“You’re funny,” I say as I stand to chuck the paper cone in the nearby trash can.
“And you’re cute,” Brody calls out. He’s got a sun-kissed tan now that completes his charming good boy, yet blue-collar look. If his hair was longer and his body leaner, he could be a surfer. But with his ruggedness and broad shoulders, and his hair cropped back … he’s all man candy to me.
He’s handsome. My kind of handsome. The little flip my heart does tells me it agrees with me.
I keep the comment to myself but the smile on my face won’t quit, so I bite down on my bottom lip as I join him again, legs hanging over the water, even as I lean back to lie on the wooden posts of the pier.
I could stay here forever, staring up at his blue eyes as he peers down at me like he has something on his mind. He’s practically done it all day. Testing his words before he says them. He’s careful with me.
“Maybe you’re cute too,” I whisper, feeling the warmth over my body spread deeper and flow through every inch of me.
It’s a scary feeling, like playing with fire.
With his head thrown back, all I can do is watch the ripple of the muscles in his arms as he covers his face with both hands and groans.
“What?” I ask. His simple white T-shirt stretches over his shoulders as he faces me to confess, “You have no idea what I want to do to you right now.”
My breath leaves me in a single quick exhale. “Oh yeah?” I whisper and I don’t know how I can even talk right now. “What’s that?”
“I want to lean down and kiss you. Put my hand right on those curves of yours. And kiss you in front of all these people in a town that likes to talk.”
His gaze lingers on my waist before drifting back up to mine. All I can feel is the thump of my racing heart, begging him to do just that.
“You should do it,” I murmur and shock widens my eyes at my own admission.
His lips hit me first. Soft but strong, taking a kiss much bolder and sweeter than the peck the other night. His tongue sweeps along the seam of my lips, begging for entry. All the while my blood heats and my pulse races. What was I thinking?
What am I thinking now, as I do what I want and not what I should, parting my lips and deepening the kiss. The act grants me a soft groan of approval from the man hovering above me, his fingers gripping my hips harder and pinning me down.
Stop. Stop! You haven’t told him.
The small voice in the back of my head is meager but desperate. I pull back with an image of Bridget in my mind. It holds me back from drifting above in a hot air balloon and instead the reality anchors me back down to reality.
Breathe.
I focus on breathing as I sit up and Brody pulls away. I don’t think he can tell how freaked out I am. No, no, I don’t know if he can tell or not.
I’m only in my midtwenties and this seems exactly like something I should do … but not with a daughter at home and secrets that are bound to ruin it all.
As I sit up, I can feel those blue eyes on me, once again observing and wondering, but holding back. If he can tell what I’m feeling, he must think I’m hot and cold. It’s not fair to him.
Tell him. Just tell him.
“Brody,” I start to say and he must hear the sudden panic in my tone, because he cuts me off.
“Today went perfectly, I think.” It’s all he says, but his gaze is soft as he leans closer, pecking my cheek and then he stares off into the water.
It’s so obvious to me in this moment how much I’m falling for him. He’s sweeter than I remember. He’s gentler than what I used to hold on to.
I have to tell him. He’s careful with me, and I’m nothing but reckless.
My lips part and I swear I’m going to tell him. Just blurt it out and rip the bandage off but his phone rings.
Saved by the ringtone.
“One sec,” he tells me and answers it. It seems like a business call with how often he says yeah and that’s fine.
Every second that passes gets me more nervous but I hold on to what I have to do. I need to tell him before this goes any further. He deserves to know.
Picking at some nonexistent fuzz on my cover-up, I wait for him to say goodbye.
The second he does, he speaks first. “I have to get going. You want me to drive you back?”