Only for You Page 9

  Tim’s brows shot up, and he laced their fingers together, never checking to see if Lars was still watching or not. “That’s a great idea.”

  Emily finished her wine and stretched lazily. “I don’t want to go back out in the cold.”

  “Unfortunately, if we try to stay here all night, they’ll call the police,” he grinned. He broke their contact and stood up. He gathered their coats and then held hers up so she could shove her arms into the sleeves before putting on his own. As they walked toward the front entrance, he passed her his gloves.

  She took them without argument, pulling them on and rubbing her hands together. It felt a little bit like touching him, and she never wanted to give them back. He pushed the door open against a gust of wind, and when they stepped out onto the brick sidewalk, light fluffy snowflakes drifted from the sky.

  Emily’s gloved hands framed her face. “The town square looks so pretty.”

  In the amber haze of the lamppost, Tim spun in a circle, soft white flakes clinging to his dark coat. When he looked at her, his grin widened. “The storm has begun. It’s supposed to be massive.”

  He would know. Tim checked the weather constantly. Probably a sailor thing.

  A fluffy white blanket an inch thick covered the sidewalk, and they crossed Queen Street into the square. Emily’s eyes skated over the thin veil of snow blurring the tiny lights decorating the gazebo.

  Tim sauntered over to the nearest bench and brushed the light layer of snow away with his sleeve before sitting. “I just want to tell you again how much I appreciate what you’re doing for me, Em.”

  She shrugged and plunked herself down beside him. “I know you do, and I’m glad there’s some way I can help.”

  Tim was quiet for a moment, studying her. “Your eyes are sparkling.” He draped an elbow over the backrest.

  Emily’s pulse quickened and she swallowed hard. “There’s something about big snowstorms that always excites me. Unless we’re on number five or six in the same month…”

  She stopped talking as she watched Lars exit Rosalia’s from across the square. Rather than head for his car or hail a cab, he lurked in front of the bookstore. Window shopping at ten o’clock at night? Spying? Who could be sure?

  Tim turned to look at what had caught her attention, then brought his gaze back to hers. His top teeth grazed across his bottom lip, and she wanted to trail her finger across the crease they made. Tim rubbed his chin, watching her watch him.

  How many times these last few months—years!—had she wanted to kiss him, but knew in her heart the timing wasn’t right? But now…she had the perfect opportunity. He’d already made the first move with the hand-holding earlier…If he wasn’t into it? No problem, she was merely playing the girlfriend role.

  All her instincts yelled at her to break eye contact, make a lame joke, but Emily ignored the cautionary voices in her head. Instead, she slowly, calmly, breathed through the panic, and kept her gaze locked on his. She was doing this. The kindling fire in the pit of her stomach exploded into flames and spread downward. “He’s watching us. Should we give him something to talk about?”

  Before she could talk herself out of it, she leaned forward, brushing her lips across his—lingering there, testing to see if he’d pull away. She jutted her chin out ever so slightly, to coax his warm soft lips closer, and his hand came around the back of her head, cradling her neck as he responded, deepening the kiss. His lips still held the berry flavor from the wine, and when he dipped his tongue into her mouth a current of energy shot down her center. She clung to him, hand resting on his chest.

  The tips of his fingers singed the back of her neck and moved around to brush her hair back from her face. If scars remained, she’d gladly wear them with pride.

  Her heart hammered. Every agonizing minute she had ever longed for Tim Fraser seemed worth the wait now that they kissed in the middle of town square during a snowstorm.

  It was beyond romantic.

  When he leaned back, he expelled a long breath. His hands were still framing her face.

  Not quite ready for the moment to be over, she clasped her hand around his wrist. “Um. Is it okay that—”

  “Yes,” he said a little too quickly. “It’s…yeah…it’s okay, Em. Mily.”

  She brought the fingertips of her other hand to her lips, not convinced she hadn’t been dreaming. She’d imagined kissing Tim Fraser all kinds of ways, but the real thing far exceeded any fantasy. It was just what came next that had always become fuzzy. Did they both start laughing at the ridiculousness of it? Or did some puzzle piece shift into place and they immediately start ripping off each other’s clothes?

  He cleared his throat. “I mean, we do want this to be believable.”

  One of his hands fell to drape across the back of the bench, and she realized she still gripped the other in his oversized glove. She let go, and he lowered it. He no longer touched her, and already she missed the warmth and strength of him.

  A smile teased his lips, and he glanced toward the bookstore, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Lars must’ve gotten tired of watching.” He stood and held out his hand to help her up.

  She wanted to stay on that bench with him for the rest of her life, inhaling his forest scent, but they fell into stride again, carving a path through the light, fluffy snow. Inside the tenant entrance of their building, Tim turned to her before starting up the stairs. “You sure you’re okay with all of this?”

  “Of course. We discussed kissing if the situation called for it.” Somehow it hadn’t felt like a fake kiss though, at least not to her.

  They climbed the steps, and rather than round the corner and keep going, Tim walked her to her door. His shoulders relaxed, and he brushed some snowflakes away from her hair.

  Her heart surged, like the winds picking up outside.

  “I should get going,” he said, offering his lazy smile.

  “Yeah, I have to…get inside.”

  She fished her keys out of her purse, and they slipped out of his oversized gloves, jangling when they hit the floor. Emily pulled the gloves off, and they both bent down at the same time to pick up the keys. Tim reached them first and, still squatting down, held them out to her. She leaned back on her heels. “Thanks. And thanks for letting me wear your gloves.” She passed them to him, a little regretfully.

  He swallowed and gripped the gloves. “Anytime.”

  They remained there for another few seconds, just looking at each other. Then Emily cleared her throat and stood up. “Um, well, good night, Tim.” She unlocked the door and stepped inside.

  Tim took a couple of steps back. “Good night, Em.”

  She closed the door and leaned back against it, heart hammering as his footsteps faded up the stairs.

  Chapter Nine

  There were many reasons why Tim Fraser was best kept a fantasy, but during her sleepless night, Emily boiled it down to the two most convincing points. Maybe they’d just been friends too long. Like since before Jennifer Lopez crossed over from acting to a singing career. Also, he may never reciprocate her feelings. Ever.

  What a great boyfriend he’d make, though, if only he weren’t faking it. Helping her with her coat, kissing in the snow…She tapped the pads of her fingers against her lips. Yes, a girl could get used to a guy like Tim.

  For about the fourth time, she dropped the tangled strand of mini lights she was attempting to replace around Tesoro’s front window after a set had gone on the fritz. With a sigh, she descended the stepladder. Her hands jittered too much to do anything, and yet here she was working on coffee number three.

  Every time she closed her eyes she remembered the soft warm sensation of Tim’s lips, her head resting against his hand. It had been snowing outside, yet somehow it was the warmest she’d ever been. Her lashes fluttered open and she sighed. His eyes were so blue, like standing on his dock, looking out at the lake. They practically hypnotized her.

  When they blinked and creased into a smile on the other side
of the glass, she jumped backward, banging into the stepladder and sending it teetering on two legs.

  “Lordy,” she managed, her hand pressing to the center of her chest.

  He held up a little brown bag from his shop and mouthed the words Can I come in?

  Most of the town had shut down due to the storm. The snow on the sidewalk was over eight inches deep, and it was still coming down. Emily wrapped her red cardigan tightly around her waist and moved to the door to unlock the bolt.

  “Good morning.” He kicked snow off his boots, and a blast of cold air followed him inside. His eyes scanned the tangled lights scattered on the floor before looking up at her with a grin. “What are you up to?”

  She blushed, a little unnerved that she’d kissed those perfect lips just the night before. “I woke up early, so I thought I would replace some of these lights and get a few other things done around here. There’s not much else to do on a day like this.”

  He turned to the window, where the narrow streets that would normally be coming to life by this time on a Saturday morning with farmers market traffic lay quiet and untouched. “It’s still coming down with a vengeance. I could barely see my hand in front of my face. With the wind gusts this afternoon, they’re saying we should prepare to lose power.”

  She pointed her thumb behind her. “I didn’t want to brave the conditions, even to cross town square, so I put a pot of coffee on earlier. Would you like a cup?”

  Tim flashed a smile. “I’d love one. And I don’t think Jolt is open anyway. Nothing is.”

  In the safety of her kitchen, she blew out a breath and gave her hands a frantic shake. She poured him a cup and added cream and maple syrup.

  Yes, since he’d introduced her to it, she was hooked.

  “I don’t usually brew my own coffee.” She breezed back into the main shop and passed him the steaming ceramic mug, pausing to yawn before going on. “I hope it tastes decent.”

  He sipped, lips curling around the rim of the mug. “Couldn’t sleep?”

  Vivid dreams of being tangled in the sheets with him pestered her all night long, followed by tossing and turning. She tucked her hair behind her ear and shrugged. “What’s in the bag?”

  He glanced at it, as if just remembering it now. “Right, I brought you something.” Tim set his coffee down and plucked the little brown paper bag from Great Wide Open off the counter and passed it to her.

  A little thrill danced through her belly. “You got me something? What’s the occasion?”

  He shrugged, and picked his mug back up. “Just because. I told you I was a thoughtful boyfriend.”

  She pressed her lips together, suppressing a smile, and untied the ribbon holding the handles together. She reached in the bag and pulled out a pair of dark purple mittens. She met his gaze and they both laughed. “Thank you. I love them, and they match my coat.” She slipped her hand into one, pleased with the soft fleece lining.

  “There’s more.” He pointed to the bag.

  She held his gaze a moment before removing the mitten to root into the bag again, producing a matching hat. It had long tassels like the one Tim always wore and a ball of fur on top. “Tim Fraser.” She tried not to giggle, but it slipped out anyway. “You didn’t need to do this.”

  His grin widened to reveal his perfect teeth, and he grabbed the hat from her and pulled it onto her head. “Of course I didn’t have to, but we can’t have you catching a cold. Besides, look at you.” He paused and something flickered in his eyes. When he spoke again his voice was softer. “You’re adorable.”

  Sweet Jesus, how would she ever adapt when life went back to normal?

  He wrapped an arm around her and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

  Right. They had an image to uphold. Their relationship status had garnered Tesoro two hundred new followers in the last three days. It seemed Behind Closed Doors fans were curious about the woman who’d captured Tim’s heart. Emily scrambled to stage a cute pose, holding her coffee mug up to her lips with her new mittens.

  “That’s a really great shot.” He studied his phone a couple of seconds longer before returning it to his pocket and meeting her gaze. “Do you mind if I post it?”

  “No, not at all. As long as I don’t look like a dork.”

  “You don’t look like a dork. You look gorgeous.”

  Oh, Lordy.

  He playfully tugged on the tassels of her hat, then toyed with them instead of letting go.

  All the freaking feels.

  Suddenly his amusement faded, and his gaze seemed to penetrate all the way to her inner thoughts. His tongue swept across his bottom lip, and she couldn’t look away.

  A cheery ring came from his back pocket, and he jerked back, his hand already grabbing his phone. He checked the caller ID. “My mom. I should probably take off anyway. Make sure she’s got everything she needs for the storm.”

  With a rueful look, he headed for the door and answered the phone as she locked up behind him. On his way by the window he waved, and Emily caught her reflection in the glass. She still wore the hat—and the goofiest grin she’d ever seen.

  Tim chatted with his mother briefly before offering to go over the next day when the storm ended and help her dig out. He climbed the second flight of stairs to his apartment, still jolted from the encounter with Emily. He’d been struck with the urge to kiss her again. If his phone hadn’t interrupted, he would have.

  And there hadn’t been a person in sight to put on an act for.

  The kiss in town square had shaken him up. He hadn’t anticipated getting quite so into it, but there was emotion behind it, and it stayed with him long after he got home. He’d fallen asleep with the taste of her vanilla bean lip balm still on his lips, and this morning when he woke up, he immediately wanted an excuse to see her again.

  When there had been no answer at her apartment, he tried the only other place she could be in such treacherous weather.

  He brought up the photo he’d taken on his phone and zoomed in on her blue eyes. The color reminded him of a picture of the sea he’d taken while on deployment in the Mediterranean. He’d forgotten about that photo. He should have it enlarged and framed.

  He zoomed back out so he could look at her whole face. She seemed a little tired today, perhaps from the wine, or maybe she’d lost sleep analyzing their kiss, too. He posted the picture to Instagram with the caption no one else I’d rather be snowed in with and tagged her.

  Rob’s words resurfaced again. Have you ever considered just dating her for real?

  It was crazy, wasn’t it? Em would surely think so. Besides, he’d do well to remember how relationships ended. She’d become a pretty significant person in his life. He didn’t want to wake up one day having screwed that up, with an impossible void to fill.

  Yeah. Best to stick to the plan and keep it all platonic.

  A message notification popped up on his phone—some girl he didn’t know requesting to be friends. As he’d been doing frequently the last few days, he hit Ignore.

  He flipped through the channels to see what was on TV, since there was little else to do during the storm. There was a Sharknado marathon later. He actually laughed out loud in the quiet of his apartment before reaching for his phone to send a text. Em would be all over it.

  She responded within a couple of minutes.

  YESSSS!

  Laughing again, he replied with a shark emoji. How else were you going to wait out a snowstorm, and who better to kick back with?

  If he was ever crazy enough to settle down ever again, Emily would be exactly the kind of girl he’d want to be with. Strong, sure of herself, witty, fun, and easy on the eyes. Not afraid to call him on his bullshit. His thumbs tapped out a reply. Your place or mine?

  There was a pause before three dots indicated she was replying.

  Yours. I’m starting to live out of boxes.

  They made plans for the afternoon. With the day taking on a bit of purpose now, Tim hopped up and did a few chin-ups on
the bar in his bedroom doorway, along with a round of push-ups. His phone vibrated again. Another message from a woman he didn’t know. He didn’t even open them anymore. They all contained the same thing—a pouting selfie and some crap about loving the outdoors and how crazy Melissa was to cheat on him with Dak.

  If he and Emily were going to make their plan work, they should go on more dates. Maybe he’d suggest another this afternoon and let her choose the place. He grabbed clothes from his bedroom and headed for the bathroom, where he blasted the water and stripped off his clothes. Just before he pulled back the striped shower curtain to climb under the steamy spray, his phone buzzed again. Frowning, he glanced at it.

  Emily—OMG I just checked twitter and you’re not going to like this!!!

  What now? He swiped to open her message so he could get a better look at the picture—or the screenshot, more accurately. Someone, somewhere had found a picture of him on the internet in his Navy uniform, and it was being shared all over the place. There he was, twenty-two years old, in his perfectly pressed white uniform and hat. The old Tim—the Tim his father had wanted him to be. His hand tensed around his phone, reading the tweet. Melissa’s ex is in the Navy too?? This guy just keeps getting better and better.

  And there, under the caption of the ancient picture, was the source of the image.

  Sapphire Star. The local newspaper.

  Damn Fuzzy.

  Chapter Ten

  You and Tim are having a date in the Tesoro kitchen…on a Thursday evening…while Lauren and I work on the other side of the door…” Harlow peered at her through drawn eyebrows.

  Emily grouped ingredients on the counter for the maple cookie recipe she’d been wanting to try. “Yes. You’ll be closing up in twenty minutes anyway. Just do your thing out front. You won’t even know we’re here, trust me.”

  She and Tim had passed the storm on Saturday watching Sharknado with a six-pack of Corona and an enormous platter of his homemade chicken nachos. The photo of him in his Navy uniform definitely dampened his mood, though. He’d made light of it, but he was a little preoccupied all afternoon. His time in the Navy wasn’t something he talked a lot about. And Emily wasn’t used to seeing things bother him so much.