Storm Watch

bringing her mouth to within a beat of his.

Her heart kicked.

“Once upon a time,” he said quietly, “I didn’t know what to do with the things you made me feel.”

“You always knew what to do with all the other girls,” she managed.

“Yeah, but if you’ll remember, that was all show. I really was an idiot back then.”

“Yes.” Her lips quirked. “Though a really hot one.”

He snorted, and spread his fingers wide on her back. “You’re different now.”

“Meaning I can talk to you without tripping over my tongue?”

“Uh-huh. You have a confidence.” His fingers slid beneath the poncho and played with the hem on the sweatshirt, slipping beneath that, as well. “It’s sexy as hell, Lizzy.”

“It’s fake.”

He shook his head. “You’re comfortable in your own skin. I bet you’re a hell of a nurse.” He ran those warm, work-callused fingers over her bare back. “Do you love it?”

His fingers touching her? Yes. Yes, she did.

He was looking at her, waiting for her to speak, but it was tough to talk while he shifted his hand around to her front, those fingers now playing against the bare skin of her stomach. “Do I love my job?” she repeated shakily. “Yeah. I do. It grew on me.”

“Well, it fits you. When I went into the military, I had no idea if it would fit me.”

“It did. At least for the time you were there.”

“Yeah.” His other hand joined the fray, sliding up under the back of the sweatshirt, skimming her spine all the way to her nape and then back down, letting out a shaky breath as the tips of his fingers caught on her bra.

“It was a rough time for you back then,” she said, sounding shockingly normal for a woman who had a man’s hands up her top. “You’d just lost your father. You were tired of football.”

“You remember a lot about me.”

Yes. She remembered everything about him, but because that would probably put her into stalker status, she just lifted a shoulder.

“You cared about me.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

His hand urged her forward some more, until she lost her balance and had to set her hands on his chest. He closed his eyes as if to savor the touch as he continued to play beneath her clothing. “God, you smell good.”

“You can’t smell me. I’m half-drowned and wearing too many layers.”

“I’ll give you the too many layers.” He pressed his face to her hair. “But you do smell good.” Hands tightening, he shifted, adjusting her so that she was straddling him.

“Jase-”

“Shh. Just for a minute.” His mouth found the sweet spot beneath her ear, the one that was an instant turn-on switch for her, which she hadn’t realized until just now. When his tongue touched her skin, she gasped, and with a low breath of appreciation for her response, he pulled a small patch of skin into his mouth and sucked, turning her gasp into a helpless moan.

“God. God, you’re sweet.” He palmed her thighs, urging them open a little more, pulling her flush against him so that she could find him, hard beneath his layers.

Her head fell back, her eyes closed, and when he rocked up, she moaned. Then he fisted his hand in her hair, tugged her mouth to his and kissed her, hard and deep, like he was dying for her.

Which was only fair, because she was dying for him.

Yesterday she hadn’t thought about him in forever, and today she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She cupped his face to hold it to hers, but he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere. Instead he let out a low, rough moan of pleasure that went straight through her. It was heaven.

He was heaven.

“Didn’t expect that,” he murmured after they pulled apart to breathe. He pressed his forehead to hers. “You?”

Was he kidding? She’d known for years that she’d melt into a boneless heap if he ever touched her. What she hadn’t known was that the reality of kissing him would be so much better than the fantasy. And her fantasy had been pretty damn good. “After earlier? Yeah.”

A corner of his mouth curved and flashed a dimple that went with the wicked light in his eyes. “I came home thinking I’d figure out what I should do with myself, and to maybe shut my damn brain off for a while. Mission accomplished, because when I look at you, it shuts right off.”

She shook her head with a smile. “Is it coming to you? What you want to do with yourself?”

“I know what I want to do with you.”

She laughed. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah.” He looked around at the river running by them. “Stay or go…Do something because I think I should, or because I want to.” He shook his head. “I thought I had it figured out, but I don’t. I have nothing figured out at all.”

She ran her fingers over the bandage on his temple, and his expression softened as he grabbed her hand.

“I came here feeling like the rug had just been pulled out from beneath me,” he said. “Knowing damn well I wasn’t in any shape to enter into any kind of a relationship. I didn’t expect you, Lizzy.” Letting go of her hand to cup the back of her head, he nuzzled at her throat.

Her eyes drifted shut as he slid his hands back beneath her clothing, making it all but impossible to breathe.

“I didn’t expect you, either-” She broke off on a shuddering gasp when his hands slid up her ribs, his thumbs barely grazing the underside of her breasts. “We-” She had to swallow. “We should go.”

“Rest a minute.”

“I’m fine-” Another pass of those thumbs and her knees wobbled.

Which reminded her that she was straddling him, holding him down as she pressed on the impressive erection he had going between her thighs. With a strength she didn’t know she had, she rose to her feet and held out a hand.

He took it and let her pull him up. “That’s some control you have, Lizzy. Given I’m the soldier, it should have come from me.”

“I have as much control as you.”

“You’re definitely the stronger of us, always have been.”

“Stop it.”

“I’m serious. Remember Carla Alvarez?”

Oh, yes, she remembered the beautiful Carla Alvarez. “You spent a month trying to convince her to go out with you?”

“Uh-huh. And you finally told me to stop trying so hard, to let someone else make the first move once in a while. Which worked, by the way. She was my homecoming date.”

Yeah. Lizzy remembered. It’d driven her crazy. She’d wanted to make the move on him, but hadn’t had the nerve. She watched him re-shoulder his backpack, thinking she had the nerve now. It’d come hard earned, but she had it. “Jase?”

“Yeah?”

She fisted her hands tight into his wet poncho.

“What-”

That was all he got out before she yanked him close and kissed him. Kissed him until they were both breathless, and then she shoved him away.

He staggered back a step and stared at her. “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

“I have no idea.” But she did. She knew exactly.

She was over holding back in order to protect herself from hurt. Over setting aside things she wanted, things like her education and becoming a doctor, or taking an extra shift instead of a vacation in order to make sure Cece had what she needed.

Cece didn’t need her anymore, and life was too short. She needed to live it. She was going to get what she’d always wanted, which right at that moment was him.