“Turn right up here on this dirt road.” She instructed him. “It’s a back way to the lake that only locals know about. We can park at the end and have the lake to ourselves.”
Chapter 11
Harley Ann noticedhis Adams apple bob along his throat when she said that about parking by the lake and being alone. The tip of his tongue came out and licked his lips as though they’d suddenly gone dry. However, he didn’t make any comment about her choice of words.
She wasn’t sure if she was disappointed by his lack of reaction or not. Now was definitely a weird time to be thinking about making out by the lake like a couple of teenagers. But she wanted to have something that felt normal in her life for just a bit before she went home and told her aunt that their lives were in danger.
The dirt road petered out at the edge of the lake with a big enough cleared area for the car to turn around when they got ready to leave. As she’d anticipated, no one else was there.
The sun dipped low in the sky painting the choppy water with a path of diamonds in the late afternoon. Soon it would be falling behind the trees on the far shore creating a gorgeous display of orange, yellow and red before darkness fell.
She jumped when Jesse released his seat so that it moved back away from the steering wheel. He leaned it as far back as it would go so that he was nearly lying down. She did the same, and they lay silently for a minute lost in their own thoughts.
At leastshewas lost. Wanting something she wasn’t sure about. Especially with so many more important things needing her attention. Like David Green popping back into her life. She pushed that thought away and concentrated on here and now. Herself and this man she was so attract to.
He was letting her drive the bus on this, she realized. If she wanted nothing more than to sit here quietly and watch the sun go down, he would be okay with that.
She held her hand out to him, palm up. He took it without a word and brought it to his mouth. His lips tickled as he oh-so-gently kissed the back of it. Then he turned it, and pressed her palm to his lips.
A frisson of excitement curled in her belly – and lower down. Igniting feelings she’d thought were long gone. When he turned his head to look at her, she nearly drowned in those whiskey eyes. Her own tongue came out to moisten suddenly dry lips and his eyes lowered to take note of the motion.
A pulse began to beat heavily in her throat. He must be able to see it. To know what effect he was having on her senses.
As if in answer to her thoughts, he pulled lightly on the hand he still had in his grasp and she moved willingly to lean across the console and balance on his chest. Eye to eye. His other hand came up and cupped the back of her head as those whiskey eyes gazed deep into her soul.
He pressed gently on the back of her head, urging her toward him. She closed her eyes and leaned in. His lips, when they met hers were firm and warm. They molded to her own like they had been made for each other.
When he deepened the kiss, pressing with his tongue, she opened her lips and met his tongue with her own. Delight swam through her veins as their tongues danced to an age-old rhythm. His hand moved from the back of her head to trace slowly along her spine, drawing fire with every inch. His hand reached the hem of her shirt and eased under, just barely touching the skin of her lower back.
She arched toward him, her hand stroking down his chest toward his lap. He moved the hand beneath her shirt and caught her wandering hand with his.
Embarrassed, she tried to sit up, but his hand returned to the back of her head. “Don’t.” He said. “I want you like crazy and I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop if you go there.”
His hand stroked her hair, moved around to her chin and his thumb stroked her cheek. “I don’t want our first time together to be in a rental car sprawled across a console like a couple of horny teenagers. It’s going to be special. For both of us.”
He pressed his lips to hers once again in a lingering kiss. A kiss that grew deeper and deeper, and then pushed her gently away. “We’d better get you home before I go back on that.”
Chapter 12
Next morning,Harley Ann got out a batch of the bacon jam and fixed a pan of homemade biscuits to go with the eggs she’d cook once Aunt Edna got ready for breakfast. In her mind thinking to soften the blow with good food.
Her aunt eyed the bacon jam on the table and the pan of biscuits keeping warm on the stove, and then sat down in her usual chair.
“Tell me.” She said.
Nobody could put anything over on Aunt Edna, she thought to herself. But, also admitted, silently, that the bacon jam and biscuits had been a dead giveaway.
She cracked some eggs into a bowl and began beating them to make scrambled eggs for the two of them. She’d been up half the night trying to figure out how she was going to break this to her aunt -- who’d given her love and a good home out of the goodness of her heart. And would now be paid back with who knew what kind of danger.
Before she could get started bringing her aunt up to speed someone knocked on the front door. Huffing out a breath of frustration, she set the bowl of eggs on the counter, strode to the door and yanked it open.
And nearly fell backward in the foyer. She took a step back to get her balance.
David Green stood on the front porch. A deceptively pleasant smile on his face. Only someone up close, as she was, would notice the gleam of rage in his eyes.
Instinctively, she tried to slam the door in his face, but he shoved his foot against it at an angle that held it open.
“What the hell do you want?” She spat. “Didn’t you cause enough trouble in my life already?”
