She strokes the sides of my face down to my jaw, her eyes stuck on my mouth. “He’s never made me feel the way you do. He’s got nothing on you.”
I’m still processing her sweet little speech when she kisses me so tenderly, I’m not sure if I should tell her to run as fast as she can or hold onto her and never give her up. She kisses me like she’s giving me something precious in every touch. I pull her to me hard and kiss her the same way, like I can share all those pieces of myself I can’t explain in words.
Every piece of me that needs this woman.
When she breaks the kiss, I press my mouth to her neck. I want to eat her up. I want to cuddle up with her for days. I want to number a list of delicious things to do to her and tick through them one by one.
She gives a sidelong glance at the darkening sky. “We can’t stay out here all night. We should probably go back soon.”
I grumble but don’t fight her. I’m already frozen to the bone. As soon as the sun goes down, the temperature will dip below freezing, and there’s no sense in staying out so long in the cold and dark. Now, someplace warm inside, maybe…
She crawls off my lap and holds her hands out to help me up. I can’t walk straight, frozen like I am, and I wince with every step. I look like a cowboy who just got off a sixteen-hour ride.
“Does your truck have heated seats?” Her mouth curls into a delectable smirk. I shake my head, and she wraps an arm around my waist. “You’re a true gentleman to sacrifice for me that way.”
“You have no idea.” I nuzzle the top of her head.
We ride back to Sunshine with the heat on high, driving slowly in the twilight.
“So, your mom sets you up a lot? On dates?” I’ve fooled exactly nobody with my attempt at casual curiosity. I didn’t mind her mom’s hints about me, but the idea of her on a date with another guy is wedged under my skin. I don’t like it at all.
“Sometimes. It’s embarrassing. I wish she would trust me to make my own decisions.”
“Why don’t you just tell her that?”
“It’s not that easy.”
I want to argue, but I don’t have much to stand on. I’d told my dad what I felt, and I’ve never regretted anything more.
I pull up in front of her parents’ house, relieved there’s no extra car here, as though maybe her mom invited that dentist over to wait it out until Hope got back. But then a thought worms into my head, and I can’t shake it.
“Are you going to see him?” I sound reasonably calm, considering everything that’s riding on this question.
She looks like I just started a whole new conversation. “Who?”
I toss a hand toward the house. “Your mom’s dentist friend.”
She leans closer and plants a kiss on my cheek. “I’m only seeing my handyman.”
“Good.”
“I have to go into the warehouse early tomorrow. Should I call you or the dentist or…?”
I grab her around the waist and tug her across the seat to me. “You enjoy baiting me too much.”
She presses another kiss to my cheek. This one’s almost on my mouth, but not quite. The tiny sliver of lip that caught hers feels like it’s on fire. “But you like it when I bait you.”
I really do.
“What time tomorrow?”
She moves in closer to kiss in front of my ear as if she knows I want her mouth to land there, but she’s refusing. Because now, she’s loving this.
“Seven.” Her whisper skates over the shell of my ear.
I’m not a strong man, and I break after a few sultry kisses. Crushing her to me, I kiss my way up her neck, loving her shiver beneath my mouth.
Eventually, she slips away, but before she closes my truck door, she gets in her parting shot.
