Page 20 of The Seal's Promise
“If you don’t stop being nice to me, I’m not going to be able to stay mad at you,” she said, accepting the tissue and wiping at her own nose.
“In that case, you can have all my napkins and you can cry all you want in my new truck.”
A laugh bubbled up, and she buried her face in the tissues.
“Was that a smile? Does that mean you don’t hate me anymore?” One of his hands gripped her chin and gently tilted her face up so he could look into her eyes.
“Yup, there it is, that beautiful smile.”
She just stared into his blue eyes. It was like looking at the clearest part of the ocean, and she held her breath.
“I like holding you but I can’t believe I never realized.”
“What?” she said.
With his hand now cupping her face, he leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. “How much I always wanted to do this.” Then his mouth captured hers, his teeth skimmed her bottom lip until she parted her lips, and their tongues tasted each other. Before she knew it she was climbing onto his lap and wrapping her arms around his strong shoulders, making sounds she didn’t recognize. It was like a gunshot at a race had gone off; the floodgates were opened. She was unleashed, and he didn’t hesitate to sink his hands into her curves and pull her closer to deepen their kiss. His tongue ran along hers as her hips ground down from the thrill of being this close to him.
It wasn’t until his mouth moved to her neck and the sound of the rain started to lessen that she considered what she was doing. But she didn’t want to stop either—she had wanted Dalton since the day she met him in high school and every day since. Reality only came crashing back when another set of lights stopped behind his truck, the telltale red and blue of a police car.
“We have company,” she said, leaning back out of reach of his mouth and hitting the horn.
They were both panting and then a huge, sexy smile spread on his face. “That was unexpected.”
She moved to sit back in the passenger seat and wiped her smeared lip gloss as the sound of a car door being opened and closed sounded.
“If that’s your brother, I’ll die right here.”
He laughed, then rolled down the window to see a young, fresh-faced deputy in a Sandy Point police poncho.
“Sir, do you need any help?” The deputy peeked in to see Brooke and she waved.
“Hey, Deputy. I got a flat, and Dalton was just giving me a ride home.”
Dalton cleared his throat, and she fought the urge to hit his shoulder.
“Oh, hey, Ms. Brooke, I could change the tire for you if you want. The rain has let up enough.”
“Actually, her axle is cracked, so it’s going to need a tow,” Dalton said.
“Oh, that’s terrible. We’ve had quite a few disabled cars on this road tonight. I’ll have to let Chief Hart know.”
“Chief?” Dalton asked, surprised.
“Well, technically he’s the deputy chief, but you know he’s the one we all like, and it’s just easier to call him the chief. But don’t tell the real chief.” The deputy sounded worried.
“Copy that. If you can get her car towed that’d be a huge help, Deputy. We appreciate you checking on us.”
“You got it, sir. Ms. Brooke, I’ll have Jake’s Garage tow it if that’s okay.”
“Thanks.” Her voice had gone back to normal and her heart had stopped beating a million miles a minute, but she rubbed her hands down her thighs to ward off the shivers.
“Alright, y’all have a safe night,” the deputy said, and walked back to his car.
“Nice kid,” Dalton said. “Even though I hate him for interrupting us.”
She let out a breath and buckled her seat belt as Dalton pulled his huge truck out onto the wet road. After she rattled off her address, the sound of the wipers filled the quiet. When he parked in her empty driveway and turned off the engine, both doubt and need lingered as she thought about what would have happened if they hadn’t been interrupted. Or if she invited him in.
“I don’t know what that kiss was, but it can’t happen again. This isn’t going to be a thing while you’re in town for a visit,” she said, pointing between them.
