Guilt gnaws at my throat. “Okay. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
“Don’t apologize for such a thing, Lucy. I love you. Please… thrive.”
More tears press against my lids, but I know they won’t fall. I haven’t cried in two weeks. “I am, Lor. Promise.”Lies, lies, lies…“But I better get going. We are playing cornhole or something soon. Stone says I have to play at least one round.”
At that, my twin laughs. “Good luck. I can’t believe he’s got you playing a yard game.”
My mood rises at the upward vocalization in her voice. She’s letting me be, and that’s all I can ask for right now. “He’s something, that’s for sure. Love you, sis. I will call you soon, okay?”
“I’ll be waiting. Love you, too.”
After hanging up the phone and taking a few steadying breaths, I make my way towards my fake boyfriend, whose gaze never falters from my movement as every step brings me closer to him.
It’s unbelievably hot.
The weather, I mean. July is a very hot month in Mississippi.
Oh, who am I kidding? The way that man watches me approach him is sizzling and popping hotter than the fireworks that’ll go off tonight around the nation.
“Hey, Little Lion.” Stone reaches for me, slides his arms around my waist, and pulls me flat against him. I look into his vibrant blue eyes while fastening my “good, real girlfriend” smile on. It’s a sprinkling of sultry with a dash of coy and a heap of admiration.
I stand on my toes to kiss his cheek. He’s clean shaven, and his skin tastes like an exploding galaxy.Which is nothing compared to the black hole energy of his lips…“Hey, Onyx.”
He rolls his eyes at my nickname choice this time, but his beautiful, wide smile says he enjoys my antics.Finally, a man who likes that I’m a little extra…
“Ready to play cornhole? We will team up against Tate and Julia.”
“Let me go find her real quick,” Tate says, walking off towards the small two-story house.
Stone kisses my forehead before he releases me, and I struggle to stand on my own two legs from all that contact. Every time I form a physical connection point with that man, it’s like I’m rediscovering what electricity is and just how potent it can be.
“Everything okay?” he asks, taking a small step away from me, leaving a noticeable shift in energy between the two of us. “You looked worried on the phone.”
“My sister. All is well. She was just checking in.”
“Ah, okay. Did you tell her about us?”
I shift away from him and look over at Lucas and Jared, who are busy grilling chicken and other meats. “I told her we were dating.” I glance at him and smirk, attempting to bring lightness back to the air around us. “That I finally gave in to your incessant requests to take me out.”
It works.
He flings an arm around me, and I once again learn that electricity is volatile and unrelenting. “They say only the annoyingly persistentever win.”
“Who says that?” I laugh and walk beside him. I slip my arm around his waist and learn that electricity can be applied at greater forces.
He gives me a big, toothy grin. “Me.”
As we set up to play cornhole, banter back and forth, and fling bean bags at each other instead of the board, I realize that I’m a lot less lonely, a little less numb, and a smidge more happy when I’m with Stone Harper, my notorious playboy boss.
This is a dangerous game I’m playing…
Do you ever get the feeling someone is watching you?
Colors explode across the night sky, the sound vibrating my body as the fireworks pop one after another. Patriotic music blares in the background while the whole town of Dasher Valley plus some sit on the back of pickup trucks, in provided chairs, on metal bleachers, or lounge on outdoor blankets in the grassy field of the baseball diamonds. Earlier, there were live musical performances by local bands, a comedy performance, and then some evangelical guy preached. Stone and I ate dinner during that segment. We hung out with his friends and family for a while, and then we found our little spot to watch the show from. Presently, the fireworks have been going off for about thirty minutes.
He wasn’t messing around when he said the private investors of the city put on a grand display.
His arm easily rests around my shoulders, tucking me into his side as we lie on a blanket on the tailgate of his truck. My feet are crossed under me while his dangle off the edge of the lifted vehicle.
