Excerpt ♥ After Ever by Santana Blair

She was teetering on the edge of becoming lost in a different world when the sound of the door opening snapped her back to reality. The sight of an unfamiliar face startled her.

Unfamiliar and handsome, to be more accurate.

Nestled between the bigger metropolitan areas, Parksburgh was one of those hard-to-find-on-a-map smaller towns in Virginia some people forgot still existed. It was a place were mostly everyone knew each other, and all their customers tended to be familiar faces. While she lived her life close to her chest, they knew enough to know what to expect from her.

Wherever he was from, it wasn’t Parksburgh. Either you were born in the small town, or you came looking for something. Sometimes, a person came praying they wouldn’t be found. She wondered which reason applied to him.

As the blood rushed through her veins, she took the moment before he spotted her to study him. His jawline caught her attention as he ran a hand over his face while he perused the community information board with marked curiosity. Rich brown eyes complemented his warm brown skin. And though his sweater and jeans were casual, they still looked like they cost more than she’d spent on clothes in the last year.

In her careless perusal, the book she’d been reading slid off her lap, falling to the floor with a thud that sounded even louder in the heavy quiet of the store. She scurried to her feet just as he turned to see her.

“I didn’t even see you over there.” He started toward her, his hand extended and a smile that felt like the sun, warm and bright, on his face.

She took a hasty few steps backward until the wall stopped her retreat. His hand dropped, and his smile dimmed just a watt before it kicked up again.

“I didn’t mean to startle you. My name is Max. I just arrived in town and my cell phone died.”

He said something about not packing the right cables for his phone and the rental car having an issue. Somehow, both things contributed to him not having GPS to know where he was going. Everleigh tried her best to focus on his words, but she kept getting side-tracked by everything else about him.

“Here I am rambling on and on and I didn’t even ask if you work here.”

She managed a quick nod before scurrying past him toward the counter where she could put a barrier between them.

“Good. I mean, not good that you work here, good meaning I didn’t just talk your ear off for no reason…Not that it’s bad if you work here either. It seems like a great place to work. You know, I think I’m just going to shut up and grab a coffee if you have any left.”

With more amusement than she expected to feel, she gestured toward the self-serve coffee bar and observed him out the corner of her eye. When her cell phone vibrated with an alert, she’d been so thoroughly engrossed in watching how he took his coffee, it made her jump.

She didn’t have to look to know it was her brother. He had this habit of making sure he messaged her at the end of her shifts to see how her day went. Wondering if she should mention the stranger currently adding creamer to his coffee, she surreptitiously slipped her phone from her back pocket, unlocked it, and tapped out her reply while keeping an unwavering eye on him.

“If it’s not too much of an inconvenience…” He mixed his coffee without looking up at her. But the moment he did, she felt her breath hitch in her chest. “Could you tell me how to find Vernon Road? I’m supposed to be staying at a little bed & breakfast there, but I have no idea where I’m going.”

She knew exactly where Vernon Road was. She had stayed in the same inn for a few nights when she arrived in Parksburgh. Her mouth gaped for half a second, but she shook her head in reply and tossed in an unhelpful shrug of the shoulder as punctuation.

He pressed his lips into a thin line. “Okay then, I guess I’ll just pay for the coffee and be on my way.”

He thought she was being rude. It didn’t surprise her. He wasn’t the first to think so. He wouldn’t be the last either. She waved off the credit card he held out. The coffee had been brewed hours ago; the least she could do was let him take it for free.

His smile was pensive and gentle. “Thank you.”

He turned away and didn’t look back until he put his hand on the door. “I’m guessing I blew my shot at getting your name.”

Her ears grew hot, her tongue felt heavy, and the ever-present knot in her throat threatened to choke her. She looked away, and this time, she didn’t look back until the door closed behind him. She pressed her palms to her cheeks, only a little surprised to feel the dampness left behind by the tears that had escaped.

Her name was Everleigh, but she could never tell him that—or anything else.

 

Max

Sliding behind the wheel of the car he’d rented at the airport, he closed the door and dropped his head to the steering wheel.

God, he was an idiot.

He hadn’t struck out with a girl so bad since he was an awkward teen trying to line up a Friday night date. Yet, as soon as he laid eyes on her, his brain short circuited and any useful skills he’d gained over the years disappeared. He hadn’t even been able to get her name, so now the mesmerizing girl he’d have a heck of a time trying to forget remained a solid mystery.

Tall and slender, she wore a basic pair of blue jeans, fitted gray t-shirt, and a baggy sweater. The muted colors didn’t seem to match that radiant face of hers. Her skin was the color of Café au lait, a deliciously creamy light brown. While her glossy dark brown hair and thick eyelashes had caught his eye, it was the perfect, heart-shaped lips and pair of soulful, story-telling honey brown eyes that demanded his attention.

Max had tried his best not to stare at her. He had been engaged in an all-out war of wills as he did everything to keep his eyes focused on making the cup of coffee he didn’t even need. He had been willing to pay for the unneeded cup just to have the excuse to stay around and make conversation with her. He eyed the newest cup of brew now sitting in the cup holder beside the still half-full cup from the trendy café back in Richmond.

Apparently, he wasn’t as intriguing to her as she’d been to him.

He sat back with a sigh. It was for the best. He was here for one reason, and it had nothing to do with a beautiful girl.