“The kiss and the shouting?” he asked.
“No. The shouting and being sent out alone. I liked the kiss,” she said.
Dean froze. The summer season meant she only wore minimal clothing. Usually baggy shirts and shorts, but with her working at the library she wore the close-fitting clothes.
With her held against his body, the swell of her breasts pressed against his chest and he couldn’t deny the wonderful feeling of her figure snug within his arms.
“Don’t say stuff like that, Laura,” he warned.
“Why not? I can’t keep hiding from it and I won’t lie. I enjoyed you kissing me.”
He closed his eyes and looked away from her. Staring at her didn’t help him fight the attraction.
“You’re too young. You need to find a man your own age,” he said.
No, she doesn’t. You could look after her and care for her and give her everything she ever wanted.
“I don’t want anyone else,” she replied.
“Let's not talk about this.” He placed a finger on her lips when she began to talk. “Not now. We’ll talk another time,” he assured her.
Laura pulled away and nodded her head. Dean followed as she got into his car. The drive back to her house was a slow one and simply seeing her mother answer the door drove home the fact again of just how young she was.
He should be tortured for the lustful things he thought about her. He didn’t want to think about her admission or to think Laura went to bed imagining him. Would she touch her own lips and think about him touching her other places?
“Get a grip,” he shouted at himself. “You’re a fully grown man who has had women and loved them. Laura is too young. Stop seeing her as a woman of your own age.”
The words he shouted at himself didn’t help his mood. The barrier erected between them as tutor and student or as friends had been crossed and Dean didn’t know how to put those barriers back up.
Chapter Ten
Dear Diary,
He left a message with my mum telling me he’d be out of town for a couple of days, something to do with his story and editor. I think he wants to get away from me.
Last night, I shouldn’t have admitted to liking the kiss. I can’t stop thinking about him and his lips and the way they felt on mine, commanding me to give him everything. I’m starting to sound like one of his books. My mum would throw a hissy fit if she knew.
Do you think I was bad at it? Is that why he’s gone away? Worried in case I’d want a repeat performance? I’ve never kissed a man bef
ore or a boy. I'm twenty years old and only just experiencing my first kiss. At this rate I’ll lose my virginity when I’m ninety.
Shit. I’ve got to go and see Peter. I promised to help him.
Laura placed the book on the library shelf and turned back to Peter.
“What did you say?” she asked. She’d been too busy thinking to hear what he said.
“I was wondering if you were doing anything tonight?” Peter repeated.
She paused and placed the book on the shelf before giving him her full attention. The same book lay open on the same page in front of him.
“Are you even reading that?” she asked.
“Can I be honest with you?” Peter asked.
Laura sat down at the table and waited.
“I don’t need help with history,” he said.