“If you’d wanted to hear it, you should have called.”
“Yes, I should. I was young and foolish, and when I came to my senses and realized that, it was too late.”
“This was a mistake,” Hope said, emotions pulling at her. “I shouldn’t have called you, I don’t know why I did. Goodbye.” She cut the call, then turned off her phone and stuffed it down her bra, as she had no pockets.
Newman ran down the trails. He’d been running an hour, and was heading into town to see Buster. His parents had arrived home early and called to surprise him. He’d then told them about Hope, and that his friends now knew he was adopted. His father had been furious.
“How could you, after everything we’ve done for you?”
“Because my birth should not be a dirty secret that no one knows,”Newman had replied as calmly as he could.“It’s my secret, and I wanted to tell my friends. Who, by the way, think no differently of me now.”
His mother had cried, and hugged him. His father had stormed from the house. Newman wasn’t particularly worried if he never saw him again, and now the air was clear, he had to say he felt good. Free. Almost like he’d been wearing armor and someone had removed it. He’d been filled with restless energy when his parents had gone, so he’d decided to run.
He started down the trail, jumping over roots as he went, picking up speed. He saw Hope at the last minute and tried to stop. Instead he managed to catch her and carried her a few paces until he could stop.
“Are you all right?”
“I think so.” She was breathless.
He didn’t let her go. One hand on her waist, the other a bit higher and touching a breast. He couldn’t seem to make himself move.
“I’m sorry, I just didn’t see you.”
“Me either.”
She looked up at him, one of her hands going to his chest. Their eyes held, neither looking away, and then Newman lowered his head and took her mouth.
It was like igniting a spark. In seconds her hands were on his shoulders, gripping him hard.
“I told my parents,” Newman said as he came up for air.
“Me too. This is wrong… right?”
“Doesn’t feel wrong,” Newman said, slipping a hand under her dress to wrap it around her thigh. She felt warm, and silky. “It’s not like you can get pregnant or anything.”
“I can’t believe you said that.”
Hope’s hands slid up and around his neck as she leaned into him.
“Yes, you can. We’ve always been direct with each other.” He kissed her jaw, sinking his teeth into the ridge and then licking the sting away.
“What if someone comes along?”
He lifted his head and looked left and right. Choosing left, he boosted her up his body and walked off the trail. Once he’d gone far enough, he eased her down, and backed her gently into the trunk of a tree.
“You feeling okay?”
“Yes, more than,” she whispered, wriggling against him, which made Newman’s blood pressure spike. “Kiss me.”
He did, because she had a handful of his hair and was yanking on it. It was explosive, just like it had been that day in her room. His body was hard, his head filled with her scent, which he couldn’t define. It was nothing like the high-priced perfume he was used to. No, this was earthy, and sexy, and he was sure he could identify this woman blind in a lineup of twenty others.
The dress she wore was a man’s shirt, which suited him, as it had buttons down the front. He eased the top few open, and bent to lick a breast. The breath hissed in her throat as her hands raked his scalp.
“Like that, do you?”
“More than I should.”
“You being a good girl and all?” Newman dragged her bra aside with his teeth and then grazed them over her nipple, drawing a deep moan from Hope.
