“I’m in love with you. Are you prepared to deal with that?”
Oh God, she could breathe again. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Instead, she held his hand to her cheek. “Don’t scare me like that. I thought you’d
sayonara, baby
me.”
He laughed but it had the slightest edge to it, as if he were remembering her
sayonara, baby
voice mail. “I told you I’d never be the one to end this,” he said.
“Yeah, I know, but I’m struggling to find myself, and for a second there I didn’t think you’d put up with that.”
Turning, he kissed her palm. “Trust me, I’m a helluva lot older than you, and I’m still struggling.”
The train swayed on the track, the iron wheels a steady shush outside the window. The heating was on a little too high, but Trinity still wanted to burrow into him.
“I’ve never been in love before,” she whispered. “I’m not sure what it feels like.” Was it the ache in her chest when she’d left him the other night? Or the way she wanted to e-mail him a thousand times a day? Or how his scent, man, soap, aftershave, made her feel safe yet hot all over?
“Sometimes it feels like you’re dying,” he said.
Like the three weeks she’d gone cold turkey and kept telling herself she was fine even though the fear of never hearing his voice again was . . . like dying. “I’ve been afraid of
thinking
I’m in love and finding out—” She cut herself off before she even finished the thought and sat up straight next to him. “I’ve been afraid of
everything
. What other people think of me. Upsetting my father. Doing a bad job. Being a bad friend. Afraid you’re going to ask too much of me.” She took his hand in hers. “But you make me want to stop being afraid and give you everything.”
With a hand at her nape, he pulled her close for a lingering kiss. “I will always ask for too much. Because I want so much.”
His smile felt so good, her heart actually ached with it. “You make me love you, Scott. I don’t have a choice.”
“Good, because neither do I. With you, I feel more alive than I have in years, and it makes me a little crazy wanting to get inside you.” He glanced down. “In a metaphorical sense.”
She laughed, slightly giddy with his closeness. “You didn’t mean that metaphorically.” But he did bring up the age thing earlier, and really, it wasn’t something they could ignore forever. Especially after the nasty thing she’d said in her father’s foyer. “I apologize for calling you old. I was angry with something my father said, and I took it out on you.” He nodded his acceptance, and she went on. “But does it bother you that I’m closer to your daughters’ ages than I am to yours?”
“I love my daughters, but I’m
in
love with you. Age doesn’t make a difference.” Then he leaned his forehead against hers to whisper, “Now, about how fucking kinky you are.
That
makes a definite difference. ”
Her heart turned over at his words. He loved her. It was incredibly scary yet amazingly wonderful. “You turn everything back to sex,” she teased.
“And I always will because you make me crazy enough to want to try every new thing I can think of.”
“See?” She smiled. “You’re all about sex.” She put a finger to the tip of his nose. “But will your daughters get over me being a ditz that night at the restaurant? I mean, first impressions.” She pursed her lips. “Not that I’d give you up even if they hated me.”
With a hand on her hip, he hitched her closer to his body heat. “I’ll never let you give me up. Once was enough. I couldn’t take it again.” He pecked her mouth. “But my girls love me, they want me to be happy, and you make me happy, so they’ll come around.”
His words cocooned her like a fleece blanket. “You make me happy,” she whispered, then poked him in the chest. “But don’t think you’re going to get out of doing naughty things with me wherever and whenever I choose”—she dropped her voice seductively— “even with
whomever
watching us.” Craning over the top of the seat, she glanced through the rest of the car. Empty. “So”—she nuzzled his neck—“do you think anyone would notice if we got a little kinky back here?”
“I’m not passing up my train fantasy, baby.”
“I can give you that.” She licked the seam of his lips, loving his taste. “And a whole lot more.” Whatever he wanted. She wanted it, too.
Jasmine Haynes
has been penning stories for as long as she’s been able to write. Storytelling has always been her passion. With a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, she has worked in the high-tech Silicon Valley for the last twenty years and hasn’t met a boring accountant yet! Well, maybe a few. She and her husband live with their cat Eddie (short for Eddie Munster, get the picture) and Star, the mighty moose-hunting dog (if she weren’t afraid of her own shadow). Jasmine’s pastimes, when not writing her heart out, are hiking in the Redwoods and taking long walks on the beach.
Jasmine also writes as Jennifer Skully and JB Skully. She loves to hear from readers. Please e-mail her at skully@
skullybuzz.com
or visit her website
www.skullybuzz.com
. Her newsletter subscription is skullybuzz-subscribe@yahoo
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.