“Hank, this has got to stop,” she demanded, tucking her hands under her knee while rotating her ankle in a counterclockwise fashion.
“Why?”
“You know why.”
“Because of the accident?” A beat later he said, “Julie, Duke and I fucked up. We’ve talked about it. We realize how much we hurt you, but just because we let you down once, doesn’t mean we’ll do the same thing again. People change.”
“We’ve all changed,” she bit out.
“I’m sure that’s true,” he agreed. “But I still look at you and know when you look at me you see the same things I do.”
“And what would that be?”
“Love, sincerity, compassion, friendship, history,” he replied, thinking he could keep the list rolling for a day and a half, maybe two.
“History,” she grumbled. “And what about the past, hmm? Do you wear rose-colored glasses? Have you forgotten about the last days we spent together?”
“I haven’t. I remember how things ended.”
“I do, too, Hank. And would you like for me to tell you what I recall most?” She jiggled her jaw, working out an apparent lock. Then, she said, “I remember how you let me leave your bed, say good-bye, and how you didn’t bother to look for me. A month later—no, it wasn’t even a month—and you had another submissive woman lying beside you. From what I understand, she spent several days next to you. In fact, you almost married her.”
“Annie,” he deadpanned.
“No, my name is Julie.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Her name was Annie and I never thought about marriage. Whoever told you such a story only wanted to stir trouble. They didn’t have a clue how wrong they were.”
“I don’t give a damn, Hank. I really don’t. All I know is that it didn’t take you or Duke very long to find someone else.”
“You have your opinion. You’re entitled.”
“I was in love with you!”
“You still are,” he said, looking at her dead-on.
“Like hell I am,” she remarked, struggling to stand.
He placed his hand over her wrist. “You can deny what you feel for me all you want. That’s fine. That’s probably even expected, all things considered, but you won’t run this time.”
She frowned. “That’s rightly stated, isn’t it?” She laughed mirthlessly and added, “How pathetic this is. You feel guilty because of the way we parted, and now you and Duke are trying to make it up to me. Isn’t that what’s going on here?”
“Hell no,” Hank replied, truly appalled that she would even voice such an assumption.
She finally stood, and when she started to lose her balance a few seconds later, her palm fell to his shoulder where she steadied herself. She looked horrified that she’d leaned on him when the timing couldn’t have been worse.
Before she could regain her composure and make accommodations for balance, he locked his hand over hers and pulled her into his arms. And that’s when he decided to hell with everything.
With Julie, there was only one way to test the waters. Jump right in and feel the heat.
* * * *
His kiss melted her mouth. Her lips parted on their own accord and her heart ticked a little faster. There was no way she’d kiss Hank Hinman by right of need, out of uncontrollable lust. Right?
If that were true, if desire were dead between them, then why was she tugging him closer, drawing him against her and drinking him in. Breathing him.
She ran her fingers through his short, black hair, latching onto the strands as she drew him closer. What the hell was she doing?
He lapped at the end of her tongue and a spark of familiar energy flew through her body, sensitizing her nerve endings and making her knees shake, her body tremble.