All Layla Foster wants is to launch her own branch off of her parent's fitness company. But how is she supposed to focus on making her one shot a success when her client's brother makes her feel things she swore off a long time ago?
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Layla...
Those words and the way Dawson's voice sounded when he said them--so steady, yet so...vulnerable--replayed over and over in Layla's mind on the drive to Red View. They were still taunting her when she, Kenzie, and Annie walked inside Tilted, the chic restaurant just down the river from Rushing Waters.
The atmosphere here was clearly more adult, thanks to the dim lighting, sleek bar, and the sultry jazz music that was coming from the live band on the stage in the back. But the classy, upscale ambience of the restaurant barely even registered with Layla. She may as well have been back at the orchard, still standing frozen in front of Dawson, letting his words sink in.
Kenzie and Annie were talking about Kenzie's return to work now that the schoolyear was approaching, and Layla did her best to nod at the right times, making periodic hums of understanding. She even managed to smile at the hostess who brought them to their table.
"It's nice we came on a night with live music. They have musicians here at least once a week," Kenzie explained to Annie and Layla once they were seated. The place was busy, most tables occupied by groups of friends or flirting couples. "It's too bad it was built after Cliff left, or I'm sure he would have performed."
"Cliff?" Annie asked as she opened the small, glossy menu in front of her. She was dressed in a simple black turtle-neck dress, one that seemed too harsh and closed off for the delicate blonde. It seemed to be wearing her, as opposed to the other way around.
Kenzie explained about her older brother with an excited smile, but Layla's thoughts remained occupied by the younger one.
He hadn't been referring to a fling of any kind. No, it was obvious from his words and the evenness of his hushed voice that what he meant was something much deeper. The look in his eyes, that steady gaze... there was no joke, no challenge. Just pure honesty. He wanted her in all the ways she'd been denying she wanted him.
This is crazy, she told herself, opening her menu and mindlessly scanning the cursive. So they'd opened up to each other, shared their secrets and revealed they had more in common than either of them knew. It didn't have to mean anything. She didn't have to fall for him just because he was the first person who knew the truth, who cared enough not just to ask, but to listen.
But she was. She was falling for him, and it wasn't just because of that. It was for reasons she couldn't explain, feelings she couldn't articulate. It was the way her pulse picked up around him, the way her body had melted when he took his hand in hers. It was because it kept her up at night knowing he was sleeping just a few rooms away, and that despite all the animosity, she wished for the distance to disappear.
It was all too much, and it was way too soon. I barely know him, she reminded herself. Then, she barely knew Colin, and yet was ready to spend her life with him.
And she would. She would go back to New York and marry Colin, and she wouldn't get hurt. She'd keep it so that there was only one sad story to tell, only one reason for her icy heart.
"Layla?" Kenzie's voice drew her from her thoughts, and she looked up to three expectant faces—Kenzie, Annie, and the waiter who was standing there with his notebook in hand. "Are you ready to order?"
"Oh—" her face flushed as she scanned over the menu, picking out the first thing that caught her eye, "Yes. Sorry."
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