“Jessica,” he whispered as he moved toward her until her back hit the rail.
She blinked over and over. Her hands itched to touch him. Her skin ached to feel him.
“I don’t want you to feel sorry for me.”
He tugged at the hood strings to her sweatshirt. “I don’t.”
She no longer needed the hoodie. Her body heated like a furnace to a fever pitch, but she didn’t dare move.
“Are you going to kiss me?” she whispered as he moved closer until the space between them evaporated.
“Yes,” he breathed.
His promise caressed her body as much as his touch that moved from her sweatshirt to her face.
She drew in a quick breath and held it while her mind spewed silent chants to any and every God anywhere in the universe that could possibly hear her. She asked for strength and resistance.
“And, Jessica?” He stopped less than an inch from her lips.
“Huh?” she whimpered.
“You’re going to stop before you make me bleed. Got it?”
Nodding in rapid succession, she would have sacrificed her right arm had that been the deal he wanted to make with her.
She jumped, even surprising herself, the instant his lips brushed hers. Her conscience had impeccably stupid timing. He paused, his eyes searched hers.
“What’s the catch?”
“No catch,” he whispered, brushing his lips against hers again: teasing, tasting, tempting.
She covered his hands and pulled back. “There has to be a catch.”
Luke sighed, releasing her. “There’s. No. Catch.”
“You said ‘less than zero percent chance.’ Numbers are my thing, Jones. I know what that means.”
“It’s a kiss, Jessica. Not sex.”
Her head jerked back. “Whoa … clearly you don’t understand. A kiss is a save the date, an RSVP to my vagina that says: You. Will. Be. There.”
Luke rested his hands on his hips and looked to the heavens. Maybe God was taking his call that night.
“So you’ve slept with every guy you’ve kissed?”
“No! But I’ve never kissed a guy that in my head I’ve thought, ‘less than zero percent chance.’”
“You two bay birds envious of our little lake?” Lane asked as he and Anne climbed the last few steps.
“I would be if you had my bridge.” Jessica picked up her wine and took a sip, controlling the urge to gulp down the whole glass.
“Are you a San Francisco native?” Anne asked.
“Yes. I will never leave.”
Lane locked his gaze to Luke’s. “Sounds familiar.”
“I’m attached to my job, not the city.” Luke rested against the railing next to Jessica.
“Is Luke the rebel for not staying in Tahoe and opening a bed and breakfast?” The ten mile Jones’ radius was interesting but the fact that Luke, Lara, and Liam all owned B&Bs too was crazy to Jessica.
Three somber frowns surrounded Jessica. What was she missing? And dare she ask?
“Nah, Luke did what he needed to do. It was for the best.”
A pained expression disguised as a smile stole Luke’s handsome features after Lane’s comment.
“Look!” Anne pointed to the sudden burst of color in the sky.
Lane stood behind Anne, pulling a blanket around them. “There’s another one.” Lane nodded to the extra blanket Anne had set on the lounge chair.
Luke gave Jessica a questioning look.
“I’m fine.” The heat from their moment still clung to her body.
The awkward, junior high dance feeling continued the rest of the evening until everyone arrived back at the house and said their goodnights. Luke followed Jessica up the stairs and stopped as she turned into her room.
“I’ll lock my door.”
She pulled off her hoodie and tucked her dark hair behind her ears. “Maybe I should go to the dungeon.”
“What?” The perplexity in his expression matched that of his voice.
“A BDSM club. What if the only way I can be with someone is if they’re submissive? Maybe I’m a dominatrix and I just don’t know it. I’m sure you think that I have this need to cause pain, but that’s not it. It’s just about the blood.” She plopped down onto the edge of the bed and stared at the floor.
“Does the blood arouse you?”
She shook her head.
“Then I don’t think you’re a dominatrix, and while I’m sure you could hold your own in a dungeon, it’s not where you belong.”
Jessica looked up. “Where do I belong?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s not there.”
They could have been making out like teenagers had she only kissed him on the boat. Instead Jessica was headed for a place far from his lips. She’d fallen in love with Luke and the fact that she didn’t kiss him proved it. Love takes nothing but gives everything. Jessica hadn’t given him everything yet.
“Do you believe in spirits?”
“Spirits?” he questioned.
“Yes, like when someone dies, do you believe they have a spirit that leaves their body?”
“I-I don’t know. I’ve never given it much thought. Why do you ask?”
Her hands began to tremble. She clenched them together to make it stop as he moved to the bed and knelt in front of her. She felt the instant pull of her heart from his nearness.