Practice Makes Perfect

Will's hand reaches under the pillow at my head and pulls something out. I laugh when I look down. He sets the book he stole from my room this morning onto my stomach and grins deviously at me. "I highlighted the portions you might be interested in reenacting. They will, of course, require you taking off your pretty dress. Here, let me help." I laugh until his mouth covers mine. And no kiss has ever tasted this sweet.

He relents with an easy smile. "Well, technically the house is mine in thirty days once I've officially closed, but it's pretty much mine already because Mary said it's fine if I go ahead and move in. It's been on the market for forever and needs a ton of work. Don't look too closely at anything." "Willmont. You bought a house," I say, turning away from him to admire the place with new understanding.

But you don't have a truck." He clicks the side of his mouth and winks. Ah, but I do. Well, this is actually an old Bronco. Got it for a steal, because I can't be in this town and not drive a truck. You should know this better than anyone." I feel dizzy. I'm going to throw up. "What's going on, Will? I thought you were gone. I thought you'd left town this morning, never to be seen

But when I put my hand on the truck's door handle, a familiar playful and roguish voice sounds in my ear, and a hand with a butterfly tattoo reaches over my shoulder to push my door closed again. "It's me, and you're safe. I'm going to blindfold you now." A thin strip of black cloth blankets my eyes. I gasp. "Will?! What are you doing?" Yes, it's me, Will," he says quietly and then clears his throat and speaks more firmly theatrically-and definitely with more baritone. “But also-no, I'm not Will." My heart is joyfully pounding. It's singing and running and skipping and I don't even know what's happening. I thought he was gone! "My name is Captain Blackheart," he says before hoisting me up over his shoulder, making me squeal. "And you, my lady, are being kidnapped."

"Hey," he says suddenly, the look on his face changing. I'm afraid he's going to prod me with questions about Will just like everyone else, but he shocks me by going in a completely unexpected direction. Is it true about Maddie? Is she moving to New York for culinary school?" "Oh yeah, it's true. Can you believe it? We're going to have to be without her for two years." I laugh lightly. “Then again, that will probably feel like a break for you because you won't have to deal with her constant badgering anymore." I expect him to laugh with me. He doesn't. He looks oddly troubled as he gazes blankly at the stairs that lead up to the bridal suite. "Yeah. It'l be nice." He clears his throat. “Anyway. I'l see you out there." He winks and lightly squeezes my elbow as he passes. I watch him go, wondering if James has a secret too. Maybe I don't know him as well as I think I do.

I turn my attention down to the flyer, and sure enough, it shows the final tally of town votes for our relationship: 250 votes in favor of me and Annie dating, 0 votes against. That can't be right. This is me they're talking about dating Annie. I don't deserve her. This is bullshit. Every single person in this town should have voted against me. Do they not care about her at all? Below the tally is an agenda for the meeting:

"Will had to take him down, and the guy turned out to be really aggressive for someone wearing a T-shirt with my face all over it." I feel like I'm going to pass out. “Anyway, Will got hold of the situation pretty quickly, but the guy managed to get a few good hits in before that. But when Will tackled him onto the gravel driveway, his shoulder landed on a sharp rock and it made a big gash" She cuts off as I whirl around and take off toward the door, grab my keys, and slam the door behind me on my way Out.

totally honest with you guys either. I applied to The Culinary Institute of America, and...I got in. I enrolled for this upcoming fall semester, and I'm going." She levels a firm look at Emily. "I'm going no matter what anyone has to say about it." There's so much silence. I don't think anyone is even breathing. We're just absorbing. And then... "Finally!" we all say in unison before tackling Madison to the ground. "Maddie! I'm so happy for you!" I say, kissing Maddie's cheek until it smooshes up.

I'm immediately angry. It's not a gentle movement on the meter from green to yellow to red. It's calm to livid in one second flat. At first, I try to swallow my feelings so I don't upset anyone, but then I hear Mabel's voice in my head: Tell your sisters the truth. "Maddie, I need you to stop saying things like that. It's so frustrating to me." Madison's head tips back a little, and her eyes widen. Everyone else seems too stunned to speak. That's fine because I have more than enough to say right now. "And please, I'm begging you to stop calling me Angel Annie. I hate it. I've hated it forever. I know you don't mean it as a bad thing but it feels like one. It puts me in this suffocating little box that I thing- can't climb out of."

Will, we were children. We didn't have a choice. But you're an adult nowyou always have the choice to leave a bad situation." "What if I can't see that it's bad?" "Tl tell you." "What if I'l be the one that's bad for Annie? What if I'm like Mom and Dad and the only way to protect Annie is to not let myself have her?" "Shit, Will. Have you been carrying that thought around this whole time? Is that why you've never settled down with anyone?" My silence answers that question. That's a lie. You are a good person, with a damn good heart. You deserve love and to give love."

"Annie." His happy-go-lucky demeanor melts into something serious. Unguarded. He puts his hands on the sides of my arms and then slides them down to my fingers. "Please. Just let me be here. I don't know why, but I can't be anywhere else. I tried but my feet keep bringing me back here to your door." He pauses, looks to the soup and then to me. "This...isn't something I would normally do, but I just need to take care of you. Please let me." Well. With a response like that, how can I say no?

"Very practical," he says with the backs of his fingers lingering against my neck. "Let's get you off the floor, sunshine." Sunshine. Am I hallucinating or did Will just call me by the sweetest name my ears have ever heard? Will's strong arms scoop under my bare thighs and back, lifting me off the floor and carrying me to my room, where I'm deposited gently on the bed. I'm immensely grateful for the gently part because my head feels like it's going to explode.

At this moment, there's a knock on my door. I don't answer it because I'm only 50 percent conscious. I think it might actually be a burglar because I heard the doorknob jiggle, followed by its opening. Good. I'll ask him for a ride to the doctor. "Annie?" A voice hovers over me, and I cringe because I know that voice, and I also know that I'm pantsless. I hear a thunk as he drops to his knees. “Shit, Annie. Talk to me-are you okay?" Will? Are you kidding me?" I crack my eyes open to find the world's most attractive man kneeling down beside me, looking relieved that I'm not dead. That's sweet.

After drinking my obligatory sip of water, I thought I just needed a little rest, so I sat down on the floor in the kitchen, and then that turned into lying on the floor of the kitchen, and now here I am... thirty minutes later, still lying here, head pounding, ears feeling like someone took a baseball bat to them, and nose so stuffy it's possible I'll never breathe through my nostrils again.

Where the hell is Annie?" I ask Amelia when we pass her flower shop and see a Closed sign on the door. "She's sick." What? Since when?" My voice sounds a little too eager. Amelia points to the little sticky note on the door. It's in Annie's handwriting. Only in a town this small would someone leave a note like this: “Out sick! Be back when I don't feel like I have plungers up my nose anymore." I look sharply to Amelia. “HOW long has she been sick?" "I think since the day after Hank's." Shit. I had no idea. Now I feel terrible. This whole time she's been sick, and I haven't checked in on her at all

Nice to meet you, Annie." He pauses only briefly as he picks up his bouquet from the counter. "Listen, I realize this is really forward of me, but...you don't happen to be single, are you?" My heart trips. Is he about to ask me out? Is this really happening? Do I want it to happen? Also, what constitutes "single"? If you ask anyone in the town, they would say I'm dating a dangerous-looking bodyguard. But that s not real, Annie. I am single," I say and then realize my chin is lifted. I promptly level it. Brandon smiles. "Well, then, would you be interested in going out sometime? I know we just met, and this could come across as super creepy, so no pressure. Also, I'm on Instagram if you want to look me up to make sure I'm legit."

"So what do you practice?" I shrug. "Just like regular stuff. Datey stuff, you know? Good topics to bring up on dates. How to flirt. Those sorts of things." Madison's nose wrinkles. "Oh. I guess that makes more sense." "What do you mean?" I ask, having a bad feeling that I already know the answer. She laughs lightly because she thinks I'm in on this joke. "It's you; and it's Will Griffin! You guys are polar opposites. He's all sexy-fun-adventure, and you're our quiet sweet-little-introvert. I'm just saying it's probably for the best that you guys aren't really dating because you'd rather be inside on a Friday night reading a book, and he'd probably be drunk in a club." She and Emily laugh, and I try to muster one, too, but all that comes out is a weak attempt at a smile.

"Time in," If you want to kiss me again, Annie, I want you to. Take as much as you want, and I'll keep my hands right here" he grips my hips again "unless you tell me to move them."

"Time in," If you want to kiss me again, Annie, I want you to. Take as much as you want, and I'll keep my hands right here" he grips my hips again "unless you tell me to move them."

"Can I see it now?" I ask, dropping my gaze to her wrist. But there's nothing there. She nods and adjusts a little away for me in her seat, gathering all of her long hair and tugging it over one shoulder. And then my breath catches as she tugs the neck of her shirt down, revealing her beautiful bare shoulder. Well...her bare shoulder inked with the cutest small tattoo I've ever seen. "I got a book," she says, sounding like she just won a million dollars. "I was going to get the flowers we talked about, but then I realized flowers were always my mom's dream-not especially mine even though following it has worked out

"What are we doing tonight?" He grins mischievously and his blue-gray eyes shine. "Something you've always wanted to do but have been too scared to." My stomach tenses. "You don't mean..." You're finally getting your tattoo tonight. "What?!" I say, instinctively taking a step away from him. "No. I can't do that." You can." He reaches out and takes my hand, lacing our fingers together, and my body immediately softens. “I already made you an appointment with an artist right outside of town who seemed really good.

I press my hand to her mouth. "None of that was a lie. None. I swear to youI wasn't even setting a trap of seduction or whatever you said. The story about the tree was true and something I've never told another soul. And the part where I think you're wildly sexy is true too." And then I notice tears welling in her eyes again, and now I'm completely lost. I shift my hand from her mouth to clasp the side of her jaw and rub my thumb under her eyewiping away a tear. "Annie, why does that make you cry?" She closes her eyes and shakes her head desperately like she's hoping it will shalke her emotions away. "Because...because no one has ever said that about me before." Those blue eyes open again, and a burst of potent feelings hits me in the chest. "They say it about my sisters-but never me.

"No, Annie. Don't get it twisted. I already think you're sexy without a tattoo. So I know for sure you would be with one." My lips part on a sharp happy inhale. Did he really mean that? I've never once in my entire life been referred to as sexy. Always nice or the girl with a good heart. Never sexy. Never anything that made me feel quite so womanly as the word he just used to describe me. But then with a flash of disappointment, I remember how this whole conversation started. Again, this was a demonstration. Practice. He's showing me how well the lines work and how he effortlessly flirts because of them. Was the story about the tree real? Or is it just all a part of the mechanics. Ugh. My heart is racing and my skin feels clammy. Like I'm going to cry. Oh God, am I going to cry? I give a stilted laugh while dropping my gaze and blinking a hundred times at my plate as I shift it around to wipe a nonexistent drop of water from the table. "Nice. Good line." Wait, what?" he says sounding confused.

"Hmm. Well at the risk of you thinking I'm trying to be your copycat, it would be fun to get some flowers. Maybe a little bouquet on my wrist." But then a new idea hits me, and excitement surges right to my belly. "Or even here." I pull my shoulder forward and tap the back center of it. Will's eyes track my inger and a smile like lava melts across his mouth. For a minute he's lost to whatever mental image he's conjuring up. And then his blue- gray irises connect with minethe black centers dilated. You should definitely get that. It would be very sexy." My stomach clenches and I blink at him. “You think I would be...sexy with a tattoo?"