Untouched A Cedar Cove Novella

me in the dark, quiet room, or his arms I imagine sliding around me; his lips brushing against my neck…
    “Tomatoes?”
    My mom's voice cuts through my flashback. I spin around. We're at the small grocery store in town, picking up supplies for Dad and Carina's welcome dinner. I wanted to tell her, the food wouldn't be worth the effort; as long as there's a full bottle of scotch, he'll be happy. But mom seemed so excited, and I knew I could use the distraction from Emerson.
    Some distraction. Here I am daydreaming about him in the middle of the produce aisle.
    I blink back to the present. “What?” I ask, trying to remember what she said.
    “Tomatoes,” mom says again. “For a salad, or maybe a sauce.” Her face lights up. “That’s perfect, I can teach you how to make my marinara. Won’t that be fun? I'll get the pasta, you find fresh basil, and oregano too.”
    She disappears down the aisle before I can protest, so I slowly push the cart on. I send up a silent prayer that Dad and Carina don't stop at a restaurant on the way into town; too many of mom's special dinners have sat, going cold, as they breeze late in with bags of takeout.
    I maneuver the cart around a corner. There's a clash of metal as it hits one coming from the other direction.
    “Sorry!” I apologize, and look up - straight into the blue constellations I've barely finished day-dreaming about.
    “Emerson!” My voice comes out a high-pitched squeak, and I cringe from embarrassment at the sound. Way to go, Juliet. Casual! “So, umm, hi.”
    “Hi.” Emerson stares at me, frozen by a canned goods display.
    Silence.
    Everything from the other night rushes back again, but this time, it’s stronger than ever because he’s right here. In front of me. The hands that held me so close, the lips that demanded everything I was all too willing to give. I can't look away, but I can't think of a single thing to say. My mind is blank, heart racing, and all I can do is stare up at his gorgeous face and remember our kiss.
    The kiss.
    “I..” Say something! Don't just stand there like an idiot. I look desperately around, and zone in on the contents of his shopping cart. “Captain Crunch!” I exclaim loudly.
    Emerson looks startled. “What?”
    “The cereal. I like it too.” I babble. “I have it with orange juice, sometimes, instead of milk. I know it sounds weird but, it's actually kind of great…”
    Shut up, shut up, shut up!
    “Oh, yeah.” Emerson glances down. “It's for my sister. Brit. You met her when...”
    He trails off, but I know what he’s thinking. When I was halfway to giving him my virginity on his back porch.
    Emerson clears his throat. He looks pained, awkward as hell. Like he wants to be anywhere but here.
    My heart drops as I realize the truth: he doesn’t have a thing to say to me. In fact, he probably can’t wait to get away.
    Damn! Why didn’t I see, the reason he didn’t come after me, or try to track me down at all. To him, it was just a kiss. Hell, he’s probably made out with dozens of girls, right there in that exact same spot.
    I’m nothing special. It didn’t mean a thing. I feel tears sting the back of my throat. Behind him, I see my mom. I quickly steer my cart around him.
    “I've got to go. Umm, bye.” I speed away as fast as I can.
    “Who was that?” Mom looks past me.
    “Nobody!” I exclaim. “I just ran into him with my cart. Did you get the pasta? Good, let's go.”
    As I steer her away, I can’t help but glance back for Emerson. But he’s gone. Deep inside, I feel an ache of disappointment. Call it hope, or maybe just foolish day-dreaming, but I felt like that kiss was the beginning of something.
    I turn back, and tighten my grip on the shopping cart, telling myself it doesn’t matter, it never could have worked anyway.
    You’d think I’d be able to lie just fine, with a family like mine, but it turns out, I can’t. Not when I’m lying to myself.
    “Ugh, I’m so bored.” Carina flops beside me on the back porch and pulls out her phone. She taps away at the keys, ignoring the gorgeous beach spread out in front of us, the sea grasses rippling in the evening breeze. “There’s like, nothing to do here.”
    “You could go into town,” I suggest, putting my book aside. “Or take a walk.”
    Carina fixes me with a look. “Seriously? Whatever. We don’t even get cable TV. I’m going to demand we get it installed, I can’t believe mom thinks she can keep us here all summer