He reaches for me, coasting his fingers from my elbow down to my hand, lacing our hands together. Then he looks me directly in the eye and for just a moment, he looks shy.
“I don’t want anythingfromyou, Darcy. I just want you.”
I scour his face for some sign that he’s fucking with me, but there’s nothing there. “Just for sex?”
He shrugs. “Well, sex would be nice. But as part of a greater whole. Sex is part of the you package.”
My heart races as my eyes round. Maybe he just doesn’t know what he’s getting into. “But so is my baggage. My life is complete chaos right now and you’re just—you. You’re so calm.”
He chuckles, those hazel eyes sparkling down at me. How is he twenty-six with cute little crow’s feet? “I like your chaos. Keeps things interesting.”
I search the front of his sweaty shirt. I guess my body knows I need him because he smells like my own personal drugs to the veins when he’s all sweaty like this. He smells like him, and if I could bottle it up and spray it all over every fabric in my life, I would. “But, how? Don’t you want someone more, I don’t know, stable?”
“That sounds terribly boring.”
“Jake.” I don’t really know what to say. It’s all so hard to believe. He wants me, warts and all.
“We could go back and forth resisting this all summer, boss. Or we could act on it.”
My hands start to shake, my pulse rushing in my ears. I nod. I know he’s right. “I’m scared,” I say. “Scared of getting hurt. Of hurting you.”
Jake nods. “I know. It’s okay to be scared.” He looks away, out over the barn floor, then back at me. “Do you want to spend the rest of your life wishing you would have that one summer, or do you want to spend this summer finding out what the rest of your life might look like?”
I’m a walking ball of distress, and one part of his phrase throws me completely for a loop. “The rest of my life?”
Jake blushes, ducking his head between us before meeting my eyes again. “Maybe. I don’t know. I like you. Sounds like you like me. We won’t know for sure unless we find out, will we?”
There’s hardly any breath in my lungs, but I hear myself say, “Do you want to find out?”
Jake’s face spreads into a broad grin, completely elated. “Get over here.”
He cups my neck in one hand and dips his head to kiss me.
Sweet, sweet relief.
I rise on my toes and he draws me tighter to him, his shirt cool where it’s sweat soaked. I’m floating, my stomach fluttering, the salt of his skin and the cool of his mouth and the unshakeable sense that this is what I’m supposed to be doing overwhelming me. We’re locked in, smashed together, completely wrapped up and safe.
Jake’s tongue traces my upper lip and I weaken, melting into him. I whimper as I open to him. I want everything the world has to offer, but I could settle for just this kiss, now and forever. I grip him, bunching his shirt in my fists while he holds me so tight.
And right here, in this moment, considering the rest of my life isn’t so out of the question.
We finally pull apart and Jake lowers his forehead to mine.
“Let me be 100% clear right now, because you’re probably going to walk away from this and question everything. I’m going to say it again. Make no mistake. I want nothingfromyou. I wantyou,Darcy.”
I nod, breathless. “I want you too.”
Jake kisses the tip of my nose. “Good. Now go get to work, you chaos queen, and I’ll take you out dancing tonight.”
I shake my head, rubbing my nose with his. “I want more kisses and I’m the boss.”
He lifts me by squeezing my ass to my giggle. “And you’ll get more when you’re a good girl and go get your work done so we can have fun.” He puts me down and pulls my gloves out of my back pocket, slapping my backside with them before handing them to me. “Now git.”
TWENTY-FOUR
DARCY
“Oh my god, she’s here!”
