“You do?” For some reason, his confession made her joyously happy.
“Yes,” he snapped. “So stop looking so… so kissable.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know. Clamp your lips together. Put mud on your face.” He flung his hand through the air. “Anything.”
“Okay.” She dipped her fingers in the mud by her feet and swiped it across her cheek.
His jaw dropped open. “I was kidding, Jess. Now I need to wipe it…” He lifted his fingers toward her cheek, snatching his hand back before he made contact. His eyes squeezed shut. “I won’t look. It’ll probably be better this way.”
“Maybe you should say what you have to say. Get it over with.” She almost proposed a kiss as a good trade for having to listen to him. She wasn’t in the mood to be lectured.
“Do you swear never to tell anyone what I’m about to say?”
Though his eyes were still closed, she could read the anxiety on his face. This wasn’t going to be a lecture about Parker. Whatever he was going to tell her had him twisted up like a coiled spring.
“I promise.” She resisted the urge to hold his hand.
“Okay…” His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “Here’s why I have to compete in the rodeo.”
With his eyes shut, he could almost pretend Jess wasn’t sitting beside him, listening to every emotionally wrought word.
Almost.
But her scent, a combination of fresh citrus and mint, wafted past his nose with the gentle breeze, reminding him of her presence. Yet he didn’t fall apart like he thought he would, even when he heard her sniffing beside him. His throat felt tight a few times, and his eyes got watery, but he kept his emotions in check. To her credit, Jess didn’t say a word until he was finished.
He felt her soft fingers slide across his hand. He opened his eyes and watched as their fingers interlaced, fitting perfectly together, despite the diminutive size of her hand.
“Cord?”
He looked over as she rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes. The sympathy he saw there had him teetering on the edge. He didn’t dare speak, so he nodded, instead.
“Thank you for telling me. I feel like a jerk for prying. I didn’t realize it had anything to do with your father.”
He looked at her face, still smudged with mud, which did absolutely nothing to make her less attractive. He pulled up the hem of his t-shirt and wiped her face. Her silver eyes gazed up at him through thick lashes. The shirt slipped from his fingers, but his thumb continued to stroke her petal-soft cheek.
As her lips parted, he moved his thumb, brushing across her alluring mouth. When he tilted his head in a silent question, she answered, closing her eyes and pursing her lips to kiss his thumb. Before she could change her mind, he bent his head, and his mouth found hers at last. He was so hungry for her, he wanted to devour her where she sat. But he held himself back, feathering soft kisses on her tender lips. Then he pulled away, just far enough to make her come to him, to show it was her choice.
When her lips found his again, he moved from one corner of her mouth to the other, savoring the soft plumpness of her responsive lips. Then he deepened the kiss, his heart pounding so hard she could’ve heard it with her own ears. If not, she surely felt it with the fingertips that now rested on his chest. His hand dipped behind her head, tangling in her silky hair. He let his mouth slide from her lips down to her chin and under her jaw, and he buried his nose against her neck, savoring her fresh scent.
As he tore himself away, she opened her eyes halfway, as if her lids were too heavy to lift. Her tongue peeked out to wet her lips, mocking his self-control, which hung by a gossamer thread.
Catching his breath, he spread his lips in a lazy smile, designed to hide the fire that burned in his chest. “Does this mean I can hold your hand in front of Parker?”
She looked everywhere but at him. “No.”
That wasn’t the answer he wanted.
“I spilled my guts, and you gave me the kiss of a lifetime, but you still won’t date me?”
“I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.” She edged away from him. “Not until Parker’s out of the picture.”
“I agree. So let me help you get rid of him.”
“I’m afraid your idea of doing that might involve a deep lake and cement boots.”
He shrugged. “Sounds like a reasonable way to dispose of him.”