Chapter Eight
Tara would be in town for two more days and Brett was at his wit’s end to come up with a solid idea to keep her from leaving.
Since the day she met his parents, he’d made it a point to whisk her away from Magnolia Rose in the evenings and on her days off. They’d visited every tourist attraction in town, including spending a few hours one evening staring up at Stone Mountain. He’d driven around, showing her the Living Walls Atlanta project, which brought art and education into communities through public art. They’d toured the Fox Theatre, visited every museum even remotely tied to Gone With the Wind, and even paid a respectful visit to the old Oakland Cemetery.
Desperate to spend more time with the girl who had captured his heart, Brett branched out and showed Tara places he liked, restaurants he enjoyed. They’d eaten a late dinner two nights ago at Stuart’s restaurant. The chef happened to see them and came out of the kitchen, joining them at their table long enough to convey how grateful he was to have Tara at Magnolia Rose.
Brett had taken Tara to the Jackson Street Bridge at dusk and snapped a photo of them together with the skyline in the distance.
Inspired, he’d sent her a text after he dropped her off that night and asked if she’d meet him for a sunrise surprise.
Her affirmative reply sent him scrambling to make plans. Quickly contacting a friend, he got permission to take Tara out to a hilltop on the man’s property to see the sunrise.
His friend laughed when Brett told him the reason behind the request. “Sunrise with a pretty girl. Can’t get much better than that,” the friend said. Brett had to agree.
Well before daylight the following morning, he was already on his way into Atlanta. After swinging by his favorite doughnut shop, he drove back to Magnolia Rose and stopped outside the back door. Before he could get out of the truck, the door opened and Tara ran down the porch steps.
“I feel like I’m about to play hooky from school,” she said, greeting him with a kiss to the cheek in the muted light. “I have to be back by eight, though. Pastries wait for no man, woman, or starving teen.”
Brett chuckled and opened the passenger door, giving her a hand inside. Within ten minutes, he’d parked his truck on top of the hill so they could watch the sun climb over the city skyline. Tara sipped her coffee and savored a coconut-topped chocolate doughnut as they waited for the first fingers of golden light to infuse the morning sky.
When it did, she set down the coffee, forgot about the box of doughnuts on her lap, and gaped out the window.
“Oh, wow!” she whispered, as though speaking louder would disrupt the beauty of the moment.
Rather than watch the sunrise, Brett found his gaze firmly fixed on her. If he couldn’t convince Tara to stay in Atlanta, he was going to have to figure out what he could do in Portland, because being separated from her wasn’t an option he wanted to consider.
Brett grinned. “Well?”
She turned her head, resting it against the passenger side of his truck seat, and smiled. The shimmer of something that looked a lot like affection glimmered in her eyes in the early morning light streaming inside the cab. What he saw, what he hoped was about to blossom into something more, smacked him square in the chest. The weight of it hit with such force, he sucked in a painful breath.
“It’s amazing, Brett. Truly,” Tara said, reaching across the seat to squeeze his hand. “The view is incredible and these doughnuts are delicious. They’re even lighter than mine.” She tossed him a flirty grin. “The company isn’t half bad either.”
“Is that so, sassy britches? You better behave or I’ll take back those doughnuts.” He started to reach for the box on her lap.
She snatched it up with both hands and lifted it out of his reach. “Now that’s just mean. I didn’t take you for a tease, Brett Cutler, but giving a girl mouth-watering doughnuts, then threatening to take them away? That’s cruel and unusual punishment.”
He feigned a subdued look then lunged for her, pulling her across the seat toward him, tickling her sides. She squirmed and almost dropped the doughnuts then set them on the dash. “Brett! You are such a…” He tickled her again, cutting off whatever she planned to say.
“A great guy? Aw, gee, thanks.” He grinned at her. “Or is it a handsome devil? I think I like that one even better.” He snatched the box off the dash and bit into a soft, maple-glazed treat.
Tara sat up, tugging down her shirt that had twisted around to the side as he tickled her. When she glanced at him, her smile slowly melted and an unmistakable look of wanting filled her eyes as she focused on him.
Her index finger traced across his lower lip, brushing away a stray bit of frosting. Nearly undone by her touch, Brett rubbed his hands down the front of his jeans to wipe off the sticky residue. He reached for her, drawing her into his arms.
Every cell in his body screamed to make Tara his own, but instead he just held her. If he kissed her at that moment, he wouldn’t be able to stop.
She rested against him, leaned into his chest and took his restraint to the edge of snapping as she breathed softly against his neck.
When he couldn’t take another minute of holding her close without doing something he shouldn’t, he kissed the top of her head and set her away from him. He cleared his throat and fastened his seatbelt. “I better get you back to Magnolia Rose. I don’t want to make you late for work.”
A look of confusion gave way to one of hurt as she slid back across the seat and fastened her seatbelt. “I do have a lot to get done today. Tomorrow is the grand ball and I’ve still got a ton of baking to finish.”
Brett glanced over at her as he drove down the hill and turned onto the road. “I can’t believe this month went by so fast. You just have tomorrow and then you’re leaving.”
“I know. I really do hate to leave, Brett, but I have a job and my family and friends waiting for me back in Portland.” Tara sighed and glanced out the window, growing silent.
Not for the first time, he wished she’d forget about everything else beyond staying here, with him. Nonetheless, one of the many things he loved about Tara was that she might sometimes have her head in the clouds, but both feet were firmly planted on the ground.
“You know you could stay with Mom and Dad if you aren’t ready to leave. They’d love to have you.” Brett turned the pickup down the lane that led to Magnolia Rose’s main house.
Tara grinned. “I got that idea, loud and clear, when you took me there for dinner the other night. Your parents are both so sweet and kind, but I couldn’t impose like that.”
“Really, Tara?” He snorted. “How could you possibly think your presence would be an imposition? With a dozen empty bedrooms to choose from, do you really think you’d be cramping their style?” He waved to a few of the staff working in the flower garden as he pulled around back. “I know for a fact Ashley and Wade would let you stay a little longer, too. After you did that whole ‘afternoon with Scarlett’ thing for Ashley, they would do anything for you.”
At her doubtful look, he tipped his head toward the house. “They really would. And you have to know by now that I want …”
“Tara!” one of the pastry assistants ran outside waving a charred dishtowel their direction. “Hurry! Jonas has been in the pastry kitchen and it’s bad.”
“I will throttle that man if he so much as messed up a single muffin,” Tara threatened under her breath as she popped the seatbelt latch and opened the door. She slid out then looked back at Brett. “This was the most amazing start to a day I’ve ever had, Brett, and that includes all the years I got up to see what Santa, the Easter Bunny, and tooth fairy left for me. Thank you.”
She blew him a quick kiss then took the porch steps two at a time, racing inside the house where smoke had started billowing out one of the kitchen windows.
Brett drove home, wondering what it would take to get Tara to stay. Suddenly, he realized telling her how he felt might help his cause. He knew it seemed too soon for what he felt to be real, but it was. With every moment he spent around her, his certainty increased. He loved Tara Tarleton, and nothing could change that.
He almost turned around in the middle of the road to head back to Magnolia Rose and confess what was on his mind and in his heart. Instead, he kept driving. Tara had enough to handle until the end of the grand ball tomorrow. The last thing she needed was him rushing into the kitchen declaring his undying love — even if he meant every word of it.