Just a Kiss in the Moonlight: Georgia Moon Romance Book 2 (9 page)

“You never were any fun and always such a prude.”

Jared said a few other choice things her daddy would likely get the shotgun out for. Not wanting to hear another word, she ended the call. Seconds later, he tried calling back. Taylin tapped on a few settings and blocked his number. She never wanted to talk to the big jerk again.

Leaning against the porch railing, she tried to get her anger under control. Suddenly, she heard something behind her and whipped around to find Luke standing there.

“You scared me to death,” Taylin said, clutching her chest.

L
uke held up his hand
. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure everything is okay.” He hadn’t heard all of the conversation, but enough to know it was her ex-boyfriend.

“Yes.” She dropped her hand to her side. “But I’m sorry if I woke you up.”

He lifted a brow. “I wasn’t asleep.” How could she not hear Phil’s snoring?

Her forehead creased as she tilted her head to the side. “Is that someone snoring?”

“Yep.”

She giggled softly. “No wonder you couldn’t sleep.”

He moved next to her and leaned against the railing. “Honestly, I don’t know how it doesn’t wake up Phil.”

Taylin smiled. “What about the boys?”

“A couple of them are snoring too.”

“I’m sorry.”

He lifted one shoulder up in a shrug. “I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

“You mean besides the snoring?”

“Yeah.” He tipped his head back and looked at the sky. “The moon is so bright. I have to have complete darkness in order to fall asleep.”

“It’s beautiful tonight,” she said.

Luke turned to find her looking up at the moon too. “It is,” he said, and he wasn’t talking about the moon.

His voice came out gruff, and Taylin’s gaze dropped to meet his. With the moon bathing her in its soft light, she was even more beautiful than before. Her lips curved up, and the desire to kiss her returned with full force.

“Did you know that if you make a wish on a full moon, it’ll come true?”

“Oh, yeah?” he asked, knowing exactly what he would wish for right now.

“That’s what my grandma used to tell me when I was a little girl.”

“Does it work?”

Her eyes grew thoughtful. “It seemed to, at least when I was little.”

The trees overhead rustled with the sound of fluttering wings and a squeaky noise from whatever creature was there. Suddenly, something flew right at them, and Taylin squealed as she launched herself against his chest. “Is that a bat?”

Having her so close sent a ripple of awareness through him. “Probably,” he said, bringing his hands up to grasp her upper arms.

“I really don’t like bats.” She shivered, and he fought the urge to wrap his arms around her.

“Bats won’t hurt you and they’re great at keeping the bugs down.”

She glanced up at him. “I know, but they’re creepy lookin’.”

She shivered again. “Are you cold?” he asked, as his fingers tightened around her arms. The thin, long-sleeved tee she wore looked plenty warm to him, but the folks in Georgia acted as if anything below sixty was freezing.

“A little.”

Luke didn’t think about what he did next. Slowly, he circled his arms around her. “Better?” he asked.

She looked up at him through her lashes. “Yes.”

He felt his pulse quicken as his eyes slid down to her mouth. A man could only take so much. When she parted her lips slightly, Luke was at his breaking point.

He bent his head and she rose up on her toes until their mouths touched. It was a mistake to kiss her, but at the moment, he didn’t care.

He took his time, reveling in the softness of her lips against his. When her hands wound around his neck, he responded by pulling her closer. She sighed, tempting him to deepen the kiss. He held back, though, and reluctantly ended the kiss. Drawing back, he gazed into her eyes as a powerful emotion swept over him. It scared him, and he regretted his actions.

“I shouldn’t have done that.”

Her eyes clouded as she stepped out of his embrace. “If you didn’t want to kiss me, then why did you?”

“I never said I didn’t want to kiss you, just that I
shouldn’t
have kissed you.”

She studied him for a few seconds. “Why?”

He had several answers, most of them revolved around his fears. “I promise it has nothing to do with you,” he said softly.

“That’s not a very good answer.”

He smiled. These southerners were so direct. And she was right. His answer sucked. “You knew I was married, right?”

“Yeah.” She moistened her lips. “Rachel said something about it, but wouldn’t give me any details.”

He was grateful for that and would thank Rachel the next time he saw her.

“I have a hard time talking about it, but the long and short of it is my divorce was difficult and drawn out and didn’t end well.” He gave a short, bitter laugh. “Not that divorces generally end well for anyone.”

“I’m sorry.”

Their eyes met, and Luke resisted the impulse to kiss her again. “The thing is, I don’t think I’m ready for a relationship right now.” Her eyes remained locked on him, and in the soft light, he could see they were filled with questions.

Finally, she nodded her head. “Okay.” She stepped away from him and he fought against taking her hand and pulling her close again. “Don’t worry about it.” She gave him a small smile. “My grandma also used to tell me the full moon made people do crazy things, so we can blame it on that.”

Before he could respond, she turned and walked away from him. Luke was torn about letting her go or chasing after her. He shoved his hands in his pockets and watched until she disappeared inside the tent. It was better this way, because he knew very well if given the chance, he’d kiss Taylin Nichols again.

For the next week, Luke made sure to avoid Taylin at work. Not that it was hard. She seemed to be avoiding him as well. Unfortunately, he couldn’t get her out of his thoughts or that kiss they’d shared.

He told himself it was just a kiss in the moonlight and it didn’t mean anything, but he had a hard time being convinced of the lie. So, he chalked it up to the madness of a full moon.

Work had been crazy and he spent more time at the hospital than he did at his new house. Any chance he got, he was out on the lake fishing, although that also reminded him of Taylin. It helped if Christopher or Jillian came along because they talked so much he didn’t have time to think about Taylin.

He could tell Rachel was frustrated with him. Even though he liked Taylin and admitted he was attracted to her, he wasn’t emotionally ready to date. Rachel accepted his excuse—sort of. She continued to throw out little tidbits about Taylin and what a catch she would be.

Obviously, Taylin hadn’t said anything to Rachel about the moonlit kiss he’d shared with her. Otherwise, Rachel would be more aggressive with her matchmaking. Dave would also reprimand him about the fishing analogy and the no catch—or kiss, in this case—and release rule.

Luke knew one way to get back on Rachel’s good side would be to win the pumpkin carving contest and subsequently the spa package getaway. In a matter of hours, he’d find out if his mother’s idea was good enough.

Standing back, he studied the finished pumpkin. It was different than anything he’d done before, mainly because he’d run out of time to try carving an intricate design. His mother had sent him the idea, and although Luke liked everything scary about Halloween, the artsy pumpkin creation made to look like a decked out hamburger had been kind of fun.

After finding a perfectly round pumpkin at a local farmer’s market yesterday, he’d sliced out a middle chunk so the pumpkin looked like the Pac-Man video game character. Carefully, he’d removed the guts of the pumpkin the best he could and reserved some of the seeds to glue on top of the pumpkin to make it look like a sesame seed bun.

Then, using a technique he’d learned in junior high art class, he made a realistic looking hamburger patty by mixing shredded paper tissue and paper towels with a papier-mâché paste. He added in a reddish-brown acrylic paint for color. Once the patty dried, he touched it up with the same color of paint to make it appear like a perfectly edible hamburger.

Using other fresh produce, he carved condiments for his pumpkin hamburger like a slice of cheese from the inside of a squash, and a pickle from a cucumber. He finished the display by adding real sliced tomatoes and fresh lettuce.

His mother suggested he place his creation in a shallow wicker basket lined with a checkered napkin and then stop by Dairy Queen on his way to the hospital to buy French fries for the basket and a drink to go with the meal.

Glancing at the clock, Luke determined he could take a quick shower before heading to the Halloween party. Needing enough time to stop by the fast-food restaurant, he skipped shaving and dressed in a pair of jeans, his favorite cowboy boots, and a casual, gray button-down shirt with the cuffs rolled up a few times.

On the way to the hospital, Luke tried not to think about Taylin. He already knew she intended on entering a pumpkin in the contest and would be at the hospital. His first impulse had been to skip the party altogether, but he and Zach, one of the other nurse anesthetists, had a bet about who could win the contest between the two of them. The loser had to take a weekend call for the other.

A few minutes before the party started, Luke found a parking spot in the employee-designated lot. He snuck another one of the French fries from his display. He should’ve just ordered a real hamburger meal for himself, or at least his own order of fries. Hopefully the food served at the party would be decent.

One of the labor nurses he recognized entered the building at the same time he did. She was dressed up as a gypsy. Luke wondered if he was supposed to wear a costume.

“Oh my goodness, that is just adorable,” she said, pointing to the pumpkin hamburger meal. “I just know you’re gonna win.”

He wasn’t going for adorable, but he was confident enough in his masculinity to take the compliment in stride. “Thanks.”

The nurse held the door open for him and he thanked her again before making his way to the banquet room. The first person to greet him was Reece Watkins. She was dressed up as a vampire, wearing a skimpy black dress and thigh high black leather boots. The muscles in his shoulders tightened when she gave him a seductive smile.

“I like your costume, cowboy. But where’s your hat?”

Luke looked down at his cowboy boots. They weren’t part of a costume, but if he was supposed to dress up, he could run back out to his SUV and put on the cowboy hat he had tossed in the back.

“I left it in the car.”

She smiled and leaned in close. “Why don’t you go and get your hat and I’ll take in your pumpkin entry for you.” She reached for the basket, her fingers covering his. “It’s very creative and makes me wonder what else you’d be good at with your hands.”

The innuendo hung between them. Reece stood there with that same seductive grin, looking every bit the vamp her costume portrayed.

Luke handed over the basket and stepped back. “I’ll just run and get my hat.” He took another step away and pointed at the pumpkin. “Thanks for taking that in for me.”

As he crossed the parking lot to his car, he contemplated just leaving and going home. Reece didn’t take his hints. If her overtures didn’t stop soon, he might have to do something drastic.

Opening the back of his SUV, he found his hat. He dusted it off before placing it on his head. As he closed the rear door, an oversized black truck pulled in next to him, and Zach hopped out. He was dressed like Jack Black’s
Nacho Libre
character, minus the mask. He hadn’t shaved for a few days so he had a thin mustache going on. Fortunately, unlike the movie character, Zach wore a flesh colored shirt with the costume.

“Nice tights,” Luke teased.

“I know, right!” Zach said, flexing his muscles. “I look good, huh?”

Luke laughed. “Yep.”

“Wait, it gets even better.” Zach opened the back passenger door and put on a curly wig. “The ladies will not be able to resist me, no?” he said in a fairly good Spanish accent.

This made Luke laugh again. “So where’s your pumpkin?”

Zach wiggled his eyebrows. “I already dropped it off. I just had to run home to get my cape.”

The two men walked in to the hospital. Zach made jokes about Luke’s cowboy hat and that his costume wasn’t really a costume. Luke didn’t disagree, because technically, the guy was right.

Reece wasn’t at the door to greet them, but the CEO was. He was dressed like a biker in all black leather with a red bandana tied around his head.

The party was for employees only and a significant other if they chose to bring one. Luke looked around the room as he and Zach made their way over to the pumpkin carving displays. While he wouldn’t readily admit it, he was looking for Taylin. Since she’d broken up with her boyfriend, he wondered if she would bring a date. He refused to ponder why that thought bothered him.

An array of pumpkins spanned the length of the long banquet table. They were all different. Some were scary, and some more artsy like his display. No names were associated with the entries so Luke had no idea which pumpkin was Zach’s. But if he had a guess, it was the pumpkin carved to look like it had just thrown up its pumpkin guts.

He was almost positive Taylin’s entry was the pumpkin carved like a baby carriage with sliced grapefruit as the wheels. The carriage had a smaller pumpkin inside for the baby with a real pacifier in its mouth and a bow on top of the head. It was clever, and he had to admit his mother would be impressed.

Moving away from the displays, he scanned the crowd of people. His heart skipped a few beats when he spotted Taylin across the room. She wore a pink shimmery dress with a long string of pearls around her neck. A silvery headband encircled her hair that hung in loose curls around her shoulders. He had to admit she looked pretty hot, especially with the sexy silver heels that made her legs look amazing.

She laughed at something a man standing next to her said and placed her hand on his arm. An irritating feeling of jealousy twisted Luke’s gut, making him want to march across the room to talk to her.

As if she could feel his eyes on her, she turned and met his gaze. On impulse, he played up his cowboy background and touched the brim of his hat and smiled at her. Slowly, the corners of her mouth turned up. Her smile, even from this distance, made his breath uneven.

She pulled her eyes away from him when the man she stood next to touched her on the back and pointed out a table. Without looking at Luke again, she followed the guy to a table with several other couples seated there. It was hard for Luke not to give into the compulsion to cross the room and pull up a chair next to her.