Page 114 of Business Casual
She pulls away and cups my cheeks, her forehead against mine.
“I never felt like I was missing anything before,” she says quietly, thumbs tracing the sides of my jaw, holding me close. “I never wanted to try with anyone, but I want to try with you.”
“That’s the thing, Nova.” I kiss the tip of her nose, the slope of hercheek, my favorite freckle under her eye. “With me, you don’t have to try at all.”
?The pumpkin artinstallation ends up looking okay.
Artis a loose word for it, and I’m pretty sure it’s held together by good thoughts and the will of the produce gods, but it’s…there. It’s…something. Vaguely horrifying and moderately festive, it’s a fine centerpiece to the rest of the harvest festival.
Cindy ends up serving her chili out of a stand like a reasonable human being, and someone was able to convince Beckett to sell pumpkins from Lovelight Farms in a makeshift pumpkin patch right next to the fountain. He lords over it like they’re his children and glares at anyone who says anything disparaging about their size or shape, but Evelyn smooths his edges with her sunny smile and her photo booth props. Sunglasses that look like gourds and a top hat with acorns along the rim.
It’s ridiculous and perfect and everything I love about this silly little town. I steal the acorn hat and wear it while sipping on cider out of a giant goblet shaped like a jack-o’-lantern. I flirt with Abuela while Caleb and Alex glare daggers at me, and I stuff my face with pecan pie and cider donuts and roasted pumpkin seeds. I try to soak up every bit of happiness this town gives me before I have to go back to my life in New York.
Which is how I end up dragging Nova into the same alley we kissed in before, slipping my hand under the back of her cropped sweater, splaying my fingers wide against her warm skin. I kiss her until we’re panting into each other’s mouths, my hand abandoning her sweater for the stretch of her thigh instead.
“Charlie,” she breathes, tearing her mouth from mine. I drag kisses down the line of her throat and tug her closer. I’ve been intentionally avoiding her all morning for exactly this reason. I’ve lost allsemblance of restraint. I can’t keep my head on straight or my hands to myself when she’s around. There’s a ticking clock on our time together, and I want to hold her as much as I can for as long as I can.
We might have agreed to the tentative beginnings of a relationship, but I’m still leaving in a couple of days for New York.
“This alley is trouble for us.” Nova laughs with her head tipped back. I trace a meandering path down her neck to the hollow of her throat. I nose there lightly, and her hips tuck into mine. “We should probably stop.”
“Yeah, we probably should.” I flex my fingers on her thigh and drag my hand up to the waist of her jeans. I hook my thumb there and rub at her bare hip beneath. “That would be the responsible thing to do.”
“Mm-hmm,” she hums. “And we are responsible people.”
We stare at each other. A smirk tugs at her kiss-bitten mouth.
“One more,” she mutters to herself. She presses up on her toes and catches my mouth again.
We decided before we left the house that we’d continue to keep this thing between us…between us. Nova has no interest in fielding small-town gossip, and I have no interest in bringing her to her senses. I’m still convinced that things might change for her once I’m gone. Not that I doubt what she’s told me, I just—I want to enjoy this while it lasts.
She pulls her mouth from mine abruptly and turns toward the entrance of the alley. The narrow passageway is partially blocked by a giant inflatable pumpkin that I may or may not have placed intentionally.
“Did you hear that?” she asks.
“What?” I press a line of kisses down the column of her throat. “I didn’t hear anything.”
She pushes me away by my forehead. “I thought I heard someone calling your name.”
“Was it you? Because you like saying my name when you—”
“Be quiet.” She pinches my side. “I think someone is looking for you.”
“Who would be looking for me?”
“I don’t know, but—”
I hear it. It’s faint through the music and the laughter and the buzzing of the six-foot inflatable grinning pumpkin, but I hear it. It sounds like someone is screeching my name, and it sounds like it’s—
“Is that Stella?” Nova asks, slipping out of my arms and wandering to the edge of the alley. She crouches behind the pumpkin and peers around the edge of it.
“Stella isn’t supposed to be back for another four days.”
I follow her and search the crowd milling around the town square. Gus is making questionable adjustments to the sculpture in the fountain while Montgomery directs him from the top of a ladder. Alex is having what looks like a heated argument with Nova’s sister, brandishing a historical romance like he’s preaching on a street corner. And Beckett is cradling a pumpkin to his chest, shaking his head while Jeremy pleads his case about…something. I don’t see Stella anywhere.
I inch my way out of the alley.
“Maybe we were just imagining—holy shit!”
