“I’m taking you back home.”
“No!” She turned toward him. “You can’t. I don’t want to go back there. I can’t go back yet.”
He glanced at her then returned his gaze to the dark road before him. “Why not?”
“Stop and let me out,” she said instead of answering his question. How could she explain to anyone, let alone Nick, that she couldn’t breathe there anymore? It felt like Henry had his foot on her throat, and she couldn’t get air deep inside her lungs. How could she explain to Nick that she’d waited most of her life to break free of Henry, but now she knew that day would never happen? How could she explain that this was her way of finally fighting back? He’d probably laugh at her and think she was immature, like Henry and her mother did. She knew she was naive, and she hated it. Her eyes began to water, and she turned away. The thought of crying like a baby in front of Nick horrified her. “Just let me out here.”
Instead of stopping, he turned the Mustang onto the road leading to Delaney’s house. The street ahead of the car’s headlights was like an inky tube, shadowed by towering pine and lit only by the reflection of the center divider.
“If you take me home, I’ll just leave again.”
“Are you over there crying?”
“No,” she lied, forcing her eyes real wide, hoping the wind would hurry and dry them out.
“What were you doing with the Finleys?”
She glanced over at him, his face cast in the gold lights of the dashboard. “Looking for something to do.”
“Those two guys are bad news.”
“I can handle Scooter and Wes,” she bragged, although she wasn’t so sure.
“Bullshit,” he said and stopped the Mustang at the end of the long drive leading to her house. “Now, go on home where you belong.”
“Don’t tell me where I belong,” she said as she reached for the handle and shoved the door with her shoulder. She was sick to death of everyone telling her where to go and what to do. She jumped from the car and slammed the door behind her. With her head high, she headed back toward town. She was too angry for tears.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he called after her.
Delaney flipped him the bird and it felt good. Freeing. She kept walking and heard him swear right before the sound of his voice was drowned out by the squeal of tires.
“Get in,” he shouted as the car pulled alongside her.
“Go to hell.”
“I said get in!”
“And I said go to hell!”
The car stopped but she kept on walking. She didn’t know where she was going this time, but she
Nick grabbed her arm and spun her around. The headlights lit him from behind, and he looked huge and imposing. “For Christ sake, what is your problem?”
She pushed at him and he grabbed her other arm. “Why should I tell you? You don’t care. You just want to dump me.” Tears pooled on her lower lashes, and she was mortified. “Don’t you dare call me a baby. I’m eighteen.”
His gaze drifted from her forehead to her mouth. “I know how old you are.”
She blinked and stared at him through blurred vision, at the finely etched bow of his top lip, his straight nose, and his clear eyes. Months of angry frustration poured out of her like water through a sieve. “I’m old enough to know what I want to do with my life. And I don’t want to go to college. I don’t want to go into business, and I don’t want anyone to tell me what’s best for me.” She took a deep breath, then continued. “I want to live my own life. I want to think about myself first. I’m tired of trying to be perfect, and I want to screw up like everybody else.” She thought a moment, then said, “I want everyone to back off. I want to experience life-
Nick pulled her up to the tips of her toes and looked into her eyes. “I want to take a bite out of you,” he said, then he lowered his mouth to hers and softly bit the fleshy part of her bottom lip.
For several long heartbeats Delaney stood perfectly still, too stunned to move. Her head clogged with a myriad of astonished sensations. Nick Allegrezza was softly biting her lips and her breath caught in the top of her lungs. His mouth was warm and firm, and he kissed her like a man who’d had a lifetime of experience. His hands moved to cup her face, and he slipped his thumbs along her jaw to her chin. Then he pressed downward until her mouth opened. His warm tongue swept inside and touched hers, and he tasted like beer. Hot shivers ran up her spine and she kissed him like she’d never kissed anyone else. No one had ever made her feel like her skin was too tight at the base of her skull and across her breasts. No one had ever made her want to act first and deal with the consequences later. She placed her hands on the solid wall of his chest and sucked his tongue into her mouth.
And always in the back of her mind was the absolute incredibility of it all. This was Nick, the boy who’d spent equal time terrorizing and fascinating her. Nick, the man, made her feel hot and breathless.
He ended the kiss before Delaney was ready, and she slid her palms to the sides of his neck.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said and grabbed her hand.
This time she didn’t ask him where they were going.
She didn’t care.
Chapter Seven
They drove three miles out of town and parked on the sandy shore of Angel Beach. The property was secluded and they had to open a wire gate to get to it. It was an area Delaney knew fairly well. Dense forest gave way to white sand, and it all belonged to Henry.
Nick leaned his behind against the hood of the Mustang, then planted one foot on the bumper. He pulled two Coors out of the six-pack, then set the rest next to him. “Have you ever drank a beer?” he asked, popping the two tops and handing one to Delaney.
She’d been allowed to taste Henry’s. “Yeah, sure. All the time.”
He slanted her a glance from beneath his lashes. “All the time, huh?” He raised the can to his lips and took a long pull.
Delaney watched him and took a sip of her own beer. She hid her grimace by turning her back and looking out at Lake Mary twenty feet in front of her. A shimmering path led across the dark ripples to the full moon hanging low above the water. The trail looked magical, like you could step from the shore onto it and never get wet. Like you could walk across the water and end up someplace exotic. She tried her beer again, and this time she succeeded in keeping the frown from her face. A cool breeze whispered across her skin, but she wasn’t cold.
“I take it you don’t want to go to the U of I.”
She turned back toward Nick. Streaks of moonlight glistened in his dark hair. “No, I don’t want to go to college right now.”
“Then don’t.”
She laughed and took a few more sips of her beer. “Yeah, right. When has what I wanted ever counted for anything? Henry didn’t even ask me which classes I’d like to take this fall. He just signed me up and paid for it all.”
Nick was quiet for a moment and Delaney didn’t have to ask him what he was thinking. The irony spoke louder than words. Nick worked his way through college to pay for the privilege his father was forcing on Delaney. “Tell the old man to shove it. I would.”
“I know
He raised the can and asked, “Why not?”
Because she’d always felt like she owed Henry for rescuing her mother and her from that tiny Airstream trailer on the outskirts of Las Vegas. “I just can’t.” Her gaze took in the black outline of the mountains before resting once
