Mad About Matt (A Red Maple Falls Novel #1) Page 7

  “Didn’t guess you to be the type to go to the movies, but here you are.”

  “I try to come every now and again to help keep it going. I had a lot of great times in this place, and it would kill me to see it close. Plus, there isn’t a whole lot for teens to do in these parts. This is the one place they still have to keep them out of trouble.”

  “If I recall it never kept you out of trouble.”

  He laughed. “I suppose you’re right.”

  On the screen, Marty McFly got blown across the room, the bookshelf falling on top of him. The movie had started and even though there was no one in any of the other seats, Shay closed her mouth and settled into her chair.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the rise and fall of Matt’s chest, the slight curve of his lips every time Doc Brown did something crazy. She could feel heat radiating off of his body and mixing with hers, smell that delicious scent of cedar and lemons, making her light-headed and delirious.

  She thought of the many times they’d sat in this exact theater as kids and lost themselves in each other instead of the movie. She remembered how soft his lips were against hers, how she hadn’t cared who’d see them because she was in love and she wanted everyone to know.

  Matt leaned over, his mouth so close to her ear she could feel the warmth of his breath. Goosebumps rose on her neck and sprinkled down her arm, turning her memories into the present. “Want to make-out?” he asked, and she pulled back, meeting his eyes. “For old time’s sake,” he added, those damn eyes of his sparkling in the dim light.

  She wanted nothing more than to capture his lips with hers, slide her tongue against his as his hand inched ever so slowly up the hem of her shirt, but she couldn’t tell if he was serious or making a joke about their past because being in there, next to each other, made it impossible not to remember.

  “I…” she started and stopped. Heat flared across her chest, creeping up her neck and into her cheeks. Moisture pooled between her legs as she thought about all the places on her his lips had been and how she wanted nothing more than for them to rediscover her. “This is my favorite part,” she finally said, pointing to the screen.

  “It was worth a shot.” That smirk of his played at the edges of his lips as he looked back toward the screen. “This is my favorite part, too. George knocks the asshole out and gets the girl.”

  “Aren’t you the romantic.”

  “Not as much as I like to root for the little guy. George might not be the obvious choice for Lorraine, but he’s the right choice.”

  Shay couldn’t take her eyes off of Matt as he spoke, as if his words weren’t about George and Lorraine at all, but about them. Matt had never been the obvious choice—he didn’t go to prep school and move on to an Ivy League college, he didn’t wear a tie to work every day and spend his holidays in tropical locations. He was born and raised in the same town, wore a uniform, took an oath to protect the citizens of his town, and spent his holidays with family at home. No, he wasn’t the obvious choice for her by any means, but he had always been the right choice.

  She’d known it when she was twelve-years-old and first laid eyes on him. Known it body and soul when she was seventeen and fell deeply and madly in love with him. She had known it every day of her life since, but they had their chance and she walked away. She chose to listen to her mother and follow her lead from one obvious choice to the next, always knowing no matter what it would never be right. Her ship had come, and she let it sail off without her, staying behind on the shore and suffering from regrets, only having the memories of their time together to hold onto.

  He turned his head, catching her eyes and staring at her with the intensity that made her knees go weak, her mind go foggy, and her heart skip a beat. Maybe it would be easier if he grew up bald and fat. Maybe then she’d be able to resist the desires sparking to life inside of her.

  Though, his looks wouldn’t have made a difference because it was never about them. She fell in love with his heart not his looks; they were just an added bonus.

  She swallowed down the desire to reach across the tiny arm rest and take his face in her hands, feel the strong curve of his jaw, have her skin against his, their body heat becoming one.

  “Fuck it,” he said, his hand reaching across the small space between them and wrapping around her head. He pulled her to him as his lips crashed against hers, his fingers lacing into her hair.

  She gasped, but it was lost to the motion of her mouth syncing with his, gliding together and reuniting. He tasted of root beer and sin, a delicious combination that had heat shooting to her core and her sex throbbing with desire.

  His tongue thrust into her mouth, hungry and searching. She met him in a tangled dance, sliding together, a battle of give and take until they moved as one.

  All the years of missing him, wanting him, still loving him… poured out of her and into their kiss. Desperation and longing slammed together as she dug her fingers into his chest, grabbing hold of his flannel shirt and pulling him closer to her.

  She held on, afraid to let go because she knew those consequences all too well, and she wasn’t ready to face them again. She wanted to stay forever in this moment that was fueled by passion and desire, craving and yearning. She wanted to forget about all the years they weren’t together and continue where they’d left off.

  But as the familiar music brought the movie to a close and the lights turned back on in the theater, reality set in and the moment was lost, destined to be just another memory.

  Matt pulled away first, resting his head on her forehead before cursing under his breath and slumping into his chair. “Sorry,” he said his voice gruff.

  Sorry? What did he have to be sorry for? He might have started it, but she didn’t stop him. If anything, she prolonged it.

  “There will be a five-minute intermission before the next movie plays,” the boy who she bought her ticket from said. He had a stupid smirk on his face as he looked over at them, and Shay suddenly felt like a kid being caught red-handed. She ran a hand through her hair and pulled out the hair tie that barely held its place before securing it.

  The kid left, and it was just the two of them again. Silence spread between them like an ugly plague that there was no cure for.

  Matt let out a sigh then stood up. “I should go.”

  Shay grabbed his hand in desperation. “There’s still another movie. You can’t go.”

  He looked down at her hand wrapped around his. She waited for him to shake free of her hold, but he never did. Instead, he turned back to his seat and sat down beside her, linking his fingers through hers.

  The tension in her body released, and she bit her lip to keep from smiling.

  “Why do you think they’re showing the third movie in the series and not the second?” she asked because she didn’t want to sit in silence. Once upon a time they could talk for hours, and she missed that. If making small talk was a way to get back to what they once had, she was willing to try it.

  “I learned to stop wondering about things like that in this town and just embrace the peculiarity.”

  “I like the third one better anyway.”

  “No way. The second was better.”

  “Nuh uh. I have to strongly disagree with you there.”

  “The second one had hoverboards, flying cars, self-drying clothes, and hoverboards.”

  “We have hoverboards too. They send people to the hospital,” she said with a laugh.

  “Totally different than the ones in the movie. Can’t even compare.”

  “I’ll give you that.” She popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth. Most of it had spilled on the floor during their make-out session. She felt bad for the kid who had to clean it up.

  “Why the third one?” Matt asked.

  “Why not? It’s basically a western, which if you really think about it, is kind of a love letter to cinema. Then there’s Doc and Clara. He finally gets a family, his happily ever after. It’s the perfect conclusion.”

  “It has to be. They destroy the time machine.”

  “Which makes it even more perfect.”

  “What you’re saying is you like it for the sappy shit.”

  “What can I say? I’m a romantic at heart.”

  “Do you think every conclusion gets a happily ever after?” His eyes locked with hers, looking beyond the surface and piercing her soul. They didn’t get a happily ever after, but what they had wasn’t a conclusion; she was here now, and they had a shot at a sequel.

  “I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. “But I sure hope so.”

  Chapter 8

  Matt still had the taste of Shay on his lips—sweet with a touch of salt from the popcorn. He had no idea what came over him when he’d kissed her, but now that he had it was all he wanted to do. He didn’t get up and plan to leave because he was embarrassed of his actions; it was because the desire to kiss her again, feel her tongue slide against his, her hands tighten around his neck, was so damn strong. Walking away was the only thing he could think of to do before he lost control. But when her hand had wrapped around his, and she’d looked up at him with those big beautiful eyes, and asked him to stay, he couldn’t refuse.

  He deserved a damn trophy for sitting there, surrounded by her vanilla scent, watching the rise and fall of her chest with each breath without reaching out to her, pulling her close, and revisiting those beautiful lips. God, they were as addicting as they once were, and if Petey hadn’t interrupted them during intermission, Matt didn’t think he would’ve been able to stop.

  They walked out of the theater together. “See you soon, Petey,” he said with a wave as he held the door for Shay.

  Shay smiled as she passed, the green of her shirt bringing out the green in her eyes. She stopped,
staring at him with a dopey look on her face.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” she said with a smirk.

  “You’re going to look at me like that and tell me it’s nothing?”

  “It’s just… these days you can come across a little rough around the edges, but then you bend down to little Tommy Kramer to wish him a happy birthday or wave goodbye to the kid who works at the movie theater—whose name you actually know—and I get a glimpse of the boy you used to be. He’s still inside you, and I don’t know… It’s nice to know he still exists, even if he is hiding behind a cranky old man.”

  “Look who’s calling who old.”

  “I like how you’re not offended by the cranky part. And besides, you’ll always be older than me.”

  “By eleven months.”

  “Still older.”

  “I can see the girl who was at times shy, but never had a problem speaking her mind. Still doesn’t.”

  “What can I say? You have that effect on me.” She patted his chest and missing the feel of her skin, he grabbed her hand, holding it against his chest.

  “Lucky me.”

  The heat of her touch was almost too much to ignore. He wanted to feel her hand sliding across his bare chest, moving down his body, and wrapping eagerly around his hard length.

  But sex with Shay was a bad idea because it wouldn’t just be sex. It never was. What they shared was beyond just bodies coming together; it was mind, body, and soul converging, syncing their hearts to beat as one.

  They were young, each other’s first loves, during a summer that was as hot as it was memorable. Maybe it wasn’t just sex because he didn’t know any better. Maybe sex with Shay now would be just sex. No cosmic connection like their bodies were meant to come together, just an old fashioned good time between two people who were attracted to one another.

  He’d reacquainted himself with the taste of her lips, the feel of her hair falling through his fingers, now he wanted to know how soft her skin was, if her breasts still filled his hand like they were meant to be held by him. Did her eyes still flutter shut as she was on the brink of an orgasm and would she cuddle up to him after?

  “I’m this way,” Shay said, pointing toward the street.

  Matt looked around, but didn’t see Shay’s car. “Where are you parked?”

  “I walked from the bakery.”

  “I’ll walk you back.”

  She didn’t argue, and he was happy. He wanted to be near her, and if it was only for a few more minutes, then he was going to hold onto those few minutes.

  The night was warm, but there was still a chill from the lingering winter air. Shay ran a hand down her arms, and while he had a sweatshirt back in his car, he was happy he didn’t have it with him.

  “Cold?” he asked.

  “Always,” she said with a smile. Matt wrapped his hand around her back, resting it on her shoulder and pulling her against his side.

  “Better?”

  “Yes.” It was only one word, but the raspy tone in Shay’s voice had Matt hardening in his jeans.

  “I never asked you…” he said, hoping to take his attention away from his growing desire.

  “Kind of hard to ask me anything when we never really talked,” Shay interrupted, and he smirked.

  “Suppose you’re right. So since we’re talking, tell me why. Why did you come back?”

  She stiffened for a moment, her steps falling out of sync briefly before lining up again. “I guess what it comes down to is freedom. The bakery is the first thing I did on my own with no help from my parents.”

  “You had a job in New York.”

  “My degree and experience wouldn’t have even gotten me in the door for my interview. My dad made a few phone calls and next thing I knew I got the job.”

  “That was all you.”

  “I wish I could say it was, but the truth is, my boss’s father-in-law was good friends with my father. Would’ve made for awkward social gatherings if I wasn’t hired.”

  “How long did you work there?’

  “Seven years.”

  “See? That was all you. They wouldn’t have kept you on if they didn’t think you were any good.”

  “Make no mistake, I was great at my job.”

  “But?”

  She turned her eyes to him, eyebrows knitting together, creating little wrinkles on the bridge of her nose that he had to admit were damn adorable.

  “I feel like there’s a ‘but’ in there,” he clarified.

  She was silent for a minute, her teeth sliding over her plump bottom lip as if she was debating whether or not to admit her true feelings. “But,” she finally said, “I didn’t love it. In the beginning, I did, but after a while the competitive nature of the business, always having to be on my game, schmoozing people I despised… it got old and tiring. I wanted something more. Something that fulfilled me and not just a quota.”

  “Did you find it?”

  “I did. The bakery is my world. A dream come true really.”

  “Hence the name.”

  “Exactly. It’s more of me than anything I have ever done. It’s part of my history. Every time I make a blueberry scone, I think of my grandmother on Sunday mornings in her apron, humming happily to herself as she dropped the blueberries into the bowl. When I hand a little kid a cupcake and their face lights up, it reminds me of all the cupcakes my grandmother made me through the years and how I looked forward to them every summer. When an old man comes in and sits down with a cup of coffee, a pastry, and the paper, it reminds me of my grandfather sitting at the kitchen table while my grandmother taught me how to make homemade icing. The bakery reminds me of all the good parts from my childhood. The things I want to remember. Sappy, I know.”

  Matt came to a stop, walking in front of Shay and resting his hand on her neck. “Not sappy. Not sappy at all.” He ran his thumb across the apple of her cheek, relishing in the softness of her skin before letting his hand fall back to his side. “My parent’s farm holds all my childhood memories, and I couldn’t imagine not being able to go there and revisit them. You found a way to capture the things that mean the most to you and there is nothing sappy about that. And now you’re helping to create new memories for all the people who come to your shop. I bet you anything Tommy Kramer will remember those dinosaur cupcakes for years to come.”

  “He better after the nightmare they caused,” Shay said with a laugh, and god if he didn’t want to haul her up against a building and devour her with a kiss until her legs were weak and she needed him to keep her standing. “But you’re absolutely right. I’m in the business of making memories, and I don’t think there is a job in the world that would be more satisfying. At least for me.”

  “You found your calling.”

  “What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “You didn’t always want to be the town Sheriff. You wanted to take over the farm and be just like your dad. What changed?”

  You. The words were on his tongue, but he didn’t speak them. There were some things he didn’t like to talk about, and his time in the Marines from eighteen—after losing Shay—until twenty-two, when he came home instead of reenlisting, was one of them.

  He’d been devastated when he’d lost her. She had become the center of his world and the thought of continuing his life as planned left him restless and anxious. He’d needed to take a different path and the service seemed the best course of action. He’d wanted to become the kind of person that his family and town would be proud of. Someone people would look up to. Unfortunately becoming a soldier was more difficult than he could’ve ever imagined. He learned discipline and honor but had also seen and did things he certainly was not proud of.

  Being Sheriff of a small town was nothing like the Marines, but he still woke up every morning and put a uniform on to serve the people, and that was what was important to him.

  Shay didn’t need to know any of that, and the fact that she was even asking what changed his plans made it obvious that Kate never mentioned anything to Shay about his time overseas. Which was a relief in itself since it was one less person he would have to silence on the subject. He did not like thinking back on his time in the service, never mind discussing it with anyone. It took his family a couple of months to learn that no matter how many questions they asked, he wasn’t going to answer. Eventually they stopped asking.