Chase Our Forever (Sutten Mountain #3)

28. Liv

28

LIV

My heart races as Ms. Beth rings up all of the clothes I picked out. I found way more than I thought I would. So many items that still had tags on them were in my size. It’s the best thrift haul I’ve ever had, and I can’t even focus on my excitement, thanks to the encounter I just had with Dean.

Something was different in that dressing room. I know the way he looked at me hungrily and like a man possessed wasn’t all in my head. I think he wanted to kiss me, and I was more than ready to let him before he stormed out of the dressing room.

It’d taken me a full minute just to get myself together after that. I’d been so desperate for him to kiss me. I’ve thought about his lips more times than I’d care to admit. It turns out you can daydream a lot about the different ways someone can kiss you in two weeks. And I’ve thought of every possibility in the recent days.

Ms. Beth finishes folding the last item of clothing and places it in the bag for me. I’m coming out with four huge bags filled to the brim.

I shake my head in disbelief. “I still can’t believe I got so lucky.”

Ms. Beth laughs as she presses the buttons of her card reader. “We had a great donation early this morning. Someone was feeling very generous.”

I nod in agreement. “I’m so happy I chose today to come in, then. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find everything I needed, but now I’m coming out with way more.”

“Your total will be twenty-nine dollars even.”

I frown. “Are you sure you rang everything up? That seems low.”

She smiles at me. It’s one of those smiles that makes me feel like she knows something I don’t, with the slight raise of her eyebrow and a mischievous tilt of her lips. “That’s right. We were running a special today. Everything in the store was half off.”

I bite my lip anxiously. “I don’t feel right only paying twenty-nine dollars for all of this stuff. I got two new coats, multiple pairs of jeans, sweaters, and many other things I’m forgetting about. I got a whole new wardrobe. Please let me pay more than twenty-nine dollars.”

Ms. Beth gives me a warm smile. It’s refreshing how kind every single person in this town is. I have yet to come across anyone rude or even remotely close to it. “Darling, that’s the price of the pieces. Everything was donated.”

“Do you take monetary donations?”

She narrows her eyes at me. “You’re really not going to take the clothes for that price, are you?”

I shrug as I give her a smile. “It just doesn’t feel right to pay only that for brand-new clothes. Let me at least donate to the store? I don’t have any items to donate, but I do have some cash I planned on using today.”

“Yes, we take donations. Every month, we donate clothing and household items to different families in need. The money helps fund that.”

I smile, loving that I can feel a little bit better about leaving with a whole new wardrobe for such a low price. “Great.” I take the hundred-dollar bill I’d budgeted for clothes today and lay it on the counter. “Then here’s this, and keep the change. Thank you for today and having so many amazing pieces. I’ll absolutely be back.”

Ms. Beth laughs under her breath as she takes the money and begins to hand my bags over to me. “I’m not sure it’s me you should be thanking.”

Before I can ask her what she means by that, I risk a glance out the front window and find Dean standing in front of his truck. He stares right at me with his arms crossed over his chest and his typical scowl on his face.

“He’s all bark and no bite,” Ms. Beth mutters from my side.

I blink a few times and look back at her. I want to ask her what she was talking about, but I keep my questions to myself. Dean’s waiting in the rain, and I don’t want to keep him waiting any longer. The rain and distance make it so I can’t make out all of his features, but by the angry way he ran out of the dressing room, I don’t think making him wait is in my best interest.

“I better get out there,” I tell her, taking two bags in each hand. I’m already excited to get home and put it all away. I’ve never had a fall and winter wardrobe like this. I’ve also never had this many new clothes. I turn my head to look at Ms. Beth. I smile, hoping she understands how grateful I am to have found her store. “Thank you again. I’ll see you again soon.”

“Nice to meet you. I’ve got to go take some inventory in the back. Do you need a hand with the bags?”

I shake my head. “No, I’ve got it.”

She watches me carefully for a minute before coming around the counter and walking toward the back door. “Goodbye now,” she calls.

I turn and walk to the door, suddenly nervous to see Dean again.

Is he upset with me? Was I staring at his lips too much? Did he notice the way I couldn’t breathe when his knuckles brushed up against my skin? God, I wanted to feel even more of his touch. I wanted to feel his callused fingers against my tender skin. I wanted to feel his lips press against mine and wipe away his scowl with my mouth.

There were so many things I wanted to do with him right there in that dressing room. I can’t help but wonder if he somehow could read my thoughts, and those are what drove him to run out of the store like I’d offended him.

I take a deep breath as I use my back to push the door open. I’m scared to look at Dean, so I stare at my feet, wondering if all of these winter clothes will be necessary.

If he decides to fire me after making things unprofessional in that dressing room, then I won’t have a need for warmer clothes. I’ll have to disappear from this town—and maybe even this state—due to embarrassment.

The tips of two cowboy boots I’d recognize anywhere appear in my line of sight. I pull my eyes up, finding Dean’s intense gaze aimed right at me. Without saying a word, he reaches out to take the bags from me.

“I’ve got them,” I protest, tightening my grip on the handles.

His sigh can be heard over the rain hitting the pavement. “Let me.”

Yeah. He’s mad. This isn’t grumpy Dean. This is more.

“They’re my clothes. I can carry them.” I should just hand them over to him, but we’re close to the truck anyway. If he hadn’t decided to stop me, I’d already have them loaded in the truck, and we’d be on our way out.

Dean lets out an aggravated growl. He reaches forward and grabs the bags from my hands. Before I can even argue, he’s turned around and stomping to his truck.

I stand there, watching him angrily walk back to his car. My heart pounds as I try to figure out if I want to address what just happened in the dressing room. I think I have to. I know it could all be in my head, but I swear we had a moment back there. And if he’s going to be upset with me anyway, I might as well bring it up so I can know once and for all if the tension is one-sided or if he feels it, too.

“Did I do something wrong?” I yell over the sound of the rain. It’s gotten heavier than when we first walked into the store. It beats against my face, making my hair stick to my cheeks. I don’t care. I barely feel the drops of rain as I focus all of my attention on Dean.

His spine straightens the moment I get the words out. He stops what he’s doing, the door to the truck still hanging open as he turns to face me.

“Did I?” I shout, hating the pathetic shake to my voice. I know I should just sweep this all under the rug and pretend I don’t have feelings for him, but I can’t.

I’d bet everything I had—which isn’t a lot—that we had a moment back there. Whatever this is, he’s got to feel it, too. I’m sure of it.

And if he doesn’t, then I’ll pay whatever price I have to for bringing it up. At least then I’ll know the truth.

“You didn’t do anything,” he answers. His voice is void of any emotion as he puts my bags in the back seat.

“Then what happened back there?” I press.

“It’s raining, and you’re already soaked. Get in the car, Liv.”

I shake my head. My clothes cling to my skin because of the rain, but I don’t care. I’m too focused on finding out if Dean wants to kiss me as badly as I want to kiss him. “Not until you answer me.”

He slams the door shut. The intimidating way he looks at me from where he stands should scare me. It doesn’t. If anything, the hard set of his jaw and his hooded lids make my heart race even more.

“Get in the fucking truck.” His voice leaves no room for interpretation.

Hearing him say fucking sends chills down my spine. “Tell me what happened back there, Dean. Why’d you run out so fast?”

His shoulders rise and fall with a deep sigh. One moment, he’s standing against his truck with his angry eyes pinned on me; the next, his eyes are just as angry—maybe even angrier—but he’s standing right in front of me.

“You don’t want me to answer that,” he growls.

I let out a frustrated sigh as I throw my hands up in defeat. “Yes, I do.”

He stares at me, and I stare right back. His nostrils flare, and my chest heaves up and down with the intensity of my breathing. His hair looks jet-black, thanks to the rain. Stray pieces stick to his face as he glares right at me.

“Fine,” he says through gritted teeth. “You want to know what happened in there?”

I nod. “Yes,” I get out breathlessly.

“I left because if I’d allowed myself even a second longer in there, I was going to do something I have no business doing.”

At what point does a pulse get too high? Mine has to be getting close. It spikes in eagerness at his words. “And what’s that?” It feels like my words come out as barely a whisper, but he hears me anyway.

His eyes drop to my lips, and I know what he’s going to say before he even says it. “Like kiss you as if you were mine to claim.”

I suck in a breath. I can’t help but smile, feeling the biggest wave of relief wash over me that the tension between us isn’t all in my head. I know I shouldn’t say my next words, but I say them anyway. “Then what are you waiting for?”