EJ parks the truck, comes around and opens my door and walks me up the path to the porch. The lights in the front room are off. That means the boys are in bed and Mom’s probably in her room or the family room at the back of the house.
The porch light is on, casting a golden-yellow glow over EJ’s features. He turns to face me in front of the door. Then he reaches out and brushes my hair away from my face. His fingertips trail down my neck and shoulder and then down my arm. When he reaches my hand, he interlaces our fingers.
“Thanks for tonight. I know I already said that, but I want you to know it meant the world to me that you gave me a chance.”
“I’d like to do it again,” I confess before I think better of it.
“Would you now?” he teases. “Well, I’m a pretty busy guy.”
I laugh softly. He’s always making me laugh. And it comes so easily. Everything about being with him feels easy. If only it were.
“Well, check your schedule and see what might fit,” I tell him.
“Tomorrow?” he asks.
“Tomorrow?” I feel my brows raise high on my forehead.
“Oh. No. Not tomorrow. You’ve got a slushie and corndog date with your boys.”
“I do.”
“Let me know when, Angie. My nights are pretty routine unless I’m out with the guys. And I’d ditch them for you in a heartbeat.”
“You’re awfully sweet,” I tell him.
“Truck would disagree.”
“Maybe you need to take him to steak.”
“Nah. I’m good,” he laughs.
Then he leans in. And I think he’s going to kiss me. My eyes flutter shut in anticipation. But instead of EJ’s lips meeting mine, his face turns slightly and his stubble brushes my cheeks. And then his lips land there, soft and warm. He leaves a kiss on my cheek.
“I’m looking forward to next time,” he whispers before he pulls back.
I shudder slightly—a soft buzz running through me.
I reach out and pull EJ into a hug, murmuring “Thank you,” into his chest.
His heartbeat is strong under my cheek—the same cheek he just kissed. The scent of his cologne is mellower, more blended into a smell that’s just him. He wraps his arms around me and holds me to himself.
I sigh. And his grip firms just the slightest, holding me closer.
“I thought you were going to kiss me,” I tell him.
The fact that I can’t see his eyes right now feels like I’m in a confessional. I could say anything. He could hear it and Iwon’t have to face it tomorrow—or him and how my words land.
“You did, did you?”
“Mm hmm.”
“And did you want me to kiss you? Because I thought that’s what I did. I kissed your cheek.”
He turns his face downward and kisses the top of my head. “And now I kissed your hair.”
I chuckle lightly. “You know what I mean, EJ.”
“Are you asking me to kiss you, Angie?”
