Take Me Away (Southern Bride 6)

I smiled. “But we’re not strangers, Linz.”

Her eyes lit up as she glanced down to my mouth before our gazes met once again. “So it appears.”

Her fingers moved up and played with the hair at the back of my neck. It took every single ounce of strength I had to simply stand there and let her touch me.

She frowned and spoke in a voice so soft I barely heard her. “Why am I so drawn to you, Nolan?”

“Because we were much more than just friends, Linnzi.”

Her frown was replaced by a brilliant smile. “Another piece of the puzzle just fell into place.”

I tried to say something but couldn’t seem to speak.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

I placed my hand on the side of her face and then gently ran my thumb over her cheek.

“Please…” she said.

I lost the battle. But I would lose it all for this woman. With my fingers on her chin, I leaned in and swept a soft kiss over her lips. A jolt of something so powerful I couldn’t explain it raced through my entire body. I was positive Linnzi felt it too, because she moved closer to me. I wrapped my arms around her and gave in to the temptation. To hell with it all. If she remembered, she remembered. Right now, after eight years of dreaming of this moment and more nights of celibacy than I cared to think about, all I could do was want this. Want her.

It was the kind of kiss you had on a first date. When you weren’t sure how things would progress. Soft and sweet, at first. Then, she melted into my body and dug her fingers deeper into my hair as she moaned and opened more to me. We were both lost in each other as our tongues did a slow, familiar waltz. She tasted of sweet tea, and I felt a low growl form at the bottom of my throat. I wanted to lie her down in the grass and give myself entirely to her. God, it had been so long. So fucking long since I held her. Felt her body against mine. My body shook and I didn’t even care. I had Linnzi in my arms again. She was here and I hated myself for feeling so damn happy.

Then the kiss turned passionate, and I knew I needed to stop it. I dragged my mouth from hers and leaned my forehead against hers. Our breathing was ragged as we both attempted to calm down.

“Okay, wow,” Linnzi gasped as her hands slid down my chest and rested there. Damn it. I wanted to tell her the truth. I was dying inside. Eight goddamn years of pretending she didn’t mean anything to me. Eight years of letting her live her life because I thought she was better off without me.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered as I reached up and placed my hand on the side of her cheek once more.

“What for?” she asked, our foreheads still pressed together.

“For kissing you like that.”

Linnzi drew back and smiled at me. In that moment, I questioned everything. Every decision I had made up until this point. For the first time, I truly doubted I had made the right call.

“I’m not sorry, Nolan. I asked you to kiss me.” Then, she winked.

All I could do was swallow hard.

“There is no way we could share a kiss like that and not have been more than friends,” she said.

I pressed my lips together tightly. I wouldn’t respond to that. I needed her to remember all on her own.

She let out a soft laugh and patted me on the chest lightly. “I get the feeling there’s a good reason you’re not telling me what I want to know, and I’m going to let it go for now. For the first time in eight years, I feel alive. It’s like a piece of me that was missing is back and I…I don’t want to know anything else other than the way I felt when you kissed me just now.”

“Linnzi,” I whispered.

She shook her head and placed her fingers on my lips. “I’m going to assume you know where I live.”

With a nod, I replied, “I do.”

Another beautiful smile spread over her face. “What time should I expect you to pick me up tomorrow?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “When did you become so bossy?”

Her brows lifted. “Haven’t I always been bossy?”

“Linnzi, I…”

“Nolan, please, don’t say anything. Please.”

My throat bobbed as I fought to swallow the lump in my throat. If she had any idea what I had done, she would walk away from me right now and never look back. But she didn’t, and I was too much of a greedy son of bitch to care.

“I’ll pick you up at nine.”

“I’ll be ready. Here’s my number. You can text me in the morning and tell me what to wear for our date.”