Rae of Sunshine (Light in the Dark 1)

He nodded, tucking the curl he’d been playing with behind my ear. “I do.”

“You have secrets,” I stated, my eyes flicking up to his.

He nodded and leaned forward. I stopped breathing as his lips brushed my ear. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

Before I could react he was gone, striding across campus.

twelve

I regretted making the suggestion to take Cade’s picture. This gave me free reign to stare at him and oh Lord my stomach was doing somersaults. After a few pictures he’d stripped off his shirt—despite the fact that it was fifty degrees and windy—and revealed his lickable abs. Yes, lickable, because I was standing here looking through the lens of the camera thinking about how I wanted to run my tongue over all the dents and curves of his stomach.

I needed to get a grip and tell my hormones to calm the fuck down.

Cade had closed his eyes, lying in the grass as multi-colored leaves swirled around him. It made for an amazing picture, but I was still tempted to tell him to put his shirt on. But then he’d know it was bothering me and I couldn’t have that. I guess I’d just have to tolerate it. As if it was such a hardship to look at his chest.

“How’s the picture taking going?” He asked, cracking one eye open.

I jumped at the sound of his voice. It had been quiet between us for a while and he’d scared me.

“Good,” I said. It seemed to be the only word my mouth could formulate at the moment.

“Can I see?” He asked, sitting up and sweeping his hair away from his face—but not before I snapped another photo.

I sat down beside him and he scooted over so there was no distance between our bodies.

His scent was magnetic and I found myself leaning even closer.

My hands shook slightly as I held the camera where he could see. His lips quirked and I knew he noticed.

“These are good,” he commented, as I scrolled through the different photos.

I snorted. “Did you think they’d be bad?”

He chuckled. “If you’re implying that I might’ve doubted your abilities, that’s a no. I knew you’d be good. I wasn’t sure I’d be the best subject.”

“Why? You’re hot.”

Oh. My. God. Crap on a cracker I said that out loud. No, no, no. I wanted to take it back. Why didn’t life come with a rewind button?

My cheeks turned an unflattering shade of red and I wanted to crawl away, find the nearest hole, and die in it.

“You think I’m hot?” He grinned, his smile stretching his whole face.

I set the camera in my lap and buried my face in my hands. “You know you’re hot,” I finally mumbled.

“I very much like the fact that you think I’m hot.” I looked up to find him nodding with a cocky smile.

“Can we stop talking about this?” I pleaded.

“Why? I think my hotness is an interesting topic. Don’t you?” He winked.

I grabbed his shirt and threw it at him. I stood up, gathered my stuff, and tried to get away from him as quickly as possible. I had to get away before I said something even more embarrassing that I couldn’t take back.

“Rae! Where are you going? Rae!” He called after me.

I heard his feet thumping against the ground as he ran to catch up with me.

“I’m sorry,” he grasped my wrist, and no doubt felt my pulse jump. “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.” He released his hold on me and shoved his fingers through his hair, almost like he was frustrated. “Sometimes I forget how sensitive you are. I was only joking around with you.”