Free Belle and Valentine by Tressie Lockwood Page A

long stride and placed a large hand behind her neck to pull her to him. She fell against his chest, her hands coming up in front of her automatically. “Don’t presume to tell me where my place is, Zuria.”
    “I—”
    His beautiful gaze burned into hers, sapping her of any strength she had left. “I let you go because I thought I was just this country small town boy who didn’t know anything. You had a better opportunity in that guy.”
    She made a small noise of protest. Funny how she’d thought she was headed for something bigger and better, and even now, she had decided to leave because she wanted to start over, and that meant anywhere but Aves.
    “This time,” Fane said, stroking a thumb over her cheek, “when you leave, take the guy who loves you.”
    “The…guy…who…” she squeaked, breath in short supply.
    Fane grasped her around the waist and hoisted her to the top of a washing machine. He pressed between her legs and held her tight for a moment before raising his head and looking into her eyes.
    “I’m going to explain this to you once, and then if it doesn’t satisfy you, we’ll figure something else out to fix it.”
    She started to ask what he was talking about, but he laid a finger over her lips.
    “I was stupid not to tell you I was going to do everything I could to charm that old lady, including eating her dry pot roast.”
    “Widow Wilkes?”
    He nodded. “Still cooking at her age—badly. Anyway, I knew Dixie Ann would be there. I also knew I’d tell her about us and that I love you.”
    Zuria gaped. “You didn’t.”
    “I tried. She dumped wine down my shirt. Her grandmother insisted I let Dixie Ann wash my shirt for me. What a disaster, especially when you called to tell me about Sam. I know what you thought, Zuria, but nothing more than what I told you happened. Except, of course, that I got Widow Wilkes to agree to let us use her building. It wasn’t all that hard, actually.”
    Zuria wasn’t sure what to think. “But Dixie Ann came in to the shop all happy like she’d conquered you.”
    “Maybe she thought she had. Look what you thought afterward. She was probably convinced you would refuse to ever see me again. What she didn’t know was how stubborn I am and how I was determined to keep you. I’m not the boy I once was. I’m a man who knows what he wants and goes after it. I’m still a country small-town guy, and you belong to me, Zuria.”
    “Don’t I get a say in this?” He was killing her with all these confessions.
    His hand crept beneath her blouse, and the pad of one thumb brushed her nipple. She had a choice all right—to fall into his arms and beg him to take her.
    “Tell me you don’t want me,” he said.
    She captured his hand and pushed it away, her eyelids heavy. “Want is not the same as love.”
    “Then I will be patient. I’ll show you how I feel and wait until you come to feel the same.”
    “Fane, I don’t think—”
    Air breaks squeaked outside, and Zuria looked through the picture window to see the bus pull up. Her heart skittered in her chest. She wanted Fane. To leave him after he had declared his love was preposterous, but what if it was just words to get her to stay? Fane left a line of broken hearts in his wake even when they were young, but no one had ever claimed he lied to them and made promises he didn’t intend to keep. No one had said Fane told them he loved them.
    She looked back at Fane. “What are you really saying?”
    He didn’t hesitate or seem unsure. “I’m saying I love you, Zuria Belle, and I want to be with you, whether it’s here in Aves or any place else.”
    With his hands resting on her thighs, she couldn’t think straight. This was crazy. She couldn’t let Fane leave Sam behind. Sam loved Aves. He wouldn’t in a million years think of leaving, and why should he? He had found success here, and so had Fane.
    “I can’t let you leave Aves or the coffee shop. I know how you love it. You’ve never