Picture Perfect (Butler Island) (16 page)

FLASH.

The earth vibrated under her feet as
the large wood beams fell to the ground. She covered her mouth in horror.

FLASH.

Suddenly, a silhouette burst through
the murky black smoke, followed by three more. Olivia let go of a breath she
hadn’t been aware she was holding as the men raced toward her.

FLASH.

The last man to exit the inferno
removed his hat and breathing mask…

 
Grant.

FLASH.

His bright white smile contrasted
vividly against the black soot around the edges of his face. Instead of her
heart rate returning to normal, it seemed to skip a beat and then rapidly flutter.
Olivia rubbed her breastbone with the heel of her hand, overwhelmed by the
flood of emotions assaulting her. She’d been terrified for the four men and was
relieved that they’d all made it out safely.

But it was more than that.

The thought of anything happening to
Grant made her weak in the knees—
weak in the heart.
Because suddenly it
became quite clear that he was beginning to mean more to her than a fun flirty
fling and as scary as that admission was, she embraced it.

CHAPTER 12

Winterfest was a longtime tradition
of Butler Island. It was a community celebration, held the first weekend in
December, signifying the beginning of the holiday season. The festivities began
with the Christmas parade down First Street, followed by the annual Christmas
cookie bake-off, and finally ended with the carnival.

Ty took her every year growing up and
this year was no exception. They began their afternoon together as spectators
for the parade. It hadn’t changed much in the last ten years: she recognized
some of the same floats, same costumes—even the convertible Miss Winterfest
rode in was the same.

Gesturing toward the blue
convertible, Ty said, “I remember when you were Miss Winterfest. Gosh, it seems
like just yesterday…”

“I know. Weird, isn’t it? Nine
years…”

Ty nodded. “I came every year; it
just wasn’t the same without you.”

“You’re not gonna get all mushy and
sentimental on me, are you?”

Chuckling, he replied, “Nah, I know
better!”

After the parade they wound their way
through the booths positioned along the boardwalk. They sampled dozens of
Christmas cookies for the annual bake-off and when their veins were surging
with adrenaline and excess sugar, they trekked toward the carnival.

The horizon teetered on the edge of
darkness as they climbed aboard the Himalaya. The ride was a childhood
favorite—she loved the blaring music, the dancing lights, the swift
acceleration. The lap bar came down and after the ride attendant personally
checked that it was locked into position, he scurried to his controls.

The distinct sound of a lone guitar,
followed by the heavy thud of a drum…

The ride accelerated with such force
it threw her body against her brother as The Rolling Stones’
Paint It Black
blasted
from the speakers. A rush of cold air collided against her face and laughter
fled her lips as she raised her hands above her head.

Grant stood behind the metal barrier,
mesmerized. Olivia appeared to be having the time of her life: her hands in the
air, an unmistakable expression of content and bliss adorned to her beautiful
face.

He wondered if she knew how
spellbinding she was?—wondered if she suspected he was beginning to fall for
her…

Probably best to keep that bit of
information to yourself, Womack.

Olivia glanced at Ty as the ride came
to a halt. “You okay?” she asked.

“Why do you ask?” he countered as he
released his white-knuckled grip on the lap bar.

“Oh, I don’t know. I guess because
you’re face is ten shades of green right now.”

Ty felt his cheeks. “That obvious,
huh? I guess I can’t hang like I used to—I’m getting old!”

“C’mon, let’s go get you a drink.”

Grant observed as they exited the
ride and advanced toward him. “Hey—
geez, bro,
you look like shit! You
feel alright?” he asked Ty.

“Never better”, he sarcastically
remarked.

“Oh,
look”—Olivia interrupted— “bumper cars!”
She pointed directly across from
where they all stood. “C’mon, Ty, let’s ride real quick and then you can get a
drink.”

Rubbing his stomach, he shook his
head. “No can do. I’m gonna have to sit this one out. You go ahead—Grant can go
with you.”

Olivia turned to look at Grant. She
lifted an eyebrow, assessing her competition. “I don’t know; I don’t think he
can handle me.”

Grant crossed his arms over his broad
chest and smirked. He could recognize a challenge brewing. “Oh, I think I can
manage you just fine.”

“Okay, care to make a friendly wager
then?”

“Name your terms.”

“Whoever crashes into the other
first, wins; loser pays for the winner’s cotton candy.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

They left Ty sitting on a nearby
bench and then rushed toward the bumper cars. Patiently they waited as the
current round ended.

 Standing behind her, Grant leaned
forward until his mouth was inches from her ear. “Don’t worry”, he whispered,
“I’ll take it easy on you.”

Olivia glanced over her shoulder.
“Take it easy on me? Sugar, you won’t even be able to keep up, let alone take
it easy on me.”

“Is that right?”

“Most definitely…”

Moments later, they were ushered
inside. Olivia sprinted toward the hot pink number seven car while Grant chose
the green number two. With his body buckled and a firm grip on the steering
wheel, he took a gander at Olivia. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she stared back
with a bold determination in her eyes—clearly she had her “game face” on.

The buzzer rang, delivering the tiny
vehicles the power to move. His eyes were transfixed on Olivia. She was on the
opposite side of the arena,
steadily—and
quite aggressively—crashing into
anyone within her vicinity. Over the
screeching and the hammering clash of cars colliding, he could hear her
laughter. God, she had the most infectious laugh—the kind that reverberated
throughout his entire body. Hearing it made him smile.

BAM!

Olivia slammed into the side of
Grant’s green car at full speed.

His head thrashed like a whip. When
he looked back, she was smiling like she’d won the lottery and then her
delicate features took on a predator-like expression.

BAM!

So she’d won the bet—
that didn’t
mean she was going to take it easy on him.
She followed closely behind his
car, determined to get in another good strike before the buzzer rang again.

The girl was persistent; he had to
admit. He saw firsthand why so many of the people in town referred to her as
“daredevil”: her feminine and flawless exterior betrayed by her fearless and
aggressive nature. The sight sent lust surging through his veins—which was
quickly obliterated by a thundering crash as she smacked into him again.

The cars lost power as the buzzer
rang. Grant shook his head in disbelief as he exited his car and advanced
toward her. He offered his hand, assisting her out of her pink hot rod.

“Don’t look so surprised, Womack”,
she said as she smiled.

“You cheated”, he proclaimed.

“What? You can’t
cheat
in
bumper cars! That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard!”

After exiting the ride, they headed
toward Ty.

“Who won the bet?” Ty called out as
they approached.

“Who do you think…”

Ty glanced at his best friend. “You
let a
girl
beat you?”

“She’s not just a
girl
—she’s
daredevil”,
he explained. “Besides, she cheated.”

 “There you go throwin’ that word
around again. Do you mind explaining how I
‘cheated’
at bumper cars?”
she asked as she crossed her arms.

“You were
laughing so hard. It was… distracting.”

“Nice try, Womack, but you still owe
me a bag of cotton candy.”

Grant raised his hands in surrender.
“Alright, alright, I’m a man of my word. I’ll be right back.”

Olivia lowered herself on the bench
beside Ty. “Can you believe him?” She asked in disbelief. “So, feeling better?”

Ty leaned forward, resting his
forearms on his knees. “Worse. It probably wasn’t the best idea to ride the
Himalaya after I wolfed down about two-dozen Christmas cookies.”

“Well, I’d have to agree with you on
that one!”

“Listen, I’m thinking about heading
home.”

“Oh… alright—”

“You guys are leaving?” Grant asked
as he returned with a large bag of Christmas-colored cotton candy.

“Think so—there’s a bottle of
Pepto-Bismol at home with my name all over it!” Ty informed him.

“Olivia, if you want to stick around
for a while I can take you home later”, Grant offered. They were just beginning
to have fun—he wasn’t quite ready to end the evening yet.

“That alright with you, Ty?” she
asked.

Rising to his feet, he nodded and
then slapped Grant on the shoulder. “Anything happens to her and I’ll feed you
my fist for breakfast. Are we clear?” he asked, half joking—half not.

“Crystal.” Grant waited until Ty was
out of earshot. “And then there were two…”

In no hurry, they decided to take a
stroll. It was nice to be out in the open, not having to hide that they were
spending time together. It was okay if someone happened to start a rumor that
they’d spotted them together; Ty knew they were hanging out tonight—they just
had to be careful with PDA (public displays of affection).

“Thanks again for the cotton candy.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So, still think I cheated?” she
inquired.

Grant revealed one of those
bone-melting smiles he’d perfected over the years. “You don’t play fair”, he
explained.

“Oh, that’s right: you think I was
purposely distractin’ you.”

“Damn straight—everything you do
distracts me…”

Olivia turned to face him and pressed
her bottom lip against her teeth. “Well, today’s your lucky day”, she said as
she gestured toward the row of carnival games up ahead. “Feel like redeeming
yourself?”

“You’re on.”

They landed at a game that required a
good eye and a steady hand—two things he was sure he didn’t possess
simultaneously. Clutching a rifle, they were supposed to shoot rubber pellets
at multiple moving targets. Each target was worth a set amount of points; the
more you accumulated, the bigger the prize.

“So what do I get when I win?” she
asked confidently.

“We can figure out the details
later.”

He watched as Olivia picked up the
rifle and got into position.

“I hope you’re ready to get your ass
kicked again, Womack.”

“Bring it on, darlin’.”

 He fully expected for her to
randomly eject several rounds of rubber pellets without even coming close to
any of the targets.

Wrong again.

As soon as the game attendant blew
the whistle, Olivia fired her weapon like a sharp shooter. She aimed with the
kind of precision that could only be carried off by someone who was comfortable
handling a firearm. And when their sixty seconds of target practice was
through, she’d won again.

“Remind me to never piss you off”,
Grant commented wryly.

Olivia turned and exposed a playful
scowl.

“Alright, ma’am, what’ll it be?” the
attendant asked.

Olivia smiled and pointed to a
stuffed teddy bear hanging behind him. “I think I’ll take that bear behind
you—the one that’s dressed like an angel.” The man picked up the bear and
tossed it toward her. “Thanks.”

Silence lurked between them as they
started to walk away. Finally, Grant spoke. “My ego’s a little bruised.”

“Aw, poor baby.”

“It’s okay, you can make it up to me
later”, he suggested with a wry grin.

“Really? What exactly did you have in
mind?”

Reaching for her hand, Grant slipped
behind one of the game booths where they could have some privacy. Alone for the
first time since they’d been interrupted by the theater fire, he pressed her up
against the rear of the booth. “This”, he whispered as he cupped her face. He
aligned their mouths, but this kiss wasn’t like all the others.