Lisa slowly walked up to the garage and went to the side of the red one. “I think I like this one. Yeah, I want to drive this one.”
“Alright.” I went over to the spot on the wall where I kept my keys, grabbed them, and tossed them in her direction. “Just one thing before you get in.”
Lisa fingered the keys and shrugged, her shoulders slumped. “What?”
“I don’t want to get in the car with Lisa.”
She stiffened.
“And… I don’t want to get in the car with Mel.”
Her shoulders slumped even more as her lower lip trembled.
“But you?” I said with a clear voice. “The woman standing in front of me… scars and all… shame… and all? I would really, really love to get in a car with her.”
A tear slid down her cheek. “I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“Let me tell you about her,” I whispered, walking around the car. “She’s beautiful… like stare-so-hard-you-run-into-a-wall beautiful.”
She let out a pathetic laugh and cried harder.
“She’s brilliant…”
Another step toward her.
“Has this crazy blue streak in her hair that I honestly think fits her really well. It’s a part of her past mixed with a part of the present.”
Her clear blue eyes lifted to meet mine from beneath thick black lashes.
“Her lips are an addiction, in and of themselves. One that any man would be insane to give up.” I cupped her cheek.
Those beautiful eyes fluttered closed, and another tear escaped. It slid down to meet my palm.
“And she is one of the strongest women I’ve ever met.”
Lisa shuddered. “She’s a stranger. I don’t know that woman.”
“All you have to do is look in the mirror, Lisa, and you’ll find her. I think I’m falling for her… this girl I want to take a ride with, this girl I’m trusting my Ferrari with. I want to be with her. I want her to trust me. I want to chase those demons away, and really, most of all, I want to help her discover who she is, because I imagine she’ll fall in love with that person almost as much as I have.”
Lisa’s entire body relaxed against my hand. I slipped my other hand behind her head and pulled her in for a kiss, not expecting her to want to kiss me back, expecting her to be timid.
Instead, she launched herself at me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. The keys dropped to the ground forgotten, unimportant as I moaned and opened my mouth to hers.
The kiss was all aggression, all passion, all trusting, and, in that moment, I knew I was never ever letting her go.
Her mouth opened to mine over and over again, giving me intimate access into parts of her I wanted to taste, to explore for as long as she’d let me. My entire body was tight with the need to take her inside. Never had I wanted a girl so desperately. She moaned, tightening her hold around my neck, dipping her hands into my hair and tugging.
I pushed her up against the car, probably scratching it, not caring if it decided to all of a sudden break in half if that meant I could have her right then and there.
She arched her back as I plundered her mouth, my free hand moving from her head down to her sweatshirt. I slowly lifted it so I could expose her skin.
“Thank you,” she panted against my mouth.
My hand lingered as I pulled back and looked at her.
“Please tell me you aren’t thanking me for kissing you,” I teased. “Better yet, prove your thanks and get your mouth back here.”
Lisa smiled, a real smile, and released her legs from my hips, slowly and painfully sliding down my body. “For saying those things… for being you.”