I still wanted to drop a couple happy tears because, wow, this had to be the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. After the debacle with Seth, I was kind of thinking I was done with the whole dating business. It had been a stupid pipe dream, anyway.
But Brandt giving me my first kiss, and now my first date, all because I told him how much I wanted one...well, it made my mind whirl with how many other things he’d be willing to give me...just because I wanted them.
Damn. No! I shouldn’t go there.
I was beyond honored he was doing all this for me. I wasn’t going to hope for more. God, I was such a greedy bitch.
Yet, even as I watched him out the window, strolling back to the truck after depositing the picnic basket, my body coiled with tension deep in my womb. A part of me craved that more he might possibly be willing to give. I swear I could still taste him on my tongue, feel his teeth on my earlobe, smell his scent as he slid his hand under my shirt.
“Oh, God,” I breathed, slipping down the visor to check out my hair in the mirror.
Hmm, didn’t look too bad. Reese had curled it for me before I’d left for classes this morning, and surprisingly there was still some bounce left. Biting my lips to make them redder, I popped my teeth from the bottom one just as he reached the truck and opened the passenger-side door.
Turning his back to me, he bent slightly, saying, “Climb aboard, my lady, and get ready for the ride of your life.” He grinned over his shoulder at me, wiggling his eyebrows.
I laughed. “You are such a goof,” I said, while actually his words heated me in all the right places. My breasts went heavy, and electricity sparked between my legs.
“Only for you,” he answered, reaching back to pat the back upper part of his shoulder blade, silently inviting me to crawl on.
Oh, God. Stomach knotted with arousal, I gingerly climbed from the truck and directly onto his shoulders. My stomach and breasts flattened against him as I gripped him for dear life, not feeling securely in place at all.
“Here, layer your arms over mine,” he offered, spreading his out wide like airplane wings.
When I did, which moved my cheek almost alongside his, he wound his arms around mine until his hands ended up on top of mine. Then he interlaced our fingers and bent slightly before kicking his truck door shut behind him and whooshing forward to give me a jogging ride.
I screamed out my surprise and gripped his fingers hard. “Brandt!”
“What?” he asked with a laugh, shifting his face toward mine until our cheeks rasped past each other. “Don’t like it?”
When he started to slow down, I realized I did like it. A lot. Instead of telling him to put me down, I cheered, “Faster!”
He chuckled and burst out running again.
I might possibly have screamed all the way to the bridge, where he slowed down and more carefully carried me across the swaying overpass.
Once we reached the blanket he’d already spread open, he lowered me gently to my feet, all the while turning to face me so he could keep me standing steady.
Unable to stop laughing, I brushed windblown hair from my eyes. “Okay, that was fun.”
My cheeks felt flushed, and the rest of me was just...exhilarated.
“Liked it?” he asked, helping me lower myself to the ground until I was seated comfortably.
With a snort, I rolled my eyes. “What’re you trying to do? Ruin me for all future dates ever?”
His blue eyes glittered with intensity. “Maybe.”
My breath caught as he settled next to me and busied himself, throwing open the basket to draw out all the food he’d brought. It took everything inside me not to blurt out that he was the best thing to ever happen to me and that it didn’t matter if I never went on another date again because this was the only one I’d ever wanted to go on, anyway.
“Why are you so good to me?” I murmured, feeling this heaviness in my chest, as if containing all my feelings was becoming too much, too impossible to handle.
But he merely tossed out a flippant, “Because you’re special to me,” as he concentrated on pulling out the chicken, then a bottle of wine, grapes, cheese, and my favorite Club cracker minis he knew I loved. It was obvious he’d thought about me as he’d prepared all this, picking out what he knew I’d appreciate the most.
I knew—had known for a while—I was special to him.
“Why am I so special to you, though?” I persisted. I really didn’t understand what he saw, why he tried so hard to make me happy, why keeping me safe and protected was such a priority to him. There really wasn’t anything grand about me at all. I was just...me. Plain, boring, sexless Sarah.
Brandt paused and glanced up, realizing how important the question was. Studying me from thoughtful blue eyes, he squinted a moment before saying, “I guess you probably wouldn’t understand it, but...when I needed someone the most in my life, you were there. You’ve always been there for me. You are the most reliable, trustworthy person I know.”