The One Place by Laurel Curtis Page A

matter. Had to get done.”
    I looked to the window and back at him again. He must have read what was on my face because he answered my unspoken question. “Go. The other girls’ll cover the rest of your shift.”
    That was all I needed to hear. I ripped my apron off and headed for the door. Luckily, Ruthie had pointed out the way to his farm when I went to Zumba with her, so I knew where I was going. As soon as I was out the door, I was instantly soaked, but I didn’t care. I turned right and ran down Main Street. Once I got to the end where the The Goods was, I just had to turn left then an almost immediate right and go up the road about half a mile. It really wasn’t that far but considering that my emotions had my heart beating a mile a minute, it was a good thing I was in decent shape.
    ********
    Not really sure where I would find him, I just ran straight up his driveway.
    Fortunately, I spotted him almost immediately, and it looked like he was just finishing nailing the top board on a section of four-panel fence along the driveway close to the house.
    Looking to get his attention over the pouring rain, I screamed, “Tuck!”
    His head whipped around in my direction and as soon as it registered that I was rushing towards him and soaking wet, he dropped everything, and took off running to meet me.
    “Talie, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Is someone hurt? Did you run all the way here?”
    Forcing him into further panic, I stood silent taking in all of his beauty that I hadn’t even allowed myself to fully take in until this moment. His dark blue t-shirt was plastered to his body, highlighting everything good about a man’s body. His jeans were soaked too, and stuck to his muscular thighs like a second skin. He had on a ratty black baseball cap to keep the rain out of his eyes while he worked, I presumed. He was beautiful.
    His scream brought me back into the present. “Natalie!”
    “You did everything for me?”
    His beautiful eyes widened at my question. It only took him a few seconds to understand what I meant. He gave me one nod.
    “The apartment, the flowers, the furniture, the phone? You did all of that for me?”
    Another nod.
    “Why?”
    “Because you needed it.” Simple as that. Because I needed it.
    “But, I don’t understand. The way you’ve acted around me...it just doesn’t make sense.”
    A smirk settling on his rain-soaked face, he answered, “You’re special, Talie. I’ve know for a long time. The way I’ve been acting is me. I’m a smart-ass. I’m bossy, possessive, and a dick sometimes, but only in the ways that you’ll like it. But you weren’t ready to know the rest of me.”
    I didn’t understand. None of this was making sense to me. “How could I not be ready?”
    He stepped forward and cupped my cheek with one hand while the other went to my hip and pulled our bodies close. He looked right into my eyes and whispered, “Because, Baby. All the time, I watched you. You were so deep in your own head, livin’ your past, that you would’a run from somebody if they had tried to get close to you. I know you were runnin’ from somebody when you came here. I could see it in your eyes. I wouldn’t have been surprised if you were scared, timid, even offended after I first talked to you. But not you. You had such a fire in you that you were liable to lash out and burn anybody if they got too close. You needed time. Time to accept love without conditions. Time to adjust to bein’ takin’ care of like you should’a been every goddamn day of your life. When I showed you I would give you the world, you had to be ready to take it.”
    I gasped my surprise, and the next thing I knew, his mouth was on mine. He took my open mouth as the opportunity to slide his tongue inside. And Jesus , was I glad he did. Standing there in the rain, our wet bodies plastered together and his lips sealed over mine with his tongue stroking the inside of my mouth, I was pretty sure I’d found heaven.
    We