me?”
Caught red-handed. “I guess there are no secrets in your house.”
“My momma’s always loved you. Did you really think she wouldn’t tell me about how you check up on me?”
“A man can hope.”
“Well, I guess now you’re going to have to wait until I finally ask the question.”
“Revenge is such a petty thing,” she grinned.
“Is it?”
“Isn’t love so much easier?”
As I stared into her eyes, I wondered if it could be. “That depends on how easy it is to tell someone how you really feel.”
“No need to wait, Liam. It’s written all over your face every time you look at me.”
Her body melded with mine as she leaned against my chest, resting her cheek over my thumping heart. Could she hear how fast it was beating for her? Did she realize I was already a goner?
