Bailey smiled at his singing voice.
“Is that you?”
Bailey turned to see him walking along the frozen shoreline. Jackson hung up and joined her on the bridge. She stuffed her phone inside her coat pocket.
“Are you following me?” she asked.
“I think you're stalking me.” He then nudged her shoulder.
Bailey laughed. “I came here to enjoy the sunset. I love it out here.”
“I bet it looks great in the summer.”
“It's great during the winter too. We used to skate out here all the time as kids. Noelle, my best friend and I, would come here during the Christmas break.”
Jackson looked around. “I don't see any skaters out here.”
“Bridge Point has a rink now, so it's safer. I come here whenever I want to think.”
“Good memories here?”
“Some.” Bailey swallowed the last of her hot chocolate. “How long have you lived here?”
“About a year. Bridge Point is cool,” Jackson said. “We lived here when I was a kid.”
Bailey smiled. “And we never ran into each other.”
His voice lowered. “I guess we weren’t supposed to until now.”
Bailey ignored a shiver. “And you lived here at one point?” He said that already. Great. This man made her brain scatter.
“It wasn't for long, but I remember some things about this town.”
“I hope you make memories here that you never forget,” Bailey said. Did she say that aloud? Yes. Tingles swept up the back of her neck and across her face. “I mean I hope you like it here.”
Jackson leaned closer, with a smile building on his full lips. “Do I make you nervous?”
She shook her head. “No, not really.”
He edged closer. “Do you know why I came here?”
She stared forward. “Why?”
“To figure out why I can't get you out of my mind,” he said.
Bailey turned to face him. His firm eye contact centered on her. When Jackson licked his lips, she felt a shifting feeling in her heart. When he bent closer to her, she didn't flinch.
Jackson kissed her, and then he drew back. Bailey froze in place. He leaned in once more, and she closed her eyes. He kissed her again and a sensation of hair-raising on her neck took over. Jackson then moved his hands over the back of her neck. Bailey took her free hand and splayed her gloved fingers across his back.
He didn't rush their kiss but took his time lingering his lips over hers. Did Bailey's knees shake? She couldn't tell. Her chest was fluttering. Lost in his kiss, Bailey lost all sense of time. He knocked the breath from her lungs as his lips slid across hers repeatedly. Would she recover from this? Is this what it felt like? Jackson then pulled back, after caressing her mouth one last time.
“Too much?” he asked.
Bailey shook her head. “No.”
This time she kissed him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she deepened the kiss. She enveloped his lips with hers. Jackson ran his gloved thumb across her cheek. Bailey shivered in his embrace, but didn't let go.
****