She fluffed her soaked hair, thankful she hadn’t worn much makeup. ‘Cause that would have been a disaster. “Yeah, right. I look like a drowned rat. I had to put this on over my wet shirt, so it’s still not helping with much more than covering me.”
“That’s good enough for me. Now, you asked for something sweet.” He craned his neck to see over the crowd of people. “Let’s go.”
Again, he laced their fingers, tugging her to follow him. She shouldn’t let him hold her hand. And she shouldn’t have let her excitement get the best of her when she hugged him after their ride. They were in public for chrissake.
Not very stealthy of them, but Jessa enjoyed the feel of his strong fingers wrapped around hers, the feel of his calloused thumb brushing across the inside of her wrist. Enjoyed it too much to pull away.
No one stared or pointed, no one gawked or commented. Today, they were two people amongst thousands of other people too caught up in their own enjoyment to notice something as insignificant as Garrett holding her hand. How could something simple enough to be ignored hold such meaning for her?
Garrett took her into a bakery and proceeded to order two of the biggest cinnamon rolls Jessa had ever seen, along with two bottles of water.
Once they were seated, she eyed the confection. “If I eat all this, I’ll go into diabetic shock.”
Frowning, Garrett reached for her plate. “You don’t eat sweets?”
She palmed her fork, wielding it like a dagger. “It was a joke. Back off my pastry, dude.”
Garrett showed her his palms and eased away as she dug in, shoving an oversized bite into her mouth. She hummed around the sticky goo, trying not to laugh and spew crumbs across the table. Her eyes rolled back in her head in ecstasy as the delicious flavor melted over her tongue. She was pretty sure she had icing on her face.
Smirking, Garrett watched her. “I think that’s about the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Jessa cupped her hand to her mouth, losing her battle not to laugh. She worked her throat, choking down what she could before reaching for her bottle of water to wash down the rest.
She wiped her mouth on a napkin. “Yeah, well, if you keep looking at me like that, I’ll never be able to eat in front of you again.”
He leaned in. “I don’t know which I’d rather eat. You or the cinnamon roll.”
“Why not both?” she said, watching him track her tongue as she licked over her lips.
Garrett shifted in his seat. “I’m not in the mood to get arrested for fucking you on this table, as tempting as the thought may be.” He used the edge of his fork to slice through the roll on his plate. His eyes met hers again as he brought it to her lips. “Open up, baby.”
Mesmerized by the erotic tone of his voice, Jessa opened and let him feed her. She closed her lips over the fork as he eased it from her mouth. His gaze dropped to her throat as she swallowed.
“Delicious.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“Your turn,” she said as she cut a piece and offered it to him.
Back and forth they went, alternating feeding each other, oblivious to the world around them. Jessa forgot all the reasons they shouldn’t be together for the one reason they should.
She loved him. And not that sweet, flowery crush shit that people their age seemed to have. Hers was a deep, intense yearning. A desire that threatened to burn her alive. A need to possess and be possessed.
“I’d give anything to know what you are thinking about right now.” Hunger burned in Garrett’s eyes as she dragged a finger through the leftover icing on her plate.
Jessa brought her finger to her mouth, rubbing the icing across her lips before licking it off. She focused all her emotion — her love and her need — into one look. “Are you ready to go back to the hotel?”
His nostrils flared as his chest expanded. “I’ll race you to the car.”
*