“God, you’re an idiot,” he muttered, which fortunately Juliette didn’t hear. He hit the back of my head when Juliette wasn’t looking. “Pull your head out of your ass.”
I still had no idea what he was talking about.
Cooper cleared his throat. “Wes is a great dancer,” he claimed, causing Juliette to look between us both, blinking her black lashes.
“Oh, well, good for him,” she said slowly as she looked between us.
“Yeah, you two should go out there. Go on ahead. I gotta”—Cooper looked around—“help Louise get another keg from the back. Right, Louise? Didn’t you need one?” Louise gave him a thumbs-up as he rambled. “So, yeah, you two go ahead.”
“Oh, um, you want to?” Juliette tilted her head, her voice softer than usual, unsure. I didn’t like dancing. I didn’t like attention. But I couldn’t say no.
The corner of my mouth tipped up. “Yeah, let’s go. One dance.”
I’d give anything to replay the way her face lit up.
“Lead the way, then, Wesley.”
27
JULIETTE
I hadn’t expectedWes to say yes. In fact, I’d mentally prepared myself for him to say no.
Turns out, I should’ve spent that time preparing to be alone with him. The buzz from my earlier shot with the girls and my Aperol spritz was gone, and the soda water was refreshing with the summer heat. I finished it off and set the glass on the bar.
It was just a dance, and yet somehow, we kept getting pushed together. At least the scowl was finally off his face. Sometimes, I was surprised his face wasn’t permanently like that.
But even with his scowl, he was still devastatingly handsome. The more I got to know him, the more good looking he became. Especially now that I knew how kind, protective, and considerate he was. Maybe he still put his foot in his mouth every now and then, but who didn’t? What I knew now that I didn’t my first day in Golden Falls was that Wesley Richards didn’t have bad intentions. He just cared about this town and his family. A lot.
Wes gently, hesitantly, took my hand in his, looking at me almost as if he was asking for permission. I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze in response. I wanted to memorize the wayhis warm, calloused hand felt on mine. It made me wonder how his touch would feel on other parts of my body. How it’d feel for him to grip my thighs, spread my legs, and?—
Oh, god.
No.
This couldn’t be happening.
I wasn’t thinking about Wesley that way. Nope, not going there.
By the time we squeezed our way through to the dance floor, the song that caught my attention was over but replaced with one equally upbeat. Some people were swaying, others were rocking their bodies side to side. One thing I knew for sure was Wesley and I were not going to look like we were at an awkward middle school dance.
“Are you actually a good dancer, or did Cooper set me up to have you stepping all over my toes? I just painted these, you know.” I’d opted for a red polish on my fingers and toes.
He huffed a laugh. “Somewhere in the middle. I’m a decent dancer and won’t step on your toes. That I can promise you.”
“So, you’re decent at it,” I said as I set his hand on the curve of my waist, “but you hate it.” I held on to his other hand, and it didn’t take long for us to fall into rhythm. “Your lip curved at the mention of it and everything. Your scowl turned intoeven moreof a scowl.”
“It did not,” he argued, which caused a laugh to escape me. His grip on my waist tightened in reaction, drawing me closer to his chest. “And one dance won’t kill me. It’s not that I don’t like it. I don’t like the attention that comes with it.”
“That’s fair, but if it makes you feel any better, no one is paying attention to us. Everyone’s in their own little world.” I had to tip my head back to look up at him. He smelled like a mixture of mint and mahogany—fresh and woodsy. I was glad I hadn’t opted for another drink. His cologne was moreintoxicating than any alcohol. “I mean, look at us. We’re not paying attention to anyone else, right?”
“Right.” He hummed in thought while looking down at me, and it took everything I had not to look away. His gaze was too intense, too observant. I wished I could get into his head for a moment to see what he was thinking. I knew he saw me out on the dance floor earlier. Every time I looked over at him, he was already looking at me. It wasn’t in a bad way or in a creepy way. Almost like…he couldn’t look away. And I couldn’t either. We kept finding each other.
But now that we were this close, all I wanted to do was look away. This whole time I’d wanted Wesley to give me a chance, but now I was scared of what would happen if hedid.
Because the glimpses I’d gotten on the boat and later that night were a version of Wesley I liked. But did he like the version he’d seen of me?
“What’re you thinking about?” I asked him.
