Free Kiss Me That Way: A Cottonbloom Novel by Laura Trentham

erupted. Delmar smiled and started another tune.
    “He’s amazing.”
    Cade startled. Monroe was beside him, her voice filled with wonder. She was still in her work clothes.
    “He is,” he said simply.
    The look she cast him was both shy and teasing. “Hope you don’t mind that I came? You didn’t mention it, so I wasn’t sure you wanted me here. Tally texted me after you left.”
    “I want you here.” He was slightly embarrassed at how vehement he sounded. “I didn’t know about it until I walked over here after our appointment. Got stuck setting up for my own party.”
    Another haunting song filled the evening air. Although low conversations took place all around them, he and Monroe stared at each other. It should have been intensely uncomfortable. Instead, it was just intense.
    When the song ended, he said, “Let’s take a walk.”
    He didn’t wait for an answer and grabbed two cupcakes on his way down the street. Once they left the chaos behind, he handed one over. She took a bite and moaned. His gaze shot to her face. Although the pleasure wasn’t sexual, arousal flickered in his body. She licked a dab of icing off her upper lip.
    “Ms. Effie made these, didn’t she?”
    “How’d you know?”
    “Tally brings them to the gym on occasion.” She glanced back at the people. “Should you be wandering away from your own party?”
    “No one will miss me. I have a feeling my Louisiana brethren search for any excuse to throw a block party.”
    Her laugh made him smile. She forced them to walk slowly. He didn’t plan to complain. At the end of River Street stood the abandoned Cottonbloom Park. Two swings hung from the rusted metal A-frame in the dilapidated playground. The overgrown skeleton of a baseball field stood in the distance.
    Part of him was afraid she’d bring up their earlier conversation, but the simplicity of the moment must have affected her as well. After testing the strength of the seat and chains, Cade gestured to the swing. Monroe sat and swayed from side to side, the chain squeaking from disuse. He gave her a push. Her hair was up, but the motion sent wispy pieces around her face. Three more strong pushes had her flying high, and he limped back around so he could see her face.
    She leaned back and tilted her face to the sky, her eyes closed. The swing slowed, the squeak growing dimmer. With a laugh, she jumped out of the seat to land close to him.
    “That was fun. It’s been years since I was on a playground.”
    A whistle cut to him. His brother was making wild hand gestures. “If Sawyer embarrasses me, I’m going to put him in a headlock later.”
    “Maybe he’s planning on giving a heartfelt speech about what you mean to him.”
    Cade barked a laugh. Not likely. The two of them hadn’t managed to be more than civil with each over since he’d been back. When he’d moved the truck into the garage, the civility threatened to crumble into outright hostility.
    The closer he and Monroe drew to the crowd, the more he slowed, partly because of his knee and partly because he wanted more time with her. “Are you sticking around?”
    She checked her watch. “Actually, I have some stuff to take care of.”
    Did her stuff involve Tarwater? It shouldn’t matter, because Cade had no claim on her. It mattered. “All right, I’ll see you at our next appointment then.”
    “Don’t rush things with your leg.” She wagged a finger and backed away.
    A group of men who were contemporaries of his father gathered around him and Sawyer to reminisce and blocked Cade’s view of her. By the time he got the chance to look, she had disappeared across the river.

 
    Chapter Six
    The next day, unwilling to examine the feeling of something missing from her day, Monroe pulled up to Sawyer Fournette’s house and parked behind Tally’s car. She hopped out of her SUV, smoothing a hand down the front of her sleeveless white blouse and tucking her still-damp-from-the-shower hair behind an ear.
    Instead