Southern Desire (Southern Heart 2)

“This is your night. If that’s where you want to go, we can. It’s your call.”

“I mean, I like this driving around, spending time with you, but I love it there. It’s kind of our spot.”

“Our spot?”

She takes another big pull from her bottle, and I see that it’s over half gone. “Yeah, you took me there, got me to face a fear. I had more fun that night than I had in years.” She looks over at me; the cab is too dark for me to read her expression. “You did that. You gave me a night of fun. I felt so carefree, even though the whole swimming thing freaked me the hell out. It’s our spot.”

I like that a whole hell of a lot more than I should. “Yeah, we can go to our spot.” The words feel foreign and amazing at the same time.

“She had cancer,” she says out of the blue.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“No, today, the shoot. That’s why I was crying. The woman brought her mom and her daughter in for a shoot. The grandma has cancer. It’s terminal. They wanted to get a three-generations picture.” Her voice trails off.

Damn. What do I say to that? I decide to use her motivation for photography. “You gave them that, Whitney. You captured that moment that will stand the test of time. That little girl will cherish that photo. You gave them memories.”

I can hear her sniffle and it guts me. “You know—” She clears her throat. “—you’re kind of amazing, Aaron Mills.”

“Right back at ya, babe.”

When we reach the house, it’s dark, and that’s when I remember that Mom and Dad are gone for the night. Dad booked them a stay at a bed-and-breakfast a couple of hours from here. He’s always done that, made little surprise getaways for them. I remember when I was about fifteen I asked him why he did it. It didn’t make sense to me to drive two hours away just to sleep somewhere else. I will never forget what he told me.

“Aaron, son, one day when you find your one, you’ll understand. It’s not about where we go, but that we are together. We love you kids with everything in us, but sometimes I just want to be selfish. I want all of her attention, and whisking her away gives me just that. Even more, it puts a smile on her face. There is nothing in this world I wouldn’t do to put that smile there.”

At the time, I still didn’t get it. When Evan fell in love with McKinley, I understood what he meant when he told me what she meant to him. I understood it, but still didn’t get it. It’s in this moment that I think I understand. I would give anything to take her pain away.

“Hey, I’m going to run in the house real quick and grab a few blankets.”

“May I use your restroom?”

“You know where it’s at.” We go opposite directions when we get in the house. After I dig out a few blankets and pillows, I find Whitney is waiting on me by the front door.

“Are your parents not home?”

“No, they went out of town for the night. Dad’s a romantic like that.”

“Aw, your dad is such a sweetheart.”

“Where do you think I learned it?”

“So cocky,” she teases.

“Come on, you.” I grab her hand and lead her out to the truck. The drive to the pond is quiet, but not uncomfortably so.

“Wow, the moon is so big,” she says, climbing out of the truck. I quickly follow her. If I had my guess, I would say she’s feeling pretty numb right now. Not off the charts wasted, but her speech is a little slower and she’s not exactly walking in a straight line. “The lights of the city mask this. I mean, I’ve seen a full moon, but this is so much better.”

“Let me grab the cooler and the blankets and we can go sit in the gazebo.”

“Pizza,” she says, louder than I’m sure she realizes. “I’m hungry again.” She laughs.

Yeah, the alcohol is kicking in.

“Can we go sit under the stars?” she asks after we finish off the rest of the pizza.

“Sure, let me grab a blanket.” I grab both of them and follow her down the dock. I carefully spread out both of the blankets and lie down on my back. I pat the spot beside me, and she doesn’t waste any time taking her spot.

“All those stars. This place is breathtaking.”

I like seeing it through her eyes. I’m thrilled that she seems to love this place. It’s home to me, and if I have anything to say about it, always will be.

“Yeah, I like coming out here and doing just this. Taking in the serenity of the night, looking at the stars.”

“I bet you get lucky out here all the time.” She elbows me.

“This is our spot,” I remind her.

“Come on, Aaron. You know you’re hot as hell. I’m sure this is a popular place for you to bring the ladies.”

Turning on my side, I rise up on my elbow so that I’m looking down at her. “Never. Sure, we’ve had friends out here, but this spot has always been special to me. I never wanted to ruin it with the pain of a bad breakup or something crazy like that.”

“That’s deep for a teenager.”

“Maybe, but that’s me. I like to think things through, have a process or plan in place.”

“You brought me here,” she whispers.

Her blue eyes are sparkling in the moonlight. Her hair is fanned out around her and she looks like an angel.

“I did.” Reaching over, I tuck her hair behind her ear.

So soft.

“This is our spot.” She licks those full, luscious lips of hers.

“It is.” I lean closer.

“I have memories here.”

“We have memories here,” I correct her. The minute she declared this our spot, it became true.

She bites her bottom lip. “You love this place.”

“I do.”

“I don’t want to change that.”

“Never.” I lean closer.

She raises her hand and slowly traces my scruff. “This is sexy.”

I lose all control, closing the distance between her lips and mine and kissing her. Her lips are so soft. I deepen the kiss. She moans and buries her hands in my hair. In the back of my mind, I remember that she’s been drinking, so I don’t push any further. Instead, I take my time tasting her, enjoying the feel of her in my arms.

She pulls me closer. “Aaron.” My name is a plea falling from her lips. When she wraps her leg around my waist, I know I have to shut this down. My dick is screaming to keep going, but she’s drunk. I won’t have her, not like this.