I turn toward my hallway but his hand latches onto my wrist and turns me back around. His gaze drops to my neck and then back up again. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”
Did he really say that, or did I imagine it? It’s the first time we’re alone together.
His eyes drop to my lips, and he steps closer to me.
I’ve pictured this scenario in my head a thousand times in my dreams, Casey caresses my jaw and kisses my lips gently. Then he picks me up and carries me to the bedroom where he makes love to me all night.
“Sage?”
“Mmm?”
Did he say something?
“I asked if it’s all right if we sit down.”
“Yes, of course. Please come in.”
A wayward curl drops over my face, and I push it back with both hands. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“I’ll have water.”
“Water?”
“Yeah. I watch my calorie intake during the season.”
“That must suck.”
He shrugs. “I’m used to it. I’ve been doing it since I was sixteen years old.”
I grab two glasses and fill them with water from the tap. Casey makes himself comfortable on the couch and I sit next to him with my leg tucked in beneath me.
He takes a sip of his water. “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot since Charlotte’s party. Tell me a bit about yourself.”
Placing my glass on the coffee table, I run a hand through my curls and sigh. “There’s not much to tell. What do you want to know?”
“Well, when did you move to Cedar Brook Falls?”
“My family and I travelled here every summer until I was eighteen. My parents fell in love with the waterfall, and I fell in love with the people. Meeting Jane and Charlotte was the best thing that happened to me.”
“You smile when you speak of them.”
“They’re my family now. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”
“What happened to your family? Did they move to Cedar Brook Falls too?”
“No.” I look down at a beauty mark on my knee. It’s been more than ten years, and I still hate talking about it. My friends all know what happened and I haven’t had to talk about it since. “They died.”
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
“If you don’t want to talk about it…”
He gives me a way out, but for some reason I don’t take it.
“My family and I would travel all over Canada and the U.S. My father was a painter, and he could work anywhere while my mother made jewelry and sold it at markets in whichever town we stopped in. It was an idyllic childhood.” I stop. Not able to sayany more about my parents. I dangle my bracelets. “These were hers.”
He touches them gently and smiles. “Did you travel all summer?”
