Page 29 of Wilde Abandon
She’d tried to bring it up with him in the car, but Fox simply put his hand on her knee, squeezed, and said, “I know what I’m doing.Don’t worry about it.”
But she did worry.About him.What this was costing him, both financially and emotionally.And what his mom was up to.
She pulled into the Dark Horse Dive Bar parking lot and left her old Bronco in her spot.The one she claimed every day anyway.
She used her keys to enter the big building and found Aria behind the bar and Lyric working in the kitchen.
“So, how did your first date with Fox go?”Aria’s excitement made her grin even bigger.
The time they’d shared at the diner was… “Amazing.We caught up on the past, talked about moving forward.”
Lyric walked out of the kitchen.“So it’s serious?Up until now, you weren’t sure if he was just stringing you along.”
“Keeping things focused on now during our online chats was his way of getting to know me again, so I could get to know the grownup him, too.He apologized for not telling me it was him.”
“But you got his point, didn’t you?”Lyric asked, concern still in her gaze.
“Yes.I liked the online guy enough that I wanted to meet him in person and see if the connection we shared was real and could be what I’m looking for.”
“And is it?”Aria asked.
“Now that I know it’s him…it’s a million times better.The way he looks at me…I can’t describe it.It’s like I feel it everywhere, all the way deep inside me.”She turned to Lyric.“I thought the way Mason looked at you was special.”
“It is,” Lyric confirmed.“Everything he feels about me is in his eyes.”
“I’ve dated lots of other guys.”No need to sugarcoat it.She liked men.She liked a good time.She didn’t apologize for trying to find someone who saw all of her, not just the outside, but everything inside she had to give.“Fox is different.Maybe because we have a history.We were such good friends.He never treated me differently because I was a girl.If he wanted to play baseball, we played baseball.If I wanted to stay in the classroom and draw, we did that.”She thought about their talk today.“He wants me to come and teach a class at the New Adult Education Center in town.He thinks people could learn something from me about running my own business here at the bar and the Etsy shop I run.”
“You’d be brilliant at that,” Aria encouraged.
Lyric nodded her agreement.“Absolutely.”Her head tilted.“You don’t talk much about your business.At least not to us.”
“It’s mine.”She didn’t know what else to say.“We have this.”She waved her hand to encompass the bar.She managed the waitstaff.Lyric the kitchen.Jax managed the bartenders.And Aria oversaw the bar as a whole, including ordering supplies and payroll.“I love it here, but I also needed something more creative.”
“You don’t really get to express that here.Except in the marketing and social media stuff you do with me.”Lyric’s insight eased Melody.She didn’t want them to think she didn’t love working at the bar.She did.And sometimes it just felt like too much work and no fun.
“Of course you’d need an outlet for that side of you.That’s why Lyric sings and writes her amazing songs.”Aria didn’t have a second job or hobby.She’d had a boyfriend who she thought she was going to marry and start a family with until he cheated on her.Aria wanted a family.She wanted to be a mother.She wanted stability and someone she could trust.
Nick, Lyric’s brother-in-law, sure seemed interested, but work kept him away too much.
“How are things with Nick?”
Aria leaned against her forearms on the bar.“Stalled out.We’re both too busy to make the long-distance thing work.”
“So it’s over?”Lyric asked, concerned.
“No.”Pain and confusion darkened Aria’s blue eyes.“At least I don’t think so.We still talk and text, but it’s sporadic.It’s not that I don’t like him, I just want more than a day here and there when our schedules finally line up.”Aria held Melody’s gaze because that’s how she’d felt about her relationship with Fox until he finally met her IRL.In real life was way better than online messaging.Mostly because there was kissing.But also, when they talked and she could look him in the eye and see the emotion there, she didn’t second-guess whether it was real.She saw it plain on his face and heard it in every word.
What she had with Fox was special.
This time, nothing would tear them apart.
She and her sisters got back to work.Hours later, the bar was packed, the music was loud, the drinks were flowing, and she spotted Fox and Dean headed right for her.Luckily, she had an empty tray in her hand or she’d have spilled a lot of drinks when Fox wrapped his arms around her waist, hauled her close, and kissed her like he’d never get to do it again.
The passion flared and she lost herself in the press of his lips, the sweep of his tongue gliding over hers, and the heat that swept through her, making her press closer to all those lean, hard muscles.His rain-on-the-wind-with-a-hint-of-lime scent wrapped around her.
He squeezed her tight, then slowly ended the kiss and looked down at her.“Missed you.”
“I’m not sure you convinced me yet.Kiss me again.”