Page 11
Hearing her actually use his nickname in person did something to his insides, like a fork to a molten chocolate lava cake. She pierced him right through his center, and everything was about to unspool.
Knowing it was in his best interest to take things slow, he grounded himself and shoved his phone in his pocket.
Shelly smiled at whatever expression was on his face, almost like she could read his mind. She stepped up close to him and curled her fingers around the lapels of his coat.
His hands moved seamlessly as she drew closer. He wrapped his fingers around her waist, not realizing the way her black puffer jacket pulled some of her sweater with it. His cold hands were now on warm skin, right above her jeans.
He flushed and dropped them, embarrassed for touching her in a way that she might not want yet.
“Don’t you dare,” she whispered.
He swallowed. “Don’t I dare what?”
The lids of her eyes dipped to his lips. He watched with rapt attention at the way she licked her own, pressing them together before she answered.
“Don’t you dare leave me to freeze to death.”
His shoulders relaxed as he snaked his arms around her, covering the bare skin at her lower back, pulling her as close as possible to his chest. “Warm now?”
“Mmm, yes.”
“We would probably be warmer if we went inside.”
“I didn’t drive all this way just for oysters, Jake.”
The sound of the words coming from her lips were raspy and low, and in that moment, Jake discovered his new favorite hobby: memorizing every tonal quality of Shelly Carson’s voice.
“Oh yeah?” he teased. “Then what did you drive all the way out here for?”
Her eyes finally met his. Jake had no concept of what it felt like to drown, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it was the same feeling as staring into Shelly’s eyes. He was drowning in them, drowning in her. How in the world did he go six years without talking to this woman? How in the world did he not kiss her on the bus all of those years ago, looking at him the same way she was looking at him now?
He wouldn’t take time for granted ever again. If anything, losing Mom taught him that time was not guaranteed. And the last thing he wanted to do was waste it.
Jake leaned in close. She let out a soft sigh, her breath smelling like cinnamon and spice. His mind drifted to standing with her at Barnard’s Market checkout during a band week lunch, the two of them fighting about gum flavors. She’d been so adamant about the superiority of cinnamon over mint. He noticed throughout the year that she would reach for that pack of gum before band competitions, chewing on a stick every time she was nervous. He wondered if she felt nervous now. He wanted to take away those nerves. Place them with his own, then chuck them far into the sea.
“It’s okay,” he continued. “Whatever happens next, I promise I’m not going anywhere.”
Shelly moved her hands, curling them around his neck. “Okay,” she whispered, her fingers digging into the hair at his nape.
shelly
Shelly was pretty sure she’d never seen anything more intoxicating than a Jake Talbot smile. His face was dusted with a five-o’clock shadow, but she could still make out those twin dimples of his. A small reminder of the boy he once was. Her fingers itched to run through the rest of his mahogany hair, the front sticking out to the side at the crown of his head, like he’d been running his hands through it.
Jake moved a hand from her waist and traced his knuckles down her cheek to her jaw. He gently caged her chin with his thumb and pointer finger, tilting her face so it was angled to his.
“Tell me, Shelly,” he whispered. “What did you drive all this way for?”
Her heart hammered in her chest, the pulse of it reverberating down to her bones. This was Jake. Jake Talbot. He was part of her deepest, most cherished memories. She was so scared they would be tainted after all of this. The last thing she wanted was to lose the most precious moments in her life to pain or bitterness. Or both.
But the way he held her, the way his calloused, well worked hands felt against her skin, Shelly somehow knew that Jake would really hold her. He would take care of her and be there for her. And she could trust him with all of it, no matter what happened next. Because she already did trust him completely.
She took the leap to drive all the way here, to stand in front of him and tell him the same words he’d written to her. The words that she couldn’t deny were now etched across her heart. So she took a long breath, and finally let them out.
“You know what I came for,” she answered. “I’m yours, Jake. For as long as you’ll have me.”
Jake grinned, and finally, with a gentle sigh of relief, he closed the distance between them.
He kissed her like his lips were always meant to be on hers. Soft and inviting and confident. He pressed his hand into her back so he could get her closer to him, so he could kiss her with intention. Jake Talbot clearly knew what he wanted, and he took it. Jake Talbot kissed like he was making up for lost time.
