Spring River Valley: The Spring Collection (Boxed Set) (15 page)

“Like what?”

“Take a walk, listen to slow music…make tea.”

Bailey laughed. “I can’t picture you making tea.”

“I don’t. Buck does, though. Sometimes he makes it here before he goes home.”

“So what do you do to unwind?”

“I walk. Want to go for a walk with me?”

“At this hour? Where?”

“Down by the bridge. It’s a nice night, and there are a lot of people around on Saturday night…it’s not creepy, really.”

Bailey shrugged. She was ready to unwind herself. The night had been a lot more fun than she could have predicted when Riley left. “Lead the way.”

Matt finished wiping down the bar, then ducked his head into the kitchen to tell the manager he was leaving. When he returned to the bar, he offered Bailey his arm and led her out the door.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d just taken a walk with someone. Dan had been into biking and jogging, to keep up his excellent physique. She’d enjoyed all the exercise, but neither activity left a lot of room for talking. After a while, she’d stopped accompanying him on his workout days…and later on found out he’d given them up too, in order to meet one of his other girlfriends.

She shook the thought of Dan aside and drew in a deep cleansing breath of the spring air. After such a long winter, it was wonderful to smell grass and the early blooming flowers on the night breeze. The moon hung low but cast plenty of light across Colette’s parking lot, so the walk across to the bike path that led through the narrow park along the river front was well lit.

Matt was quiet at first. He’d put his hand over hers on his arm, but she sensed a little bit of tension. Was he nervous?

“I’m surprised how many people are in the park at this hour,” she said when they reached the railing that ran along the river bank. From this vantage point, Lakeside Bridge dominated the view, and across the river, the lights of the hospital were visible next to the mostly dark silhouette of the office building that housed the
Herald
.

“You’ve never come down here at night?” Matt seemed shocked.

“Not really. The last time I was in the park after sunset was probably three years ago when the library was holding that summer concert series. And maybe for the fireworks in July, but I skipped that last year.” She hadn’t been in the mood to celebrate last summer, and the summer before that, Dan had skillfully kept her away from a lot of public outings. He’d told her he liked to spend time just the two of them alone, but he was really worried they’d run into one of the half dozen other women he was seeing on the side.

“Well, it’s time for a change. This year, why don’t you come to the fireworks with me?”

She laughed. “You’re making a date for two and a half months from now?”

“Sure. Is that too much of a commitment?” He eyed her sidelong, that quirky half smile lifting his lips.

“I suppose I could pencil you in.”

“Nope, I’m an ink kind of guy. No maybes.”

“Well, in that case, okay. I’ll go with you to the fireworks in July.”

“Is it too soon to ask what you’re doing for New Year’s?”

Bailey groaned. “Yes!” Despite his obvious teasing tone, though, her cheeks heated. She was beginning to feel like she was tumbling down hill, having fun, but just out of control enough to be a little bit worried about what she was heading for. She steered them toward the rail and stopped walking to admire the view. The lights from across the river reflecting on the calm water captured her gaze. It was a view of their small town she’d never really seen before.

“Tell me about your architecture firm. Where are you looking to set up shop?”

“Spring River Valley or maybe Stanton. I want to be close enough to Buffalo to commute if I need to, but I want to focus on residential jobs first. I like designing houses.”

“I’ve noticed a lot of older houses being torn down around here. I guess there’s a need for someone to design the new ones.”

“It’s a trend…with so many houses in foreclosure and being left abandoned for a long time, sometimes the only smart thing to do is rebuild from the ground up. And with better building materials available, and better energy efficiency—hold it. Let’s stop right there.”

Bailey swiveled to look at him. “What?”

“I listened to your date talking about his job for most of the time he was at the table tonight. I saw your eyes glaze over.”

“You were looking at my eyes?”

“Of course. I didn’t bring you out here to bore with talk about solar energy and green roofing.”

“So why
did
you bring me out here?”

“Mostly…to try to kiss you.”

He didn’t make a move, just held her gaze with a hint of expectation in his eyes. Bailey probably should have dismissed such a blatant line, but she couldn’t break eye contact. She didn’t want to. The cool breeze off the water, the sparkling lights, the murmur of soft conversation from the other couples who passed by, all added up to an offer that was impossible to refuse. She leaned in just enough and tilted her head. “So try already.”

His lips met hers in a soft, tentative exploration. He tasted minty and warm. He didn’t try to go farther, but his tongue teased her lips, an invitation for more but without any demands. Excitement coursed down Bailey’s spine, leaving her hips loose and her knees wobbly. When he pulled back and brushed hair away from her cheek with his thumb, she let out a satisfied sigh. “That was nice.”

“Good…that leaves me room for improvement.” He kissed her again, this time with a little more force, a little more determination. Bailey’s heart thumped, and she found herself clutching his sleeve, pulling him into her with a desperation she hadn’t meant to feel. She liked this, maybe too much. She wanted more…and she had to rein herself in before she ended up being a fool for a guy she knew almost nothing about.

When she broke away, she had to take a second to catch her breath.

“Better than nice?”

“Much… But I think we should slow down…”

He nodded, his smile genuine. “You’re right. This walk was supposed to be relaxing, and if we keep this up, I definitely won’t sleep tonight.”

Who wanted to sleep? She almost asked that impertinent question, but she knew exactly where it would lead, and she wasn’t ready. Well, parts of her were more than ready, more than willing, but her brain hadn’t signed off on anything yet. “I guess we should call it a night, then.”

“Only if I can see you tomorrow. How about dinner at Landry’s? And I promise to stay all the way through to dessert.”

“I’m not upset at all, I had a fantastic time,” Bailey said as she set paper plates out on her kitchen table. She took a second to hook her phone under her chin so she could pull cans of cola from the back of the fridge.

“I reamed Riley out for leaving you like he did. He’s very sorry.” Cassandra had spent the last twenty minutes apologizing to Bailey for last night, and Bailey had the feeling the caterer was upset about more than just a blind date that hadn’t worked out perfectly.

“We’re here! Pepperoni and onions coming through!” Evie’s voice intruded on the conversation, and Bailey waved her and Emerson Bartoli through the living room and into the kitchen. Evie set a pizza box on the table, and Emerson set down a gorgeous tray of antipasto and a loaf of bread.

Cassie Hall
, Bailey mouthed, pointing to the phone as her friends took seats at the table and started opening up the food. “It’s really okay, Cassie. I’m not mad at all. Riley is a really nice guy, but…I just got the feeling he was more into his job than anything else. I can’t blame him. He’s trying to pass the bar, he’s working for a major law firm, and he wants to prove himself. He
should
be focused on his work.”

“I thought he wanted a break. He said he needed some downtime. I didn’t think he meant no more than forty-five minutes.”

“It’s fine, Cassie. Really. I have his number, and I’m going to call him just to say hi, but actually—” Bailey paused and pantomimed to Evie to put a slice of pizza on her plate. “—I met someone else last night, and we hit it off. I’d say your mojo still works, maybe your aim is just a little bit off.”

Evie and Emerson shared a look. Bailey hadn’t mentioned Matt to her friends when they planned this impromptu luncheon, so they both looked a bit shocked.

“Oh…I’m glad. I’m really glad. I just didn’t want you to be mad. I swore I would stop fixing people up.”

“I don’t know why. As far as I’m concerned, you did a great job.”

“So my mojo is about setting up the wrong couple so the right couple can get together?”

Bailey shrugged. “Whatever works. I owe you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“I’ll let you know when I need catering for the wedding.” Bailey feigned a look of shock for her friends who both nearly choked on their pizza. “Gotta go, Cassie. I’ll call you. You’re a gem!”

Bailey hung up and waited while Evie and Emerson collected themselves.

“Wedding!” Evie yelled the moment she recovered her voice. “You’re getting married after one date?”

Bailey sipped her cola nonchalantly. “Of course not. Get a grip, girl. I was trying to cheer Cassie up because she sounded really down. The date with Riley was a bust.”

“But you met someone else?” Emerson asked.

Bailey recounted the highlights of the evening, including the spine-tingling kiss. “I felt sort of swept off my feet. Oh, and I had no idea Taylor would be at Colette’s with his band. I should thank them too. Their music set the mood. They play some very romantic stuff.”

Evie laughed. “Maybe they can play at this
wedding
we’re talking about.”

“Let’s not get carried away, ladies. Just because he already asked me out for Fourth of July is no reason to lose all perspective.”

“Fourth of July?” Emerson echoed.

“And New Year’s—well, not officially.”

Evie set down her pizza and leveled a serious gaze at Bailey. “All kidding aside, you went from zero to sixty in one night, baby doll. Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

Evie had always had a habit of cutting right to the heart of something. Maybe it was her reporter’s instincts. She knew what questions needed to be asked.

Bailey shrugged. “As long as we’re going for the car analogy, I’ve been in park for a year. What’s wrong with accelerating a little bit?”

“As long as your brakes work, and you know how to use them,” Evie countered.

Emerson groaned. “Really? Puns. Is that how it goes around here?”

Bailey gestured to Evie with her fork. “She’s the writer. Blame her. She has a metaphor fetish.”

“I’m just saying… Matt sounds awesome, but you’ve spent almost twelve months avoiding men, and now you’re making plans with this guy three months in advance?”

“He was kidding about the Fourth…and so was I. I mean, neither of us took that seriously. And hey, if he’s still around then, what the hell, right? It’s all about having fun. No strings.”

“You’re a strings kind of girl, Bailey. I’ve known you long enough to know that.” Evie tore pieces of bread from the loaf and passed them around.

“That was the old Bailey, the one who thought the guy she’d been dating for two years actually meant every silly, stupid romantic thing he said to her. I’ve grown up a bit. Matt is sexy as hell, and he’s a flirt—”

“Flirting can be hard to deal with,” Emerson cut in. “Believe me, I’ve been the green-eyed monster now and then because Jared is so…friendly. The women in Maine were all over him when we were there doing the commercial shoot, and it wasn’t easy for me.”

“And Tanner’s a professional flirt. You know how much of a problem that was for me in the beginning,” Evie said.

Bailey thought of watching Matt playing up to the female customers at Colette’s. She’d been a little jealous too, but he’d told her it was part of his job, encouraged by the bar manager to keep the ladies in their seats and ordering those expensive, frothy drinks. “I know…like I said, Matt is sexy and he’s a flirt, but he doesn’t deny that, and he’s been very up-front about not wanting a commitment, so I don’t expect anything from him that he’s not ready to give. We’re going to have some fun and see where things go. That’s all. I promise, I’m not going to let things get serious too fast.”

Emerson cast a sidelong glance at Evie. “It looks to me like it’s already too late for that.”

* * * *

“So you’re sure Taylor’s not into her,” Matt said as he hauled a box of sheet music onto the counter at Love Notes, the music store where Owen worked. Normally he’d have spent Sunday working on drawings and catching up on his classwork, but since he’d been too distracted by thoughts of Bailey to concentrate, he’d agreed to stop by the store and help Owen restock.

“I’m sure. Taylor’s brother is dating a friend of hers. That’s how they met. They went out two or three times, but Taylor’s still hung up on his ex. Why are you so nosy all of a sudden? In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never gone FBI about a girl. Usually they’re the ones asking about you.” Owen took a stack of sheet music from the box and started arranging it in the wire racks that hung from the wall.