It was such a normal thing, Deanna couldn’t respond for a few minutes. “So, is this something you’ve always been afraid of?”
“No, it started when I turned twelve.”
“Something happened,” she surmised. “What?”
“I’ll tell you, but if you ever breathe a word of it to anyone, especially Wade, I’ll—”
She let go of his hand, then smacked his thigh. “Stop threatening me and tell me what happened.”
Jonas smiled and placed his palm on her knee. “I grew up in a wealthy neighborhood. No skateboarding ramps in the driveways. No tree houses in the backyards.” Jonas rolled his eyes. “Those things are for the lower class, my mother used to say.”
Deanna’s heart ached all over again as she thought of how lonely that sort of life would be for a boy. Especially a boy like Jonas. “That sounds like a very boring childhood.”
He nodded. “I wanted more. I wanted adventure. It used to make me wonder why I was so different from the other kids. Most seemed content with their parents’ rules, but I always pushed the boundaries.” His hand skated a little higher on her leg, until he massaged her thigh. “Anyway, I had it in my head that I was going to break the cycle of boredom.”
She chuckled. “I’m afraid to ask what you came up with.”
He smacked her thigh in reprimand. “No laughing, remember?”
Deanna made a zipping motion over her mouth. “Sorry. Go on.”
“Flashlight tag.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “I used to love that game. Wade, Dean, and I used to play that all the time. I rarely won, but it was fun all the same.” Deanna realized she’d interrupted him again and felt her cheeks heat.
Jonas’s hand smoothed over the spot he’d swatted as he continued with his story. “It was summertime and my parents were out of the country. I had a nanny. Mrs. Chadwick.” He shuddered. “She had this mole—”
Deanna cleared her throat. “The point, Jonas?”
“Right, sorry.” His hand slipped up her leg another inch, and Deanna had to suppress a moan. “Mrs. Chadwick always fell asleep by nine. Every night like clockwork. A twelve-year-old boy can get into a lot of trouble after dark.”
Deanna snorted. “I know. I have brothers, remember?”
He looked over at her. “I—”
The flight attendant came down the aisle then, interrupting Jonas’s story. “Can I get you a drink or a snack?” she asked, but the way the petite redhead looked at Jonas, as if she wanted to eat him up, made Deanna want to smack her.
Before Jonas could say anything, Deanna answered for them both. “We’re fine, thank you.”
The woman walked away, but not before glaring daggers at Deanna. Jonas quirked a brow. “What was that about?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Deanna lied.
“I was thirsty,” he said after a beat of silence.
“So was she,” Deanna blurted out. Too late she realized what she’d admitted to.
Jonas grinned, and it was just a hair too ornery for Deanna’s peace of mind. “Oh, yeah? I hadn’t noticed.”
Deanna rolled her eyes. “Then you must be blind, because she wants you. Bad.”
Jonas leaned across the armrest separating them. “I’m not available,” he whispered against her ear.
Deanna couldn’t respond to that tantalizing statement, didn’t dare. “Finish the story.”
His hand moved another inch higher. Now his fingers were so close to her crotch that Deanna instinctively placed her palm over them in an effort to keep Jonas from venturing any farther.
Jonas winked and continued. “I decided to get some of the kids in the neighborhood together to play a game of flashlight tag. Only three were willing. Most were too afraid of defying their parents.” He smiled. “Jimmy, Steve, and Ryan. Jimmy and Steve were brothers. I could always count on the two of them to say yes to an adventure.”