Archer's Voice

  I came back to myself as I felt his warm breath against my belly and felt him smiling against my skin.

  I smiled too, stroking his hair, still unable to form words.

  All of a sudden, a loud knocking sounded on the window, and Archer and I both startled, panic washing through me. What the hell? I swung my legs down as Archer sat up, wiping his mouth on his shirt as I fumbled my underwear up my legs and smoothed my skirt down.

  The windows were fogged up–thank God. Or maybe not. Oh no. Embarrassment washed over me as I looked at Archer, and he nodded and pointed to the hand window crank. I rolled it down, and Travis was standing there in his uniform, a tight look on his face as he bent down to the open window and peered in at us.

  The smell of sex hung heavy in the air of the small cab. I closed my eyes very briefly, color filling my face, and then opened them. "Hi, Travis," I said, trying to smile, but grimacing instead.

  Travis looked back and forth between me and Archer before his eyes landed on me, moved downward to my lap and swung back up to my eyes. "Bree," he said.

  Neither one of us spoke for a second as his face got tighter. I looked forward, feeling like a little girl who was about to get expelled by the principal.

  "I got a call about a stalled truck out here," he said. "I was right in the area, came to see if I could help."

  I cleared my throat. "Oh, uh, well…" I glanced over at Archer and went silent for a second as I took him in–he was sitting casually, one hand resting on the steering wheel in front of him, looking like the cat that ate the canary. And in this case, I was definitely the canary.

  A small, hysterical laugh bubbled up my throat, but I pulled it back and instead, narrowed my eyes at him. His smug look only increased. "I was giving Archer a driving lesson," I said, turning back to Travis.

  Travis was silent for a second. "Uh huh. Does he have a learner's permit?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, knowing very well that he didn't.

  I let out a breath. "Travis, we're out here in an open, dirt space. I'm not taking him on the road or anything."

  "Doesn't matter. He still needs a learner's permit."

  "Come on, Travis," I said softly, "he just wants to learn how to drive."

  Travis's eyes narrowed and he spoke slowly. "He can do that, but he needs to follow the rules of society." He looked over at Archer. "Think you can do that, bro?" He raised one eyebrow.

  I looked over at Archer and the smug look had been replaced by an angry one, his jaw clenched. He raised his hands and signed, You're an asshole, Travis.

  I laughed nervously and looked over at Travis. "He said, sure, no problem," I said. I heard Archer shift in his seat.

  "Anyway," I went on, raising my voice. "We'll just be on our way now. Thanks for being understanding, Travis. We'll see what we can do about that learner's permit before any more lessons. I'll drive home, okay?" I smiled what I hoped was sweetly. This was a totally embarrassing situation, despite the fact that I was still pretty mad at Travis for what he had done to Archer with the whole strip-club scenario.

  Travis stood back from the truck as I scooted over and climbed over Archer's big body. I felt Archer's hand on the back of my bare thigh as he moved under me and when I looked down at him, saw he was looking toward Travis. I huffed out a breath and plopped down on the seat, turning the key in the ignition.

  I looked out the window at Travis as I shifted into gear and he had that same tense, slightly angry look on his face. Archer still had his head turned, looking at him too. I smiled tightly and pulled away.

  When we got back on the road, I looked over at Archer. He looked back at me and we looked away again. After a second, I looked back over at him and his body was shaking in silent laughter. He grinned over at me and said, I like driving.

  I laughed and shook my head. "Yeah, I bet you do." Then I punched him lightly on the arm and said, "I like it when you drive. But maybe we should drive in a more private location next time." I raised my eyebrows.

  He laughed silently, his teeth flashing and those sexy creases forming in his cheeks.

  I regarded Archer's beautiful profile as he stared happily out the front window. He was happy with what had happened between us, but happy about Travis catching us too. I bit my lip, thinking about those two and how Archer probably hadn't had a lot of cause to gloat over anything in his life. After a minute, I said, "Archer, I hope you know that you don't have to compete with Travis. I hope I made it clear that I chose you. Only you."

  He looked over at me, his face going serious. He reached across the seat and grabbed my hand and squeezed it. He looked back out the window.

  I squeezed his hand back and held it, driving with one hand the whole way back to his house.

  **********

  The next day at work was one of the busiest I'd worked in a while. At about one thirty, when it was finally slowing down, Melanie and Liza came in, sitting down at the counter where they had been sitting the first time I met them. "Hey there!" I grinned when I spotted them.

  They greeted me back, smiling big. "What's up, girlfriend?" Melanie asked.

  I sagged against the counter. "Ugh. Day from," I brought my voice to a whisper, "hell. I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off."

  "Yeah, it gets busier this time of year because all the people who worked on the other side of the lake all summer now spend more time here. Norm talked about hiring someone to work dinner shift and keep the diner open after three, but I guess they decided not to do that. Of course with all the expansion plans, no one knows what's going on, so who can blame them." She shrugged.

  "Hmmm, I didn't know that," I said, frowning slightly.

  Liza nodded and it snapped me back to reality. "So what can I get you girls?"

  They both ordered burgers and iced tea, and I turned around to the iced tea machine behind me and started getting their drinks. A couple seconds later, I heard the bell on the door and a few more seconds after that, Melanie squeaked out, "Holy crap on a cracker," and Liza's voice behind me whispered, "Whoa."

  I dropped a lemon in each glass. A hush seemed to fall over the place. What the heck?

  My brows came down slightly, and I turned around on a small confused smile, wondering what was going on. And that's when I spotted him–Archer. I sucked in a breath, a grin immediately spreading over my face. His eyes were focused solely on me as he stood in the doorway, looking… oh God, he looked gorgeous. He had obviously bought himself some new clothes–jeans that fit him perfectly, showcasing his long muscular legs, and a simple, long sleeved, black pullover with a gray t-shirt just showing underneath the collar.

  He was freshly shaven and his hair lay perfectly, even though he had gotten a kitchen-chair cut from a girl who was so turned on, she could barely see straight. I grinned bigger. He was here.

  "Who is that?" I heard Mrs. Kenfield say loudly from a table by the door. She was about 1,000 years old, but still. Rude. Her grown granddaughter, Chrissy, shushed her and whispered loudly out of the side of her mouth, "That's Archer Hale, Grandma." And then more quietly, "Holy hell."

  "The mute kid?" she asked, and Chrissy groaned and shot Archer an apologetic look before turning back to her grandma. But Archer wasn't looking at her anyway.

  I put the iced teas I was holding down on the counter, my eyes never leaving Archer's and wiped my hands down the sides of my hips, my smile growing even bigger.

  I walked around the counter and when I cleared the side of it, I increased speed, fast-walking the rest of the way to him and laughing out loud before I jumped into his arms. He picked me up, a relieved looking grin spreading over his handsome face before he put his nose into the crook of my neck and squeezed me tightly.

  If there was ever a time to let someone know that they were wanted, this was it.

  As I stood there holding onto him, it occurred to me that not all great acts of courage are obvious to those looking in from the outside. But I saw this moment for what it was–a boy who had never been made to feel
that he was wanted anywhere, showing up and asking others to accept him. It made my heart soar with pride for the beautiful act of bravery that was Archer Hale stepping into this small town diner.

  You could have heard a pin drop around us. I didn't care. I laughed again and brought my head back, looking into his face. "You're here," I whispered.

  He nodded, his eyes moving over my face, a gentle smile on his lips. He placed me down on the floor and said, I'm here for you.

  I smiled. They were the same words he had said to me the day he met me outside the diner several weeks before.

  "I'm here for you, too," I whispered, smiling again. I meant that in so many ways, I couldn't even begin to list them all.

  We stared into each other's eyes for several long seconds as I realized that the diner was still quiet. I cleared my throat and looked around. People who had been staring at us, some with small smiles on their faces, others looking perplexed, looked back to what they had been doing. Chatter in the diner slowly started up again, and I knew exactly what the chatter was about.

  I took Archer's hand and led him to the counter and went back around to the other side. Melanie and Liza looked over at him, replacing their still slightly shocked expressions with big smiles.

  Melanie reached her hand out to him. "I'm Melanie. We've never properly met."

  He took her hand and smiled just a little warily at her.

  "Archer," I said, "that's Liza, Melanie's sister." Liza leaned forward and reached across Melanie to shake Archer's hand as well.

  He nodded and then looked back at me. "Can you give me just a minute? I need to take care of a few customers and I'll be right back."

  I handed him a menu, and he nodded as I went to deliver the food that had just come up at the window and refill a few drinks. When I got back, Liza and Melanie's food was up and so I grabbed it and set their burgers down in front of them, and then turned to Archer. Hungry? I signed.

  No. I'm saving my appetite for dinner with a special girl, he grinned. Just… he looked around behind me at the soda machines.

  Chocolate milk with a twisty straw? I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  He chuckled silently. Coffee, he said, winking at me.

  "God, that's sexy," Melanie said. "It's like you two are talking dirty right out in the open."

  Archer smiled over at her and I laughed. I shook my head. "Maybe you two should learn sign so you can join us." I grinned.

  Liza and Melanie laughed. I turned around and grabbed the coffee pot and poured Archer a cup, and then watched as he poured creamer in it.

  Maggie came up next to me and put her hand out to Archer. "Hi there," she smiled, glancing over at me quickly, "I'm Maggie. Thanks for coming in."

  Archer smiled shyly at her and shook her hand, signing to me, Please tell her I said it's nice to meet her.

  I did and she smiled. "I met you many years ago, honey. Your mama used to bring you in here when you were a little thing." She looked off in the distance as if she was recalling. "That mama of yours was just the sweetest, prettiest thing. And oh, did she love you." She sighed, coming back to the present and smiling. "Well, anyway, I'm so glad you're here."

  Archer listened to her, a small smile on his face, seeming to drink in her words. He nodded and Maggie went on, looking at me. "So, Archer, this girl here has worked a lot of overtime recently. I think she's earned an early day. Think you can come up with something to do with her?"

  "Geez, Maggie, that sounds dirty." Liza snorted.

  Archer tried not to smile and looked away, picking up his coffee cup as Maggie put her hands on her hips and glared at Liza as we laughed.

  "It's your dirty mind that makes that sound dirty," she said, but there was a twinkle in her eye.

  Archer looked at me. Think we can come up with something dirty to do this afternoon? he asked, grinning at me. I laughed and then bit my lip to stop myself.

  "See!" Melanie said. "I knew you two were talking dirty. I’m totally learning sign language."

  I grinned. "He just asked me if I'd like to go on a nice picnic," I said, deadpan.

  "Right!" Liza said, laughing. "A naked picnic!"

  I laughed and Maggie snorted, causing Archer to grin bigger. "You people aren't right. Now get outta here, you," Maggie said, nudging me.

  "Okay, okay, but what about my sidework and the salads–"

  "I got it," she said. "You can make the salads in the morning."

  I looked at Archer. "Well, okay then! Let's go!"

  He started taking some money out of his pocket for the coffee, but Maggie stopped him by putting her hand on his arm. "It's on the house," she said.

  Archer paused, looking at me and then nodded okay.

  "Okay," she said, smiling.

  I came from around the counter, and we said goodbye to Melanie, Liza and Maggie, and then walked out the front door together.

  When we got outside, I looked across the street and saw a familiar figure. Victoria Hale was just coming out of a store with an older woman with dark hair. I saw the moment she saw me and Archer–the temperature on that street seemed to drop about fifty degrees, and a chill moved through me. I wrapped my arms around Archer's waist and he smiled down at me, pulled me to him and kissed the side of my head, and as quickly as that, Victoria Hale ceased to exist.

  **********

  Later that evening, Archer built a bonfire down on the lakeshore and we sat on old Adirondack chairs that he told me his uncle had built years ago. We brought a bottle of red wine and blankets with us as the weather was getting colder, especially in the evenings. Archer had a small glass of wine and I had a larger one and he nursed his like it was strong liquor. So many things that I took for granted were so new to him.

  We sat in silence for a little bit, sipping the wine and just watching the fire blaze and jump. I felt happy and content, the wine moving through my blood. I leaned my head on the back of the wooden chair and looked over at his handsome profile, all alight in the glow of the fire. For a second he looked like a God, maybe of the Sun, all golden and beautiful, his own magnificence outdoing that of the dancing flames. I laughed slightly to myself–feeling drunk from half a glass of Merlot. Drunk on him, on this night, on fate, on bravery, on life. I stood up, the blanket on my lap falling to the chair, and I sat my wine down on the sand. I walked to him and sat on his lap and when he smiled, I took his face in my hands and simply gazed at him for a second before I brought my lips down on his, tasting red wine and Archer, a delicious ambrosia that made me moan and tilt my head so that he would take over the kiss and give me more of himself. He did, leaning into me and teasing my tongue with his as I adjusted myself on his lap and sighed into his mouth. He responded to my sigh, his tongue plunging slowly into my mouth, mimicking the sex act, and making my core pulse to life, almost instantly slick and wet, ready for him to fill me and satiate the deep need that was making me ache and squirm on his lap.

  He smiled against my mouth–he knew exactly what he did to me and he liked it. It was so easy to get lost in him now, the way he paid attention, the way he looked at me as if he adored me, the way his intense sexiness was all natural and unabashed–he barely knew it existed. But he was learning, and in a way I felt the loss of the unsure man who looked to me to show him how to pleasure me, to tell him I wanted him at all. But the other part of me gloried in his newfound confidence, in the way he took charge of my body and made me weak with desire.

  After a few minutes, I leaned back, both of us breathing harshly, catching our breath. I kissed him lightly one more time on his mouth. "You get me worked up too quickly," I said.

  His hands came up. Is that a bad thing? he asked. He eyed me–it was an actual question, not rhetorical.

  I ran my thumb over his bottom lip. "No," I whispered, shaking my head.

  I caught sight of his scar in the dancing flames, the raised skin red in the firelight, the shiny skin golden, stretched. I leaned in and kissed it and he shuddered slightly, going still. I ran my tongue over it, f
eeling his body tense even more.

  I whispered against his throat, "You're beautiful everywhere, Archer."

  He let out a breath and leaned his head back very, very slightly, giving me more access, baring his scar to me, a beautiful act of trust.

  "Tell me what happened," I whispered, rubbing my lips up and down the puckered skin, drawing in his scent. "Tell me all of it. I want to know you," I said, leaning back and looking up at him.

  His expression was a mixture of tense and thoughtful as he looked down into my face. He let out a breath and brought his hands up. I felt… almost normal today. At the diner. He paused. I don't want to remember how I'm broken tonight, Bree. Please. I just want to hold you out here, and then I want to take you inside and make love to you. I know it's hard to understand, but please. Let me just enjoy you for now.

  I studied him. I did understand. I had been there. I had tried so hard to get back to a place of normalcy after my dad died. I had tried so hard to stop missing exits on the highway that I'd taken a thousand times, tried so hard to stop zoning out at the grocery store, standing in front of the oranges, just staring into space, tried hard to feel something–anything that wasn't pure pain. And no matter who had asked me, no matter how much they'd loved me, I couldn't have talked about it until I was one hundred percent ready. Archer had lived with his own pain for a long, long time, and asking him to re-visit it on my time schedule would never be fair. I would wait. I would wait as long as he needed me to.

  I smiled at him, smoothed his hair back from his forehead and kissed him gently again. When I leaned back, I said, "Remember how you told me that I did fight the night my dad was killed and I was attacked?"