On my last full day in Emerald Creek, I wake at dawn to the sound of rain pattering against the closed window. A gray weather to reflect my blue mood. Merely three weeks have passed since Travis and I declared our love for each other, but the movie is already complete. Most of the production crew left yesterday, and all I could do was steal an extra day to say goodbye.
Irony of ironies, right?
I’ve spent all this time obsessing over ways to find a job in Emerald Creek and always came out empty-handed. And so tomorrow I go back to New York.
“Is it time to get up?” I murmur sleepily.
“No, baby. Go back to sleep.”
Travis pulls me against him, and I snuggle in, dozing off once more.
When I wake again, the rain is still pattering against the house, thunder rumbling in the distance. I’m curled into Travis’s side, a leg thrown across his, my hand resting just above the steady thrum of his heartbeat while he sleeps peacefully.
His face is a work of art. That perfectly straight nose and defined jaw. The lips that give so much pleasure. Even in his sleep, his mouth is curved at the corners. That grin that, when turned on me, makes my stomach feel like I’m free-falling. Golden lashes hide his hazel-green eyes. I study the barely visible crinkle around them now that his expression is relaxed. Gosh, I love his face.
I take another look out the window. The weather hasn’t improved, and neither has my mood. But Travis and I still have one day and one night together, and I’m going to make the most of it.
I pull the sheet down his body, taking my time and reveling in the view. For a lawyer turned mayor, he has more the body of a farmer or a construction worker. Powerful broad shoulders, a flat-muscled chest and stomach, and strong, athletic thighs. The mayor looks like someone who spends his days outside, working with his hands and not stuck behind a desk for most of his time. Guess Duncan knows what he’s doing if he can achieve such perfection with a few training sessions a week. I must remember to send the sheriff a thank you note before I leave.
Travis opens an eyelid and catches me staring. “What are you thinking about, Baker?”
“Actually, I was thinking about Duncan,” I say teasingly.
Travis rolls on top of me and pins me to the mattress. “You’re in bed with me and you’re thinking about another man?”
“The sheriff is also your personal trainer.” I free one of my hands and trail it down his chest. “I was sending him a silent gratitude message for all this.” I skim my fingertips over his ripped abs, exploring.
In response, Travis rains kisses down on me, soon followed by gentle nibbles down my neck, across my jaw. When his lips finally find mine, they ignite a fire that, in no time, builds into a scorching inferno of need.
Thunder rumbles outside the window as we make love. His eyes never leaving mine as we become one.
Later, when I come to, it feels like hours have passed. Travis’s arm is still wrapped around me, pulling me tighter against him. I grab my phone from the nightstand and squint at the digits.
“It’s nine o’clock!” I gasp. “We slept in.”
Travis grunts in reply.
I press my face to his and whisper, “Don’t you have to go to work?”
“I took the day off.”
“You did?” My eyes widen.
“Yep.” With his free hand, he brushes the hair away from my forehead. “I thought we should spend our last day together.”
“Lucky me.” I kiss his stubble-covered jaw. “Any plans in particular?”
Travis stares out the window at the plum sky. “How about breakfast to start?”
“A girl could eat.”
The mayor kisses me on the forehead and rolls over to get out of bed. He’s gloriously naked and I catch myself admiring the view for a moment. I can’t help but smile as I watch him dress. It’s almost as sexy as watching him undress.
I grab the purple throw from the foot of the bed and wrap it around my naked body to search for my clothes. The underwear is pretty easy to locate, but the idea of squeezing back into the dress I was wearing last night is totally unappealing so, when I find the shirt Travis wore yesterday, I put that on instead.
We have pancakes overflowed with maple syrup and fresh orange juice on the back porch, enjoying the rainy morning.
“What time do you have to leave tomorrow?” Travis asks.
“My flight is at nine-thirty, so I’ll need to pick up Celia at your mom’s ranch at seven-ish to keep a comfortable buffer.”
“I was thinking we could have a picnic today, but the weather isn’t cooperating.”
I stare at the thundering sky. “What about a porch-nic. The view is still beautiful, and the company is all that really matters.”
“I like the way you think, Baker.”
We finish our breakfast and he carries the dishes inside. I take a seat on the porch swing, waiting for him while I cradle a warm cup of coffee in my hands. I close my eyes, letting the rhythm of the swing lull me. Tomorrow night, I’ll be alone in my apartment, 800 miles away from the ranch, from Emerald Creek, and from Travis.
The idea of returning home brings me zero joy. New York is where I’ve always belonged. Heaven knows I miss my friends, and I miss Manhattan. But there’s no Travis Hunt in the city. And there’s no movie producer job in Emerald Creek. The whole catch-22 situation keeps swirling around my head in an endless loop.
Sometime later, Travis slips a blanket around me. I snuggle into the soft material and breathe in his familiar scent trapped in the fabric.
Tomorrow will be a temporary goodbye. Travis already has tickets booked to come visit. We’ll see each other again in less than ten days. Still, after two months when we’ve been together every night, it’ll feel like forever.
Travis sits next to me, nursing his own thoughts.
“Are you already packed?” he asks after a while.
“Yeah. I took care of that yesterday. I didn’t want to waste a second of today on trivial stuff.”
Travis’s lips curl in that familiar smirk. “That must’ve taken you a minute. Did all your shoes fit back into the dead-body trunks?”
I swat him, playfully. “Yes, thank you.”
We eat lunch on a blanket laid on the porch, which is ridiculous considering we’re three feet away from the table. But it’s also very romantic. And with the rain falling incessantly around us, we don’t even feel guilty about spending the entire afternoon in bed.
When the rain finally breaks at five, Travis asks, “What do you say about one last dance night? It’s Wednesday after all.”
Wednesday dance nights have become our thing and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my last night in Indiana. “Only if you promise to take me to Billy Bob’s later for burgers.”
“I can live with that.” Travis’s grin is wolfish.
“Hey,” I mock-chide. “I’m not your appetizer.”
“Are you sure? Because you look good enough to eat.”
I giggle and wiggle out of bed.
“Where are you going?” Travis protests.
“If we want to get to the dance hall in time, I need to shower.”
“I could help you lather up.”
I lean my head on his wardrobe. “I’m going to regret this, but I have to say no.”
“Are you sure?” His voice is hoarse.
“You’re going to have to wait until later when we get back.”
Travis laughs. “I guess I can suffer until then.”
***
Three hours later, we’re sliding into a booth at Billy Bob’s, already making plans for Travis’s first visit.
“What’s the single thing you miss the most about New York?” I ask.
Travis chews his burger and thoughtfully looks away. “You can’t narrow New York down to one thing.”
I bite into my fries. “Come on, there must be something.”
Travis rubs his chin in thought. “The problem is there are too many things. The variety of people in the city. The theater. The art showings…”
“How about fashion week?” I can’t help but fish a little. I haven’t asked about his ex-girlfriend once, but he also hasn’t volunteered any info.
Travis shrugs. “Not particularly. And my ex is married with three kids in case you were wondering. She married an investment banker and quit her job two months later. We were never meant to be.”
“I wasn’t fishing,” I say innocently.
Travis throws a fry at me. “You so were, Baker. Admit it.”
“I’d like to assert my Fifth Amendment right.”
Travis chuckles and then, shrugging, he adds, “I guess I also miss the convenience of being close to a decent Thai restaurant.”
“Ah, Thai cuisine still hasn’t made it to Emerald Creek. I could add ‘open a Thai restaurant’ to my list of potential alternative career paths,” I say only half-jokingly.
He leans across the table and flashes me a dimpled grin. “No shop talk, Baker.”
We agreed earlier to act as if tonight were any other night and next weekend just a romantic trip as opposed to the results of our imminent separation.
“Do you want to attend a show on Friday? I could check what’s on Broadway?”
“I don’t know. Sitting next to you in a dark room where I can’t take your clothes off for hours at a time seems like a slow kind of torture.”
I nod. “Thai take-out and plenty of naked time, got it.”
Travis roars with laughter. “Sounds like a plan, Baker.”
And just like that, we end up back at Travis’s house.
Wordlessly, Travis slides the door shut behind us and turns to face me. I can’t see his face in the dark, only make out his form in the moonlight streaming in through the window. The mayor doesn’t bother to switch on the lights. Clothed in semi-darkens, he looks more handsome and feral than ever.
It isn’t until I bump into the couch with the back of my legs that I realize I’m backing away.
“You look beautiful tonight,” he whispers as he approaches, taking small steps to close the distance between us. He hasn’t touched me yet, but my body is already humming with anticipation.
“You look pretty good yourself, Mr. Mayor,” I say, running a hand down his shirt to smooth out the wrinkles. My fingers meet with soft cotton over hard muscle.
“Thank you for baking the worst cake in the world,” Travis whispers.
“Thank you for… smashing it on my favorite dress?”
I feel his smile against my lips.
“My pleasure,” he says.
Travis pulls my hands up to his lips and kisses my fingers, one by one.
A warm breath and then his soft lips finally touch mine. At first, it is a chaste kiss, slow and teasing. Then he takes hold of my face and pulls me closer to deepen the contact. He tastes of coffee, salted caramel, and Travis, and all of it makes my head spin. His lips feel like home and I long for more.
“You didn’t get enough of me on the dance floor?” I ask breathlessly.
“Mmm, no. Not. Even. Close.” He drops a kiss on my neck after each word.
Travis pulls me closer and all of a sudden, he’s everywhere. His hands are in my hair, at the small of my back, on my face, his mouth is doing wicked things to the skin below my ear.
“You’re driving me crazy,” I say.
“That’s the plan, Baker,” he says, his voice husky.
Then his mouth is on mine again, and I feel myself melt into him one last time.