Old Fashioned Sweetie by Megan Wade
Charity
The entire wedding goes by in a blur of good food, a solid flow of social lubricant—also known as alcohol—lots of dancing and wonderful conversation. Strangely, I feel as though I’ve known the Valentines my entire life by the end of it, and I’m sad that I have to return to the city and to an empty apartment now that my bestie is moving out.
“I’m so ridiculously happy for you,” I say, a little on the tipsy side as I place my hands on Jade’s shoulders after the bar empties out of the relatives and friends who could make it to witness the wedding at short notice.
“I’m married.” She giggles and closes her eyes like she can’t quite believe that this is her life. “And did you see the guy I’m married to?” Now her eyes are on mine, and she’s giving me a look that can only be translated as meaning, ‘hubba-hubba’. I laugh and look across the room to where the tall, broad and bearded Kellen is standing with his brothers saying goodbye to their parents—a bubbly couple who still seem so young and in love despite their advanced years.
“He’s a catch, all right,” I say, my cheeks heating as I catch Vaughn’s eye.
“So are his brother’s.” Jade leans in a little closer to my ear. “Have you given anymore thought to Vaughn and my soulwink theory?”
Rolling my eyes, I laugh as I shake my head. “You are incorrigible tonight,” I say. “Give a girl a hot husband in a single day and suddenly she’s running around playing cupid.”
“I don’t think it’s me,” she whispers conspiratorially. “I think it’s this place.”
“The bar?” I asked, pointing at the floor.
Jade shakes her head. “No. Whisper Valley. Don’t you think it feels like there’s magic in the air here?”
“Honestly, I think that’s just the absence of smog you’re smelling. Not to mention, I think you’re drunk.” She blows a raspberry at that and I smile. “But it is beautiful here, I’ll give you that. So you can bet your ass I’ll be out here visiting plenty.”
“Good. Because I’d miss you too much if you didn’t visit.”
“Oh gosh. I’m gonna miss you anyway,” I say, wrapping my arms around her when my eyes get all misty. Weddings are such a happy occasion, but they also mark a moment of massive change. Jade’s marriage to Kellen means no more roommate, which means no more pajama and pizza nights, and no more bickering over whose turn it is to buy the wine or choose the movie. Over the years we’ve lived together, Jade has become more like a sister to me than just a simple friend. She means the world to me, and while I’m overly excited for this new phase in her life, I’m also a little nostalgic because I’m going to miss everything about her—even the fact that she has a habit of leaving tissues in her pockets that get shredded every time we do laundry.
“And now you’re making me cry,” Jade says with a laugh, wiping her eyes slightly as we part. Kellen appears by her side and slides his arm around her waist, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.
“You OK, sweetheart? Not regrettin’ saying ‘I do’ already, are you?”
Jade shakes her head immediately and laughs. “God, no. I’m just saying my goodbyes and making sure Charity promises to visit as much as possible.”
“Of course, I will,” I say, wiping away my tears.
Kellen turns to me and nods. “You are always welcome. And if you wanna spend a weekend here so you’re not drivin’ back and forth to the city all the time, we’ve got plenty of room. Me and Jade will be moving into one of the family cabins, so the apartment above the bar will become a bit of a guesthouse once I get all my stuff out of there.”
“Do I get to see this cabin of ours?” Jade asks, her attention going to Kellen. He leans in and brushes the tip of his nose against hers.
“I’ll take you out there first thing in the mornin’. But tonight, I’m gonna take you back upstairs.”
A giggle erupts from Jade, and I take that as my cue to leave, stepping over to the bar where Vaughn, Remy and Otis are having a final beer while they clean up some of the party mess.
“Anything I can do to help?” I ask, looking between them as I stop next to Vaughn. I can feel the warmth of his skin like a gentle caress and it takes everything I have not to lean into it.
“We’ve got this,” Otis says, giving me a wink as he and Remy grab a tray of empties and head into the kitchen. “You stay here and keep Vaughn company.”
“Is it me, or did that feel like a set up to you?” Vaughn says as he holds his beer bottle out to me. I don’t know why, but I take it and tip it back, feeling an intimate closeness to him while I drink, knowing my lips just touched something his lips were on.
“There seems to be some vested interest in the two of us getting along,” I say, placing a hand on my round hip as I offer the bottle back to him.
Vaughn’s eyes graze down the length of my body as he takes the beer from me and finishes it. “Well, I’m definitely interested. I’m still tryin’ to decide if we get along.”
“And how do we decide that?” I ask. “The wedding’s over, and I should probably go home since it’s a long drive, and I’m not doing anything to help with the clean up.”
“No way, sweetie,” he says, reaching down and taking my hand. “There is no way you’re sober enough to be drivin’ all that way. You’ll have to stay in town tonight. And don’t even think about refusin’. I have a spare bedroom at my place. You can sleep in there.”
“I don’t want to put anyone out.”
“Is it puttin’ anyone out if they offer?” he returns, brows raised.
“I…I guess not. I just—”
“Then it’s settled,” he says, tugging on my arm and leading me across the room. “You’ll stay with me.”
“OK,” I say, nervous butterflies flapping about inside me. I have never gone home with a man before. And while he’s offered me his guest room, I have an inkling of a feeling that maybe he wants to do a little more than just offer me a bed. The idea excites me, and I’m starting to wonder who this woman is. Part of the reason I’ve never been to a man’s house before, is that I’m dreadfully shy around the opposite sex and struggle to string two words together, let alone have an entire conversation. I hide behind books and giant coffee cups at the bookstore I manage, preferring to imagine relationships over participating in them. But with Vaughn…I don’t know, I feel like I can be me around him. That’s not normal for me, but it is refreshing.
“Got a favorite?” Vaughn stops in front of the jukebox that’s been providing the soundtrack all night and nods toward the song list.
I shrug. “Depends on my mood.”
Sucking his breath between his teeth, he thinks for a moment before meeting my eyes again. “What if you’re in the mood to dance and get to know someone better?”
Trying not to smile too hard, I lean closer to the list and pick the first song with a fitting title. “How about ‘Lost in This Moment?’”
Vaughn grins and selects it from the menu. “Great choice.”
He leads me into the center of the floor as the song lines up and starts, sliding a large, warm hand over my hip before he pulls me up against him, his fingers entwining with mine as our eyes lock. We’ve been dancing around this moment all night, that initial attraction I felt in the beginning coupled with Jade’s insistence on this ‘soulwink’ phenomenon causing me to feel extra nervous and shy around him. But now that the bar has cleared and the pressure of eyes watching us is gone, it feels natural to fall into his arms and dance with him.
“Am I wrong in thinkin’ you’ve been avoidin’ me tonight?” he asks, his voice smooth and rumbly, intimate.
I shake my head on instinct then bounce a shoulder. “A little. I’m really not that great at talking to guys.”
“All guys, or just the ones you’re attracted to?”
A blush creeps into my cheeks as I lower my gaze so I’m staring at his broad chest. I think about the heroes in the books I read, and the way authors describe their muscular bodies as hard and angular. From the wall of a man standing in front of me, hard is definitely a word I’d use too, but I’d also add the word ‘safe’ because that’s how I feel in his arms. It’s like my body knows instinctually he’d never hurt me. “The ones I’m attracted to,” I whisper finally, forcing my eyes back up to his. “I was mindful of getting Jade’s hopes up too.”
His brows lift so high they almost hit his dark hairline. “What kind of hopes does she have?”
Giggling, I shake my head and look around the room, making sure we’re alone before I speak of her theory about Whisper Valley. “She thinks the air here is magical and makes people fall in love at first sight. She’s calling it a soulwink.”
“A soulwink?” he says, slowly nodding as he turns the term over in his mind. “What’s that? Like, when your souls meet and connect?”
“I guess. She explained it by saying that it’s like they see each other across a room and wink at each other. Like a ‘how you doin’ of the spiritual part of us.”
He grins, his eyes taking on a far away quality before he twirls me under his arm then brings me back in close. “I like it,” he says finally.
“Soulwinks?” I ask, laughing at the absurdity.
“Yeah. Why not?” he says, rocking us both from side to side with the music. “Who are we to say it’s not real? Love at first sight does exist, you know. We just watched it happen.”
“I know. And I don’t want to be the skeptic in the room, but what if it’s just lust? What if in a couple of months it turns out that they can’t stand the sound of the other person’s chewing?”
He laughs as the song finishes and the jukebox falls silent. “At least they’ll both know that they followed their heart. I’d hate to be in a position where I thought I had the woman who could be my soulmate in front of me, but I didn’t do anything about it.”
“What would you do?” I ask, my heart thumping so hard I wonder if it can be seen from the outside.
“This,” he murmurs, sliding a hand against the side of my face and leaning in.
