“Yes,” she says, not missing a beat.
I walk backward, gently pulling her with me. She follows, but her smile fades as her eyes drift over my shoulder to the woods that I’m leading her to. “Oz.”
“Not far in,” I say as if I’m coaxing a wounded animal to abandon its hiding spot. “Just far enough to where I can kiss you.”
She brightens at kiss, but then she assesses the sky. It’s evening and with it being the middle of summer, the sun still shines from the west. Blue sky above. A scattered white cloud here or there.
An edge of panic tightens her features, but Emily still walks with me, her hand grasping mine as if she’s floundering off a ledge. As I guide her past the tree line her chest begins to flutter at a faster rate and sweat breaks out on her palm.
I rub my thumb over the top of her hand and keep my eyes locked on hers. “Have you ever jumped into a pile of leaves?”
Emily shakes her head no as we ease through the trees. Her face loses color and I stop us when she visibly quakes.
I inch into her personal space and then gently back her up until she’s supported against the trunk of a tree. Because I can’t help myself, I rest a hand on her hip then step near enough so that our bodies are touching. This is how it’s meant to be—me this close to her.
“Don’t be scared,” I say. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I know. It’s just hard.” She raises my hand to her chest and lust surges through me as she presses my palm to her heart. Damn, her skin is soft and the tissue beneath my hand is even softer. “I need to calm down or my heart is going to explode.”
Because I’m not intent on taking Emily’s virginity on the floor of the forest, I lower our hands. “In the fall, there’s a million red, orange and yellow leaves. In the winter, it’s real quiet and when it snows you can see animal tracks. Chevy, Violet, Razor and I used to play back here all the time. The tree house we built as kids sits farther back.”
“Were you close with Violet once?”
“Yeah. She created these elaborate hand signals for us to use while we were playing hide-and-seek or capture the flag. She’s the one that convinced us to hang that.” I tip my chin to the right and Emily tracks my gaze to a rope hanging off a huge oak.
“You guys are obsessed with ropes,” she says.
I chuckle. “Every fall we make the biggest pile of leaves you can imagine. So huge that it’s a mountain. We use the rope to jump into the pile. I’ve never invited anyone to do it with us before and I decided that when we do it this year, I’d like my girl to be there.”
I skim my knuckles along her cheek and she leans into me. Good God, she’s the most amazing creature I’ve come across. “What do you say, Emily? Will you come back to Snowflake this fall and jump with me into some leaves?”
She sucks in her bottom lip. “I’m your girlfriend?”
I tuck her silky hair over her shoulder and drop my head so that my lips brush hers. “If you’ll have me.”
“Yes.”
Because Emily is a mixture of bold and innocent, her lips meet mine in a rush then slow as they continue to move. Her hands delicately glide along my shoulders and into my hair. A hypnotic action that draws me in. Each of her fingertips are hot on my skin, her lips sweet to taste, her scent engulfing my senses. My hands drift to her thighs and the memories of the rhythm Emily and I shared last night in my bed circle in my brain.
Heat races in my blood and Emily slides her leg against mine. The urge is to lift her and kiss her until I’m dizzy. Kiss her until our clothes are off. Kiss her until the only thing left in the universe is us.
A booming laugh echoes into the woods and Emily immediately turns her head away from me. We’re both panting and it takes every ounce of self-control not to kiss the patches of red skin forming along her neck.
She flattens her palms on my chest and I step back while lacing her fingers with mine. “They’re patching me in tonight.”
“I heard. That’s amazing.”
It is. “Will you do me a favor?”
“What?”
A part of me sinks. Odds are she’ll hate this. “I’m going to be distracted tonight and I won’t be by your side when you head into the house later. The clubhouse is going to get crazy and I want to know you’re safe. Promise that once you go in, you’ll stay in.”
“You are the millionth person to tell me I’m not allowed out of the house after eight.” There’s an annoyed set to her lips that causes me to stroke my thumb against her mouth and I chuckle when she jerks her head away. She’s not searching to be pacified.
“I’m starting to get insulted,” she bites out.
“Prepare yourself,” I say. “Eli will probably tell you, too.”