“Please be careful.”
She smiled in reply and turned her attention to the rough steps leading to the top. The spiral staircase was narrow, but solid, and Jessica held on to the handrail as she climbed up...and up...and up, Branson’s footsteps close behind. She reached a trapdoor at the top, and with a little help from Branson, released the closure and pushed it open.
Light poured in, brash and cheery, along with a gust of cool air. Apparently the windows at the top were not airtight, and the wind gusted around the structure, whistling eerily through the cracks.
Jessica had never been a big fan of heights, but she couldn’t deny the view was spectacular. She could see for miles—up and down the coast, and also inland, to where the main road cut through the trees and clearings where other houses were built. None of them were as grand as Bran’s.
“Wow,” Branson said, standing close behind her. There wasn’t much room in the top, and she could feel the warmth of his body near her back. “It’s tiny. But look at the size of the lamp.”
She looked. “I can’t even see a bulb or anything. Is there one?”
“I think it’s so old it might have been a lantern. And all these lenses. Cool, right?”
It was cool. It was one of the neatest things she’d ever seen. And the lenses...so many angles and slivers of light and texture. She wished she’d brought her camera. Wondered if Bran would let her come in here again. She thought about the challenge of painting simply light. Tingles ran down her arms and she turned to him. “I need to paint this. Look. It’s all glass and angles and light and can you imagine what it would look like on canvas?”
His gaze locked with hers, and the power of it slammed into her. They were utterly alone, at the top of an abandoned lighthouse, and the intimacy of the moment was too strong to be ignored. His gaze dropped to her lips briefly, and a slow burn ignited low in her pelvis...attraction. Desire. She tried to push it away. She had no business being attracted to him, especially after their rather personal conversation earlier in the week. He certainly wasn’t in any headspace to return any attraction.
“Do you want to go outside?” His voice was rough as he backed away and moved toward a small door leading to the 360-degree platform.
She inhaled a deep breath and accepted the distraction gratefully. “Yes, but I don’t trust that railing.”
“Me either. It’s probably rotted. Stay close to the building.”
She followed him out, watched as he gingerly stepped on the platform. Despite its age, the wood seemed mostly sound. She stayed close to the wall, buffeted by the wind until they reached the other side of the lighthouse, which was sheltered and afforded a view that went miles down the coast. The water sparkled so brightly it hurt her eyes, but her chest filled with the fresh, salty air, and she felt a freedom she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.
She turned and saw Bran watching her, and she smiled, feeling a connection with him that was new. He smiled back, surprising her, and stepped closer. Her heart hammered at his nearness. A pair of gulls screeched, their cries swallowed by a gust of wind.
“Bran,” she murmured.
His gaze tangled with hers, dark, complicated. She shouldn’t want him to be nearer. Should suggest they go back inside. Should say she was cold or something...but the truth was she wasn’t cold and she didn’t want to go back inside and she wanted to sink her hands into his rich mane of hair and feel his beard against the soft skin of her face. Oh, Lord. They had just said they were friends. Now she wasn’t so sure.
And she’d called him by a shortened version of his name. Not Branson, but Bran. It seemed too intimate and yet suited him perfectly.
“Jess,” he answered, also shortening her name, and all the delicious tension ratcheted up a notch.
He lifted his hand, cupped the back of her head and drew her close. She had barely caught her breath when he dropped his mouth to hers, and she wasn’t sure she could still feel her feet.
His lips were full and soft, and his tongue tasted of coffee as it swept inside her mouth. Oh, the man could kiss. Her toes were practically curling in her sneakers as his wide hands drew her up and held her against him even as she melted. Instinctively she reached out and grabbed his shoulders, holding on, fingers gripping his shirt. He shifted, letting her down a little, his hand dropping to the hollow of her back, and she did what she’d wanted to do for days. She slipped her hands into the thick mass of his hair, luxuriating in the soft fullness, the untamed wildness of it.
He groaned. She shifted her weight and...
Her foot went through a board.
She cried out, losing her balance. Branson tore his mouth from hers and pulled her firmly into his arms, his face full of alarm. “Not as sturdy as we thought,” he said, backing up a few steps away from the weak spot. Jessica hadn’t even had time to be afraid. One moment she’d been kissing him; the next she’d been yanked against his body while his face paled.
She looked over the railing. It was a long, long way down. Dizzying, even. If both her feet had gone through...she would have fallen straight down to the rocky ground below.
“Let’s get back inside,” he said firmly, leading her back the way they’d come, opening the door and practically shoving her inside. Once he’d secured the door again, he let out a breath. “Okay. That was unexpected.”
She didn’t know if he meant the near accident or the kiss, and she wasn’t about to ask him. Both events had her feeling off balance and speechless.
“I’m fine, really,” she assured him, startled by his still-pale face while her heart pounded from the adrenaline. “It was just one foot.”
“We shouldn’t have gone out there at all. Shouldn’t have...” His stormy eyes caught hers. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
Her feelings were momentarily hurt. He was apologizing for kissing her, as if she hadn’t been there, just as involved as he. He wasn’t solely responsible. She lifted her chin. “Are you sorry because you regret it or sorry because my foot went through the wood? Just asking if I should take this personally or not.”
His lips fell open as he stared. “Take this personally? Jess, you could have fa