“Thanks for the help.”
“No problem. It was kind of fun to see what you do after the crowd leaves.”
“Sorry to keep you up so late. Are you going to be too woogidy tomorrow morning?”
She giggled as I used her word. “I’ll be fine.”
“You’re welcome to join me every night,” I told her. “I’ll make you all the pizza you can eat for the chance to have your company.”
She just smiled as we turned down the street that would lead us both home. It wasn’t a flat-out no, so I’d take it.
We walked half a block quietly. Since her house was on the way to mine, it wasn’t out of my way to escort her home. I lived two blocks up from her place, and after leaving her notes all week, I knew it took four minutes to get from my front door to hers.
“So, what was that idea you had for Charlie?” she asked.
“What?”
“You asked me to stay at the bar to talk about an idea you had for Charlie. What was it?”
Shit. “The truth? There wasn’t anything. I was just desperate to get you to stay and I used her name as bait.”
“Sneaky. I’ll have to remember that in the future.” She looked up, her blue eyes sparkling under the dim moonlight. “Though I would have probably stayed anyway.”
“Good to know.” Progress. I was making progress. Finally.
I wasn’t sure if it was the cheesy notes or the visits to camp that had done the trick—maybe both—but I was glad she was giving me an inch. Not that it had been a hardship to spend time around her.
In truth, I liked visiting Willa and her camp. Those kids were always so excited and full of life. Watching them gave me more energy than my morning ten cups of coffee. And I liked writing her those notes too. Somehow, scribbling on a square, yellow piece of paper had become a highlight of my day.
We walked the rest of the way to her street in silence and slowed at the corner. There was an overgrown shrub crowding the sidewalk, forcing my body right beside hers. The gentlemanly thing to do would have been to let her go first, but I didn’t want to lose her at my side. So I stayed close and when we rounded the corner, my arm brushed against the bare skin of hers.
It was an electric touch, sparking a flame under my skin. It made my heart pound and her breath catch.
Willa tripped on a seam in the sidewalk, but before she could fall, I grabbed her hand, steadying her with my grip.
“You good?” I asked.
She nodded, righting her feet as her delicate fingers stayed locked in my grasp.
We stayed side by side, neither of us stepping forward or breaking apart, even after she regained her balance. We just stood there as the night went still. The crickets chirping, the stars sparkling, the leaves rustling—it all disappeared until there was nothing left but Willa’s hand holding mine.
I hadn’t held a woman’s hand in . . . well, ever. Was that right? Had I really never held a woman’s hand before?
I hadn’t expected it to be so intimate, maybe even more so than a kiss.
It made me dizzy and steady all at the same time, like the feeling I got after being on a boat for too long. Even when I got back to land, I would still sway with the waves.
“Is this okay?” I asked, squeezing her fingers. I didn’t want to let them go but I would if she was uncomfortable.
“Um, yeah. It’s okay,” she whispered.
A rush of excitement stirred and I unstuck my feet and led us around the corner. As we passed the first house, I realized how great this felt, not just touching Willa, but simply being with her. I was proud to be holding her hand. I wished it wasn’t dark so her neighbors could see us together.
The smile on my face stretched wider as she relaxed her hand, flattening her palm into mine. She pressed into me like she wanted to memorize our touch.
We reached her parents’ house much too soon. I wanted to loop around the block a few times, but Willa had a busy day ahead.
“I can make it from here.” She slipped her hand from mine as we stood at the end of the driveway. “Thanks for walking me home.”
“You’re welcome, but you’re not home yet.” I grabbed her hand again, grinning as I tugged her behind me.
“You really think the boogeyman is going to snatch me from my own yard?”
I chuckled. “Better safe than sorry.”
She laughed as we crept past her parents’ dark house. “I guess it’s probably faster for you to get home by cutting through the playground anyway than circling the whole block.”
Normally a woman admitting she knew where I lived would freak me the hell out. But like everything else about Willa, she was the exception. “Since you know where I live, maybe one of these days you’ll leave me a note.”
“Maybe.”
I grinned. “Maybe you can tell me why you had a crush on me at one point but don’t anymore.”
“Oh, um . . . it’s not like that. I mean, it is. Kind of.” She was getting flustered. “I did like you.”
“And now you don’t?” I asked her as we stopped by the base of her stairs.
“No.”
I flinched. Hard. I hadn’t expected that answer. I thought we were making progress, but she just laid it out there, clear as day.
She used to like me.
Now she didn’t.
My hands fisted by my sides and I silently cursed the dream I’d been having for weeks. That fucking dream had twisted shit up in my head. It had made me believe there was more with Willa than there really was.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you around.” I made a move to leave, but her hands shot out and grabbed my wrist.
“No, wait! That’s not what I meant.” Her voice echoed off the garage. She sighed, then lowered her voice. “No, I do. I do still like you.”
I about fell over. The relief that ran from my head to my boots told me exactly how much trouble I was in with this woman.
In a flash, I stepped right into her space, erasing the inches between us. I broke free of the grasp she had on my wrist and cupped her face, holding it still as I crushed my mouth to hers.
I swallowed her gasp, keeping my eyes open. Hers stared right back, wide and bright and so blue.
I slowly molded my lips to hers, pressing in even deeper, until her eyes finally drifted shut. Then I let mine do the same to concentrate on kissing this amazing woman breathless.
My hands drifted off her cheeks and into her hair. Silk. My tongue traced the seam between her lips, persuading them apart for a taste. Peppermint.
Just like I’d expected.
As my tongue dove deeper, Willa tensed for a split second. It was enough to make me pause and realize that I’d stolen this kiss. So I backed off a bit, letting my tongue retreat. She shocked me by following my tongue with her own, out of her mouth and into mine.
Her hands, which had been hanging loose at her sides, came to my waist. They traveled up slowly and her fingertips dug into my T-shirt as they crawled all the way to my shoulders. Then she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled herself up so that her breasts were flush with my chest.
I groaned into her mouth, loving the feel of her against me and wishing we weren’t separated by these damn clothes.
The kiss turned from hot to scorching in an instant. I wrapped her up tight, forgetting her hair as my hands traveled up and down her back. When she didn’t push away, I went farther, molding my palms to the curves of her ass.
“Jackson,” she moaned into my mouth. Her arms clutched me like I was going to run away.
But I wasn’t going anywhere.
I poured everything I had into this kiss, not wanting her to forget it anytime soon. When I showed up at her camp tomorrow morning, I wanted her running toward me, not away.
So with her ass in my hands and her tits against my chest, I devoured her. I led the way and she followed, copying my every move like we’d kissed a million times. The strokes. The nips. The flutter of a tongue. It was magic.
It was . . . not the first time.