Fuck. I hate going to the fairgrounds. It’s always full of people, and I hate crowds.
“Fine, I’ll take you,” I tell her. “On one condition.”
“What’s that?” she asks, her eyes dropping to my mouth.
The condition I was going to give her changes immediately in my head. “You gotta kiss me.”
McKenna leans into me and kisses me quickly with nothing more than a peck.
“That’s not the kiss I want,” I inform her, sliding a hand up into her hair, tangling the thick strands around my fingers. I love her hair. Full and thick. So much of it, I could imagine it falling around her, enveloping her as she goes down on me.
Tugging her in more, I kiss her the way I want. Her lips part for me, and I happily oblige in sweeping inside her mouth and take what I need.
In the days I’ve done my best to avoid her, I hadn’t kissed her, and damn if I haven’t missed it. Kissing her now makes me feel whole again, which doesn’t make sense to me.
None of this makes sense, yet at the same time it does. This woman was meant to be mine. Born for me. I need to get to know her better before I progress things further. It doesn’t take much to see the innocence inside her, and that’s something I won’t ever tarnish. Nor will I let anyone else darken the light that shines within her very being.
FOURTEEN
MCKENNA
“I guess it’s a good thing we didn’t take your bike,” I utter, staring up at Heat as he takes the big bear from the carnival guy.
“You think?” Heat grunts, holding the bear for me while I hold both our drinks and the cotton candy he’d bought me.
His snarky response has been typical for today, yet anything and everything I’ve wanted to do, he’s done with me.
I giggle and walk next to him as we make our way through the rest of the games. The sun had set over an hour ago, and we’ve been here for hours. This was after we spent time at the farmers market, where I found some of the cutest jewelry pieces, handmade soaps, candles, and fresh produce. All of which Heat bought. Not once would he let me pay for anything, and I tried more than once to do that.
I think the best thing was the leather bracelets I thought would look perfect on him. I’d been right, considering he allowed me to put them on him. They matched the leather necklace I now had on.
“You ready to head out now?” Heat asks, looking ridiculous holding the huge bear. I know it was cheap, but hewon it for me, and I intend to keep it.
“Sure,” I tell him, smiling.
“Thank fuck,” he grunts.
I throw my head back, laughing at his response, and move to the trash cans. I was done with my drink and the half-eaten cotton candy. I filled up on a smoked turkey leg and loaded cheese fries. I also indulged myself on homemade fudge and a caramel apple. Thankfully, Heat had helped with some of what I had on top of what he’d eaten. He drew the line at the cotton candy, though.
When I sober and meet his gaze, my heart seizes in my chest. He wasn’t laughing, but his eyes held laughter in them. I liked that he’s staring at me as he is. His sunglasses weren’t shielding his emotions from me, as he typically keeps them in place. He hasn’t worn them at all today, and I’ve loved it.
“Come on,” I say, moving in close, tucking myself into his side. “Let’s get you out of here. You’ve appeased me enough.”
Heat chuckles and wraps his arm around my shoulders. With the height difference between us, I barely come to his shoulders.
Together, we make our way through the fairgrounds toward where he’s parked. An idea hits me, and I find myself blurting it out as I’ve done other things all day. “Have you ever had a girl in your truck?”
“Nope,” he says, with that matter-of-fact tone of his in place.
“Never?” I don’t know if I believe him.
“Like my bike, I don’t put women in the passenger seat of my truck. My brothers and I all have a rule, no one but our ol’ ladies gets the pleasure of riding bitch.”
“I don’t get it, why the rule?”
Heat stops us at his truck and turns to look at me. “To ride bitch on the back of my bike or in the passenger seat of mytruck is meant for one woman. The one I see as my ol’ lady, my woman. Being an ol’ lady is an honor to have in my world. You get the respect of my brothers. They know you have my ear and I’d talk to you about things. You might not be a member of the club, but that doesn’t mean you won’t know things that are happening within. That’s what being an ol’ lady is about. That and having your man’s back.”
“Oh,” I whisper and lick my lips.
