“How about I show you somewhere?” Now, why the hell did I offer to show her somewhere? Where the hell is it I want to show her? Honestly, I don’t know. My dick seems to have taken over my mind, and I want to get her out of here and find a field.
“Okay.” She nods a bit hesitantly.
I take her hand in mine and guide her away from the party toward where my truck is parked. “I’ll bring you back to get your car later.”
Delaney nods next to me as we get to the passenger side of my truck. I hold the door open for her to hop in. I thought I might need to help her up with how tall my truck sits with the six-inch lift I put on it. I close the door, round the hood, andclimb up in the driver’s seat. Shoving the key in the ignition, I twist, and the truck starts up loudly.
“What’s your take on trucks that are squatted?” She surprises me with her question.
I shift to drive and pull out as I answer with a question of my own. “What kind of question is that?”
“Well, you have a lifted truck that is about five years old, doesn’t have the key fob, nor the fancy interior. I figured you’d have an input on squatted trucks.”
There’s no stopping the laugh that bubbles out of me at her perception. “Guys who drive those have to take it up the ass,” I tell her.
Delaney giggles and shakes her head. “I never could understand the appeal of it.”
“Agreed. Trucks are not designed to be road princesses. They’re meant for work, hauling, and things like that. Squatting takes away from what it can do. Hence, the reason the guys who do this to their vehicles have to take it up the ass.”
“If they’re going to ride high up top and tailgates to the road, might as well be. I’ve seen an Escalade squatted with wide rims and tires stretched thin. I swear they’d end up denting the wheel with one good pothole. They had it so squatted I don’t think they could fully see over the hood to the road, considering the angle was more to the sky.”
I shake my head at the image she describes. I never understood the appeal either. It has to go against safety regulations. I know some states have banned and even passed laws to make it illegal, though it doesn’t stop idiots from doing this to a vehicle.
Conversation keeps flowing between the two of us as I drive out to one of the access roads that turns off to a field. I park just out of the treeline and turn the engine off. I barely get out of the truck before Delaney is hopping out, her eyes to the sky. I openthe back passenger door behind mine and pull out a blanket I keep back there. I carry it to where she’s standing and unfold it.
“Here, lay on the blanket, it’ll be better for your neck.”
Delaney does as I tell her, stretching out onto the blanket, and it’s then I notice she’s taken her boots off.
I join her, lying down next to her, eyes to the darkening sky.
“It’s beautiful out here. I’ve missed being able to stare up at the sky and not having lights from the city dimming the night sky.”
“Where were you before you moved back?”
“I went to school and worked the first year as a teacher in North Carolina. I had a full-ride scholarship to East Carolina.”
Impressive.
“So, you always wanted to be a teacher?”
“No, I used to want to be the best female bull rider on the circuit.” She surprises the hell out of me with her answer.
“You wanted to be a bull rider?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. I am from Saddle Ridge and grew up with two brothers.” She sucks in a shuddered breath and changes the subject. “You didn’t go home with your wife and son.”
“My sister and son,” I correct her. “If I had a wife, I wouldn’t have brought you out here.”
“Sorry,” she whispers.
I roll to my side and take her in. She’s beautiful lying next to me.
Leaning into her as she twists to face me, my mouthfinds hers, and I’m lost in the taste of her. Her lips are soft, sweeter than I imagined. I pull her closer, my hand sliding to the small of her back as she arches into me. The stars above us fade from my consciousness as she deepens the kiss, and her fingers curl around the base of my neck.
I break away first, needing air. “Damn, Delaney,” I murmur against her lips.
Delaney’s breath comes in quick gasps, her eyes wide with surprise. “I wasn’t expecting that when you asked if I wanted to go somewhere.”
