I take hold of Lizzie’s arm mid-spin.
She comes flat against me, her chest colliding with mine, the air leaving her lungs in a soft ‘ooph’. Sweet citrus fills my nose and she looks up at me with eyes of surprise. Surprise and… something else.
Suddenly, I know I’m on exactly the right path, here. I’m not imagining that heat in her stare.
I can’t be.
“We need to go.” The words aren’t mine. They’re born somewhere deep inside me but I have no means of controlling them. They bubble up and growl from between my lips like a dire warning. It’s no wonder that Lizzie instantly looks worried. Her brows draw low and together with concern.
“What? Why? What’s wrong?”
“Come on…” I can’t tell her here. I can’t tell her the decision I’ve finally come to while in the company of everyone I know.
“Caleb?”
“Just come,” I grunt, unable to form a more coherent sentence.
As I pull her forward, her ridiculous shoes work in my favor. Off-balance, she’s forced to stumble after me, a hasty apology for the doctor rushing from her lips.
We’re stared at as we leave. Eyes follow us across the barn, out the door, and over the beaten earth parking lot to the truck.
“Caleb…” Lizzie gasps, trying and failing to bring her feet back under her own control. “Just what is going on?”
I yank open the door, and motion for her to get up into the cab.
Once she’s in, I slam the door closed and stomp to the other side of the cab. When I jump into the driver’s seat, she sounds even more concerned.
“Has something happened?” she asks. “Is it your mother?”
“No.” My mother is not exactly someone I want to think about right now. “Nothing is wrong. Just be quiet until we get back. I just… I just need you to be quiet.”
Her voice, murmured in the dark confines of the truck, is going to lead to only two possible options. The first is that reality might interrupt this moment and bring my lusting desires to a spectacular halt. The second, is that the sound of her so close to me in the dark is going to escalate and I’ll have to pull the truck over to have my way with her right here and now on the side of the road.
There is something decidedly barbaric about taking a woman on a grassy verge. I can at least be man enough to get her to the house. I might not make it to the bed but I can make it through the front door.
I think.