Into her backseat. They could ditch their clothes. Explore each other’s bodies. He could taste her skin, hold her breasts, bury himself in the deepest parts of her.
Lose himself.
Just be.
She pressed her hands firmly against his chest, pushing him away.
He stepped back, his shaft painfully trapped by the denim of his pants. “I didn’t mean it,” he said. “You’re not a baby, Kaci. You’re strong and unstoppable.”
“Go have your fun with the boys. I can’t do this tonight. But I’ll call you.” She hoisted herself into her Jeep.
He leaned in the open window. “Soon?”
She bit her lip again. “I got some work I need to do on me.” She kissed her first three fingers, pressed them to his lips, and revved the engine. “Go on. Be a good boyand go get in trouble with your friends.”
He didn’t want to, but he stepped back and let her go.
And when her taillights disappeared around the corner, despite knowing he was heading back into the bar with his buddies, he felt oddly alone without Kaci there with him.
She might be a menace, but somehow, she’d becomehismenace.
Kaci collapsedonto her bed and pulled Miss Higgs in for a cuddle. “I think I’m in trouble, kitty,” she whispered. She could still taste Lance on her lips and feel the heat of his touch on her scalp. “He shouldn’t kiss me like that.”
Miss Higgs kneaded her arm and heaved out a rusty purr.
“I know, I know.” She kissed her cat’s head. “I’ll always have you.”
Miss Higgs grunted.
“And I’m not going to Germany either. That bird? That bird was a sign. God doesn’t want me in airplanes.”
No answer from the cat.
Obviously, she agreed.
Kaci had a sneaky suspicion a certain sexy flyboy would give her hell when he found out she was canceling her trip to Germany, but she couldn’t think about that.
Not tonight.
She lay there stroking the cat until her purrs faded. Miss Higgs’s fragile chest rose and fell slowly, and a kitty snore occasionally slipped out.
But Kaci couldn’t sleep.
She’d messed up more than just her plans for Germany.
She’d let herself believe she could keep things with Lance on a platonic level. That they could be reluctant friends with benefits.
But he was becoming so much more.
Ron had never called her out on anything. And she’d never trusted him enough to confess her deepest fears, her biggest secrets to him. She’d never given him a chance to understand her or a chance to help her.
She didn’t like needing help.
But she’d never felt as alone as she felt tonight either.
Not when she lived at home with Momma, who never knew quite what to do with her.
Not when she was battling to prove herself after switching majors during her undergrad years, nor when she was battling for credit for her work through her graduate years.
