For a moment, I think he’s going to say no, but then he relaxes, and for the first time this morning, he smiles, and my stomach flips over because Jack’s smile is the most beautiful thing on this Earth.
In five minutes, we’re on the road, and I have my arms enveloped around his waist, and despite it being a cool day, I’m wrapped in the warmth of his body. I relax against him and feel the contentment warm my heart.
Tonight, I’m going to tell him how I feel.
Tell him that I feel more than just friendship.
And that I think he feels more too.
Ahead, storm clouds move quickly in the sky. Within seconds, heavy raindrops begin to fall. Jack pulls the Harley into the parking lot of the abandoned mill. The old building is gone now, torn down because it was derelict and unsafe, so we race for cover under one of the massive oak trees that line the old bus stop which once ferried the miners back and forth to town. But by the time we reach the canopy of branches, we’re drenched.
“You okay, wildflower?” He pants.
Thunder rumbles through the sky as the heavens unleash more heavy rain.
“Yes,” I say breathlessly, my face wet and my heart thumping from running, but it’s more than that that’s causing my heart to pound. It’s because of the way Jack is looking at me.
Something stirs in the afternoon. The potent energy of a summer storm. The magic of two people drawn to one another. No one but Jack and I exist in this moment, and I know he can feel it too.
It’s terrifying and confusing and exhilarating all at once.
More thunder breaks in the clouds above us as our gazes linger, and I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows deeply. His white shirt is soaking wet and clings to his broad chest, his nipples hard, his drenched hair hanging in tendrils around his beautiful face.
It happens without thought.
One magical moment born from the rain and thunder, and a deep burning need inside me. I take a step toward him and rise on my toes to press my lips to his. It is chaste. Sweet. A pair of rain-soaked lips coming together in a burst of abandonment.
But with a deep growl, it becomes so much more as Jack takes charge and opens my mouth with a commanding kiss, his tongue sweeping deeply inside in search of mine.
A soft sound fills the space around us, and I realize it is my moan of pleasure as I fall deeper into his kiss.
Big, wet hands cup my jaw as he takes the kiss deeper, and I curl my fingers into his saturated T-shirt while I kiss him back, drowning in the sensation of his mouth owning mine.
But then with a sudden gentle push, he breaks away and tries to regain control of himself, rain drops glimmering like dew on his lips.
Our eyes meet, and I can feel the wild pounding of his heart drumming in sync with my own. The pull to kiss him again is magnetic, but I would have to be blind not to see the battle in his eyes.
His thumb grazes my cheek. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
If it wasn’t pounding so hard, my heart would’ve sunk. “Yes, you should have. Besides, we both did it. I wanted to.”
“I’m older than you. I should know better.”
“I’m not a kid anymore, Jack.”
“I can see that,” he says roughly, and the heat in his voice matches the heat in his eyes. “But I’m fifteen years too old for you.”
I lean up to kiss him again, but he stops me.
“You don’t want to kiss me?” I ask.
“Darlin’, every inch of my body is screaming at me to kiss you again. But you and me… this isn’t the way it’s meant to be for us.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m no good for you.”
A shiver of disappointment quakes through my body.
But they are only words.
Born out of fear and a ridiculous hang-up over a number.
I need to show him that our age difference means nothing to me.
So I run my fingers down his rain-drenched face, taking in the torment swirling in the dark ocean of his eyes, and the long lashes beaded with raindrops. “You’re the most beautiful man I know,” I say. “I don’t care about the age difference. I care that when I’m with you, nothing else matters.”
With a groan, his mouth sinks to mine again, and his rough hands find the small muscles of my arms as he holds me against his big body and takes the kiss deeper.
I melt against him, lost in the velvet warmth of his mouth and the stone-hard wall of his body shielding me from the rain. Fire rages through me, stoked by his tongue in my mouth and the commanding lips moving over mine.