Free Just Want Somebody to Love (Bella Warren Book 1) by Keri Ford

under her arm.
    Heat filled Whitney’s cheeks. “Do you know Justin Rawlings?”
    “Brandon’s brother?”
    Whitney nodded. She wasn’t BFF’s with Melody, but they weren’t enemies. Just the kind of friends who passed in talking. “Yep.”
    “I haven’t seen him since last night when I heard he left the bar with you.”
    More warmth in her face that bloomed to her chest. “All right then.”
    “Can I get you something?”
    “I’ll wait. Thanks.”
    She sat back in her chair as a hard breath blew out of her. Who knew meeting a guy would be so exhausting? If she’d had half a brain functioning when he left, she would have realized this was the last place they needed to meet on a Sunday at lunchtime. She would have picked the park instead. Or hell, she could have just met him at the bar, and they could have gone from there.
    She checked her phone and saw it was already ticking over to twelve forty-five. Maybe he’d already walked in, saw her, and left. She could have been distracted with the Sunday school questions. If she looked like trash, then he could have walked in, made excuses and left. She tugged her shirt down, hoping Kara was right, regardless of her brother’s opinion. Considering they were meeting for sex, it probably didn’t matter what she wore.
    An uncomfortable bounce started in her belly.
    She bit at her lip. Or maybe she was terrible and that’s why he left last night instead of staying. This meet was a fake-date. He’d agreed to get out of there faster. She drummed on the table.
    No.
    If she was awful, he wouldn’t have been there last night for as long and doing all that he did. Nerves, that’s all. It’s not like she did this kind of thing every day. Even when she was a teenager, she didn’t arrange hookups. She flipped hair away from her neck. Was it getting extra hot in here? Damn window. The sun beamed through it.
    Melody stopped back by. “You sure you don’t want something while you wait?”
    “How about a Dr. Pepper?” Something to cool her off. And all that caffeine. Oh boy.
    Melody walked off, and Whitney bit back the urge to call her back and change it to water. She focused on a spot in the center of the table before she launched out of her seat. She had to calm down. He planned to talk with Brandon this morning, and then he said he’d be here.
    Hell, she’d slept in, so he probably did too and then lost track of the time talking with Brandon. They were brothers. It wasn’t a crime. If it was, she’d have been thrown in the slammer ages ago. Besides, this kind of worked in her favor. If he was late because time got away from him, well then, she could picture his apology now.
    I’m so sorry. We got to talking, and when I saw the time, I ran over here as fast as I could. How will I ever make it up to you?
    A dark chuckle and big grin got to her. Oh, she could come up with so many ideas and ways to answer that question.
    Melody dropped her drink off. Her lips parted like she planned to say something, but someone on the other side of the diner hollered.
    Whitney sipped and cooled the heat inside her. Any minute now and he’d be here and the kissing would start soon after. Lots and lots of kissing. He wasn’t like other guys. She suspected he wasn’t an ass man. Or a leg man or boob guy. He was a lips man. With a mouth like his, she was finding a new love for kissing.
    Long, slow kisses that started at her mouth, but didn’t always end there.
    She shifted in her seat. Her legs stiffened and butt ached as the big family in the middle of the room gathered up their things and left. She’d been here longer than it took to serve that big table. She was afraid to see what time it was, but knew she had to.
    She should have stuck with being afraid. Or maybe she’d read the time wrong. She leaned back over her phone and turned on the screen only to be hit with disappointment two times in a row. The white numbers in the top corner beamed the truth at her. He wasn’t just a