Finally My Forever (10 page)

I could tell he was serious by the way he was staring at my lips.

This was definitely a dream.

I literally pinched my own leg as we stood there, and to my own astonishment I felt the pain of my thumbnail digging into my thigh.

"Well it's not really something we could just do right here in front of everybody, now is it?" I asked, still brushing it off like he was joking.

"Is that a yes?" he asked.

I glanced around before smiling up at him with a
you're impossible
expression. "I guess it's a yes, pending a spot where your whole church isn't staring right at us."

The next thing I knew, he grabbed me by the arm, and began dragging me toward the back of the cider mill.

Chapter 12

One second, I was standing next to an old, wooden building with Micah, and the next, I was being pulled around to the back of it. There were some trees and shrubs behind there, but we were still somewhat exposed—especially to people in the distance, near the entrance of the corn maze.

"I don't know what you think you're doing," I whispered as he marched me back there.

He stopped and turned to face me once we rounded the corner. The sounds of music, children playing, and people talking were barely audible over the pounding of my own heart. He stared down at me with a slight smile. Both of us were somewhat breathless.

"This is not private," I said, gesturing to the big open space behind me. "Someone can come back here any second."

"We better hurry then," he said.

I gave him a challenging glare. "Are you serious right now?"

"I'm quite serious," he said. "Do I still have permission?"

I smiled. "You're hilarious."

He cupped his hand around my jaw and patiently scanned my face. "You’re beautiful."

I glanced down shyly. I should've just taken the compliment, but I got nervous and had to go and say something funny.

"It has been a long time," I said. "You're probably just desperate."

He ignored my comment, and instead just looked at me with a subtle smirk. He stared down at me for a long time, taking in every inch of my face. I had no idea what in the world he was thinking, so I started talking again when I should have probably just kept my mouth shut. "If we go through with this, I want you to know I'm okay with acting like it never happened."

He cocked his head at me and stared through narrowed eyes. "What do you mean
if
we go through with it?"

His hand was still on my cheek, and the warmth of it caused a shiver to run down my spine. I was out of my mind with nerves and anticipation. I took in the curve of his beautiful lips wondering what they would feel like when they touched mine.

"I'm gonna kiss you now, Carly."

He hesitated for a second, so I said, "Okay."

He stepped closer. I watched as he licked his lips before ducking to put them next to mine.

"It's been a long time," he whispered, his words creating little puffs of air against my mouth.

"I know," I whispered back.

I saw his chest rise and fall as he took a deep breath.

"We don't have to," I said, breathlessly.

"Stop trying to get out of it," he whispered with a grin. "I'm just taking it all in."

"You're gonna get us caught if you don't hurry," I whispered.

"You're gonna force me to take longer if you keep arguing."

I smiled and when I did, he put his lips on mine. It was torturously gentle. The only places we made contact were his hand on my cheek and his lips on mine, and both of them were barely there.

I closed my eyes and nudged forward ever so slightly. For a few glorious seconds, I enjoyed the feel of his lips on mine. It was at least as wonderful as I imagined. An ache formed deep in my gut and my blood turned to warm honey. I felt like I could melt.

Seconds later, Micah breathed in through his nose as he broke the contact.

I opened my eyes, assuming we were done. It was one tiny little kiss, and I felt weak and spent. I could see by the rise and fall of his chest that he was struggling to catch his breath too. I wondered if he felt the same sensations I felt.

"Yeah, that's not gonna be enough," he whispered.

"What do you mean?"

But before I could even finish the question, he put his lips on mine. It was a warm, flawless kiss that lasted only a split second before he pulled back again.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Another gentle kiss.

"Now that I've started."

Another one.

"I can't seem to stop."

And just then, just as I was utterly lost in the dream of having Micah Bennett's lips on mine, again and again, I heard my name being yelled.

"Carlyyyyy!" I knew it was Thomas, and the sound of it brought me crashing back to reality.

I looked at Micah with an astonished expression. "What are we gonna do?" I whispered frantically. I didn't give him time to answer. I put a hand on his chest, pushing him back a little. "You stay here for a minute. I'll go out there and meet Thomas, and you can come out in a minute so it won't be so obvious."

Without another word, I turned and headed down the side of the cider mill, running a hand through my hair and touching the corners of my lips to make sure everything was presentable.

There were lots of people in my line of vision, but I spotted Thomas instantly. "Hey Thomas," I said, walking toward him.

"I was looking for you guys in the cider mill," he said. "You weren't in there." His attention shifted to the area over my shoulder and he said, "Did she tell you about the science class?"

I turned around to find that Micah, despite what I told him, had not waited a minute to come out from behind the mill. I gave him a wide-eyed
you're in trouble
glance that only served to make him laugh.

"She told me about science class all right," he said to Thomas. "She showed me an experiment too."

"You did?" Thomas asked, beaming. "What'd you show him?"

I glanced back at Micah with an incredulous expression. "You're in trouble," I whispered, almost inaudibly, making him grin from ear to ear.

I turned to Thomas, who was just looking at me as if waiting for an answer. "I just showed him a trick I knew from a long time ago," I said.

"What trick?" he asked.

"Yeah, what trick?" Micah asked, amused.

I gritted my teeth wondering what in the world I could say without flat out lying. "The one where you rub two things together and it makes a spark," I said, to my own horror. I closed my eyes for a second, not wanting to glance at Micah who I knew would be thoroughly entertained.

"Really, can you show me?" Thomas asked.

I risked a horrified glance at Micah who was staring at me with wide-eyed amusement as if he couldn't wait to hear my response.

"I would," I said, shifting my attention to Thomas, "but I couldn't get it to work with your brother. It's been a long time since I've done that one. I'm going to have to brush up on my skills."

I spared a look at Micah. His amusement morphed to a look of challenge as I spoke. He opened his mouth to say something, but someone called his name.

"Micah, we need you over here!" someone said. We all turned toward the person who yelled to find a group of guys standing there looking like they were getting ready to play a game of football.

"We need one more!" one of them yelled.

Micah glanced at me and then at Thomas.

"Come on, dude, we got 5 on 5 if you play!"

"Do you guys care if I…?" he cut off when he saw me shaking my head as if it didn't affect me in the least.

"Are you coming?" the guy yelled.

"I'm coming!" Micah yelled back. "I won't be too long," he said, turning to me.

"I'm good," I said. "I've got my partner to show me around." I put my arm in Thomas' and he smiled at his brother proudly. Micah hesitated for a second but then smiled and ran off in the direction of the football game.

Thomas took me to the petting zoo where we got to feed goats, miniature donkeys, and llamas. I had seen enough of people get spit on by llamas that I squinted my eyes the whole time I was around them, just in case.

Afterward, we walked to the face painting area where Thomas and I both got a small pumpkin painted on our cheek. Several people came and introduced themselves to me, all of which were friendlier than Gina, who I noticed was with a small group of girls by the open field, watching the boys play football. I honestly didn't care. I was having more fun with Thomas than I would've been watching the football game and trying to look good every time Micah glanced at me.

Okay, in total honesty, part of me wanted to be over there watching the football game, but it was just the part of me that was still reeling from that unexpected kiss. Mostly, I was having a blast enjoying the festival with Thomas.

"I want to play the corn cob toss," I said, chewing a bite of caramel apple.

"I want to play the slide," Thomas said.

"How about we finish our apples, play one round of corn cob toss, and then we can slide at least five times after that?"

"That's a deal," he said, nodding.

We stood there, finishing our apples and watching the action around us.

"Where's Roscoe?" Thomas said, glancing at my feet with a worried expression as if he just noticed he was missing.

"He stayed at my house," I said. "He's with my new roommate, Trish."

"Is she gonna take care of him?" he asked with a mouth full of apple.

"Yep."

"Is she gonna let him outside to potty?"

"Yep."

"Is she gonna feed him?"

"Yep, she's a really good dog sitter."

"What's that mean?"

"It means she's really good at taking care of him. He's happy to stay there with her. She pets him a lot and loves on him like I do."

"That's what I do too," he said.

"I'll bet you'd be a good dog sitter too," I said.

"Yeah," he agreed, nodding.

A young couple came up to us just then. They were holding hands, but didn't have any children in tow. "Hey Thomas, who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is my best friend, and I'm a good dog sitter."

"You are?" the girl asked.

"Yep, because I know how to love on Roscoe just like Carly does."

"Is this Carly?" the guy asked.

"Yes," Thomas said.

They both smiled at me.

"And Roscoe's your dog?" the girl asked.

"He sure is," I said.

The guy held his hand out. "I'm Evan and this is my wife Lillian."

I shook his hand and then hers. "Carly Howard," I said.

"Do you go to our church?" she asked.

"No, I'm just friends with the Bennetts, and they told me this thing was open to anybody who wanted to come."

"Oh, totally," Lillian said, waving a hand in the air. "I've been going to church there for six years and I don't know half the people here."

"She's my science teacher too," Thomas said.

Lillian smiled at me curiously. "Really?"

I nodded. "I teach at Roosevelt full time, but here lately, I've been going to the Happy House once a week to teach a class.

"That's cool," she said with a huge smile. She came across as genuinely friendly, totally unlike Gina.

"We're going to play a tossing game and then we get to slide five times," Thomas informed them.

"Five times?" Lillian asked, looking amazed.

"Yeah, and Carly's gonna slide too."

"That sounds like a lot of fun!" she said.

"It was nice meeting you, Carly," Evan said.

I smiled and waved. "You too."

Lillian reached out to give me a hug. "If you ever decide to come to church make sure to come tell us hi," she said.

"I will," I promised. Evan and Lillian walked in one direction, and Thomas and I walked in the other. "I like your friends," I said.

"I have about a million friends."

I was sure he did. I agreed with him as we made our way toward the corncob toss. Not to brag, but I had some tossing skills that were formed way back in my recreation softball days. I wasn't great at many things but I was a boss at tossing a corncob into the bucket. I was sad Micah wasn't there to see it.

It was almost nightfall as Thomas and I rode the slide. It was our fifth trip down when I caught sight of Micah standing near the bottom. It was a double slide with several hills on the way down, and Thomas and I raced down each time. I was tempted to glance at Micah on my way down that last time, but I didn't. I watched Thomas like I'd been doing every other time.

I couldn't even find it within myself to glance at him once we were on the ground. I picked up the burlap sack and tossed it aside as I dusted off my jeans.

"I think Thomas won that one," I heard Micah yell.

"He won every time," I said, finally looking in his direction. It was growing dark, but there was enough light for me to see he was smiling. I smiled back.

Thomas came up next to me and put his arm in mine. I watched Micah watching us as we approached. His expression was unreadable, and I wondered what he was thinking.

"I like your pumpkin," he said.

He was staring straight at me, but Thomas said, "Thank you. Justine painted it."

"I'm glad you caught me," I said. "I was just about to leave."

The crowd had thinned out considerably. There were very few little kids running around, and I figured it must have been close to their bedtimes. There were still quite a few people, but most of them were teenagers and adults.