Fall in love with me, p.1
Fall in Love with Me, page 1
Fall in Love With Me
Willow Winters
Copyright © 2024 by Willow Winters
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Fall in Love with Me
Prologue
1. Aubrey
2. Bennet
3. Aubrey
4. Bennet
5. Bennet
6. Aubrey
7. Aubrey
8. Bennet
Epilogue
Even in Our Dreams
Prologue
1. Aubrey
2. Bennet
3. Aubrey
4. Bennet
5. Aubrey
6. Bennet
7. Aubrey
8. Bennet
Epilogue
A Night With You
Prologue
1. Aubrey
2. Bennet
3. Aubrey
4. Bennet
5. Aubrey
6. Bennet
7. Aubrey
8. Bennet
9. Aubrey
10. Bennet
Never Got Over You
Prologue
1. Aubrey
2. Bennet
3. Aubrey
4. Bennet
5. Bree
6. Bennet
7. Aubrey
8. Bennet
Epilogue
Hold on to Me
Prologue
1. Aubrey
2. Bennet
3. Aubrey
4. Bennet
5. Aubrey
6. Bennet
7. Aubrey
8. Bennet
Forever After All
Prologue
1. Aubrey
2. Bennet
3. Aubrey
4. Bennet
5. Aubrey
6. Bennet
7. Aubrey
8. Bennet
Epilogue
Also by Willow Winters
About Willow Winters
Fall in Love with Me
Prologue
Aubrey
* * *
“I could lie here forever.” I’m barely able to murmur the words. Naked and sated, enveloped in warmth and comforted by his strong arm, holding me close to him. As if he’d need to hold me there to keep me close. My body molds to his easily, comfortably, as if this is where I’ve always belonged.
There’s a hint of a gruff inhale, one tinged with the masculine approval of a deep rumble. Instantly, a simper pulls at my lips.
“If that’s what you want,” he decides. He smirks down at me before turning on his side and lifting the sheet to hover over me.
He buries his head in the crook of my neck, leaving openmouthed kisses and letting his stubble tickle along my tender skin. My body bows on its own and my head pushes into the plush pillow as I let out a small laugh. With my palms weakly pressing against his hard chest, he nips my neck and I let out a gasp. Every nerve ending in my body lights on fire, all of that pleasure coming back to the surface, but exhaustion holds me back … that and something else.
“You wore me out,” I protest with a smile and peer up at him. I’m caught in his gaze, in a way I don’t expect, in a way that sears my soul.
It was just a fling, it was just fun, but as my heart races and my blood heats, I can’t deny it’s something else now. Something more. Something that feels like it was meant to be. Like I always belonged to him and he to me.
“Will you hold me, though?” I whisper and there’s something so delicate, so easily broken between us. A moment passes and I’m far too aware of the fragility of it all.
I love this man. I love him and he could so easily break my heart. Is it rare to know the moment? To have such certainty? The moment I begin to question it, Bennet brushes the tip of his nose against mine and then closes his eyes, resting his forehead against mine as he kisses my lips.
It all happens far too quickly before he says, “Of course I will, my sweetheart.”
I know then for sure, as the bed groans and he settles in beside me … very much more awake than I was a moment ago, this man took my heart. His to have and his to break. I didn’t give it to him. Not with conscious consent.
With one last kiss, he tells me to sleep well and to dream of him. All the while I can barely breathe with the realization. How did it happen so quickly?
How the hell did I let that happen at all?
Aubrey
“Miss Peters?” The deep voice I recognize easily from the other side of my front door belongs to Stewart.
With a stripe of hair removal cream on my right leg, my left a bit pink from rubbing it down a moment ago, I carefully make my way to the door, practically hobbling and yell, “Coming!”
It’s a small town; everyone knows everyone else and I’ve known Stew since he was ten years old and his family moved to Cedar Lane from the West Coast.
Cedar Lane is the epitome of East Coast suburbia tucked away in the lower bit of Pennsylvania. It’s the perfect location for peace and quiet, although there’s always something to gossip about over a cup of coffee on a neighbor’s porch.
The leaky pipe in my kitchen isn’t one of those things, or at least I didn’t think it was … until I open the door. My damp hair falls down my shoulders as I fist my robe, making sure it’s closed tight.
“Hey Stew—” My greeting is cut short. Suddenly I’m unable to tell him to come on in and that I’ll just be upstairs, staying out of his way.
My heart hammers as pale blue eyes gaze back at me. They’re accompanied by rough stubble, and kissable lips I remember all too well.
“You brought help?” I barely get out the words that are stuck in my throat. I will myself to stop staring, but I can’t. My heart skips a beat as I recognize a man I haven’t seen for years.
“You remember Bennet?” Stew asks me and I choke on a “yup” before clearing my throat and shaking off my rattled nerves.
Bennet Thompson is tall, dark and handsome, with a charming smile that would make any woman’s legs weak. “Nice to see you, Miss Peters,” he greets me and offers a courteous nod.
I swallow down a lump in my throat and give him a polite reply.
“You too. Thanks so much for coming.”
Stewart makes his way in and I have to step to the side. It’s then that the scent of the hair removal cream hits me and I realize I’ve only just gotten out of the shower so my long brunette hair is still wet. Without a drop of makeup on, I’m wearing an old cotton robe and I smell like … scorched hair.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep, steadying breath. I regret this decision immensely.
Two sets of boots hit the floor and Stew gestures to Bennet, indicating where the kitchen is. Which is what I should be doing. I can’t believe he’s back in town.
Wearing dark blue jeans, work boots and a simple black tee that hugs those broad shoulders just right, I can’t tear my eyes away from the sight of him.
Memories hit me one by one.
Bennet dated my best friend in high school. Pamela moved away a few years ago when a lawyer came into town and swept her off her feet. He stole her away back to his hometown. People rarely come and go once they move here. To see Bennet back, though … it takes me back to those first moments of puppy love.
To a foolish teen who had a crush on her best friend’s boyfriend. Which was never going to be anything. Even when they broke up, he was off-limits.
… Pamela is married now, though, and with that thought, I inwardly kick myself for not checking to see if Bennet has a ring on his finger.
I close the door, ready to sneak a peek with both men’s backs to me as they face the kitchen sink. Stew explains to Bennet the problems I’ve had with the old plumbing and I’m caught off guard as Stew turns abruptly.
Thankfully he doesn’t seem to notice my shock at being caught and I keep my one arm crossed in front of me, the other still clutching my robe.
“If you’ll just fill this out when you have a moment,” Stew tells me, waving the old clipboard with an attached pen he always carries around. He leaves it on the counter and behind him, Bennet crouches down, opening the doors beneath the sink and disappearing from view.
“I have another call that needs me, but I’m going to leave this paperwork with you,” Stew explains. “You’re in good hands,” Stew adds and then tells Bennet he’s leaving. It’s at that moment Bennet stands, facing both of us from the other side of the mineral gray granite island.
He runs his hand up the back of his neck and over his hair before giving Stew a wave and saying, “No worries. I can take care of this.”
For a moment, I hear him say “her.” I can take care of “her” … Oh yes, I’m sure he could.
With a heated blush creeping into my cheeks, I scold myself. It doesn’t matter that I pined over him for years, we’ve never been a thing and I’m sure we never will.
Bennet
It is her. A cold sweat breaks out on the back of my neck as I do my best to act as casual as possible. Like it doesn’t get to me to see her again after all these years.
Wrapped in only a thin robe with a look in her eyes that tells me she remembers me just as well as I remember her.
I swear back then, there was a tension between us and I always thought it was bec
Glances that made my heart beat faster and sent a tingle of heat down my shoulders. Glances exactly like the one we just had.
It’s a small town and Cedar Lane is even smaller. Housewives and busybodies keep the gossip as fresh and hot as the coffee at the corner diner. I wonder why Aubrey picked this place but the answers stare back at me. From the cozy but contemporary furniture, to the rose bushes out front and the picket fence, it’s obvious. She’s the girl next door in a small town and everything about this place speaks to that.
From the walls painted a soft sage and the accompanying accents in the kitchen, to the walnut floor that matches the cabinetry, this is a home. One with little touches like owl-shaped spatulas and a pitcher of homemade lemonade she put out on the counter. There are even fresh slices of lemons.
It’s hard to remain professional and not take in every detail about the girl next door I couldn’t have.
“If you’d like a glass, feel free,” she says and her comment draws my attention back to her. Right before it moves to the robe she’s holding on to tight. Clearing my throat, I thank her.
“I appreciate it,” I tell her and don’t dare move my gaze from hers. Whatever I do now won’t be her first impression of me, but it’s my first day of work since I’ve been home. The first time she’s seen me in years. I’m riddled with nervousness riddles, like a lovesick teen.
“Don’t mind me, Miss Peters, I’ll have this fixed up for you and be gone before you know it,” I tell her in as even of a voice as I can manage. Although I nearly pause my statement at her cringe. “It’s miss … right?” I ask to clarify and for a moment, for one small moment, I’m anxious.
The very idea of her being married creates a tension in every muscle I have.
With a quick shake of her head and a warm blush rising up through her chest and into her cheeks, she corrects me. “You can call me Aubrey, Bennet.”
My name. Her lips.
Fuck me.
There’s a silence between us as only our eyes lock and the temperature rises. That blush of hers rises too, all the way up to her temples.
I’m hard instantly. Those doe eyes and that naive innocence about her have always done something to me.
“I’ll just be,” she starts, her voice coming out in a high pitch and she steps backward, nearly kicking a cardboard box that’s damp and out of place. It must have been under the leaky sink when the pipe busted.
“Oh,” she says with a gasp, almost falling back, and that robe slips just slightly. As quick as I can, I force my gaze up to the left and turn slightly. Fuck me. That glimpse of her soft curves and that quick peek at her breasts will be burned into my memory forevermore. “Oh my God.” The sound of her stumbling over something is comical.
“I didn’t see a thing,” is all I say although it’s not exactly the truth. An asymmetric smirk lifts the corner of my lips up and I hide it by rubbing my hand over my jaw.
Her bare feet pad on the floor as she rushes out that she’ll be upstairs if I need her.
My mind wanders back to our past as I work. Back to the fact that her friend asked me out before I could ask Aubrey out. Pamela moved to Denver I think, had two kids and has a great life. I couldn’t care less about any of that. The only piece that matters is whether or not that’s changed Aubrey’s mind about dating me.
I huff a humorless laugh as I work on the busted pipe, cutting it out and doing everything I can to tamp down the feelings racing through me.
Aubrey is settled here, and I’ve only just come home, taking up this job until I get grounded. There’s no way in hell a girl like her would date a rough, blue-collar man like me.
Aubrey
All I can imagine is his rough, callused hands on my body. And it is so, so wrong. He’s here on business and working. Hell, I’m sure he didn’t even know I still existed until he saw me. He probably didn’t even remember my name.
Miss Peters. I remember him calling me that and it’s like stepping into a cold shower. Until I remember the way he looked at me when I told him to call me Aubrey. And how invested he seemed to be when he asked if I was a “miss.”
I bite down on my lower lip to stifle my squeal of delight and smile as I push open one of the two French doors leading to the en suite bathroom.
Bennet Thompson will never know what he does to me. Did to me. I try to correct myself but no, shaking my head I have to admit, he is very much doing it in present tense now.
It’s been years since I’ve really thought of him. I’ve buried myself in so much work as an editor that I’ve rarely noticed men at all. One look at Bennet and bam, I turned into a blushing fool.
Flicking the light on, I lean against the sink and try to contain myself.
Never in my life have I felt so … bad. He makes me think about things I shouldn’t. Makes me hot when I shouldn’t be. He’s only here to fix a broken pipe.
I can’t help the grin and the dirty thoughts that come to mind as I shake off my daydream and get back to the task of pampering myself. Pampering may not be the right word given that my calves are burning. This cream needs to come off right freaking now.
The water rushes out of the faucet as I wipe off the hair remover and go about my normal routine. One glance in the mirror and I cringe. Way to make an impression, I guess. If I had to depict it in a single sentence, I’d describe myself as a mouse who got caught in the rain. In the oversized robe I’m drowning, and my long brunette hair is nearly black because it’s still wet and stuck to my flushed skin.
It’s not exactly the outfit and styling I’d have chosen for the event that just played out on the first floor of my house. Grimacing, I keep myself firmly focused on the facts. Bennet doesn’t want me, he never has and I’ve probably made a fool of myself.
This reality is certainly not a part of the thoughts that run through my head. Streaming my favorite channel on my phone, I turn the music up and ignore what happened.
Hooking up with Bennet is nothing but a fantasy and one I haven’t thought about in years.
And one that most certainly isn’t going to come true.
With a firm nod in the mirror, I turn on the blow-dryer and for some unknown reason I make sure my makeup is perfect, complete with a deep red lipstick.
I even take the time to curl my hair. All the while I imagine Bennet will leave the moment he’s done.
I’ve embarrassed myself enough already.
With a pucker of my lips, I hang up my robe and head back to my bedroom to grab a matching set of lingerie I haven’t thought of since I bought it with a gift card from one of my friends two holidays ago.
I only make it a few steps before I turn to the door. I swear I heard a knock over the music, still blaring, and before I can answer, the door opens. Obviously on its own from the gentle push of a knock. I hadn’t shut it all the way.
