“A good one. With actual locks and—”
I kiss him.
I don’t mean for it to be a little peck. I meant exactly this. His lips, mine, intertwined so fully they may never part again. I kiss him with urgency, like if I don’t, he might go up in flames as well. He kisses me back with the same intensity, tangling his fingers in my hair and angling my chin up so he can deepen the kiss.
His kiss is rough and gentle at the same time. Each brush of our lips is like a question. Yes or No? The answer is always yes. Always more.
“Are you guys in need of some help?”
Trent jerks away, abandoning my lips in their moment of need. Dang him.
“Yes!” Trent approaches the man who has stopped to help, leaving me feeling cold again.
I turn, studying the horizon while trying to get a grip on my emotions. I could chalk that frantic kiss up to the adrenaline of nearly dying, but that’s not what it was for me. And I don’t think it was for him, either.
Chapter 21
Trent
Asingle-cabtruckisonly fun if you’re on a first date and looking to snuggle up to a cute girl. It’s less ideal if you’re a six-foot man, in the hump seat, cozied up to a man you just met.
I wasn’t about to let Karli take the middle seat, seeing as how the truck is a stick, and I’m currently straddling it between my legs because all of Karli’s possessions we managed to save are taking up the legroom on her side.
Awkward is the understatement of the year.
Karli has barely said two words since we got in the truck. Though I strongly suspect she’s simply trying not to laugh at the situation.
“Where are you two lovebirds from?” The middle-aged man, Chuck, is at least friendly. After he inspected our van and helped us salvage what we could, he told us he could give us a lift to Kingman, the closest city with a rental car company. We agreed because there were no other options, and we didn’t want to make him go out of his way for us.
“Phoenix,” I answer for both of us.
“I had a girl in Phoenix, years ago. She was a fiery little thing. She keyed my car when I called things off.”
“When did you call things off?” Karli asks.
“The day before the weddin’.” he drawls.
“I hate to say it, but she might have been justified,” Karli chuckles.
“I know.” The man snickers and reaches between my legs to grab the Dr. Pepper he’s been nursing the whole drive.
Can he just finish it already?
“I miss that car more than that woman. She was a classic.”
Karli takes over the conversation and asks him all about his family, his home, his horses, and his health. By the time we pull up to a rental company, I know everything there is to know about Chuck, including his geographic tongue, which he showed us, multiple times. It was uh…interesting and slightly repulsive.
Apparently, a geographic tongue is a real medical condition. To think I could have lived the rest of my life without getting up close and personal with one.
“Thank you so much, Chuck. Give my love to your sister.” Karli hugs him goodbye.
“He has a sister?” I ask as Chuck’s truck pulls away from the curb. I must have missed that piece of information when I was worried that his tongue issues were contagious and trying not to touch him or his drink in any way.
“He also has a geographic tongue, did you get that part?” Karli smirks.
“Loud and clear,” I cringe. “He nearly licked my eye when we went over that pothole.”
Karli cackles. “Oh, poor Chuck.”
