CHAPTERTWELVE
Danny
Somewhere in themiddle of our conversation, I lost her. A look took over her face and she was gone. What had been a small smirk turned into a slight frown. It has to do with her mom, that’s clear enough, but she doesn’t want to open up yet and I can’t prompt her any more than I already have. We’ve known each other for such a short amount of time. The only thing I want to do is make her feel safe with me. To realize at some point she can trust me with all the issues that feel too big between us right now.
Taking a left at the end of the street, I head up in elevation, driving toward Cupid’s Point. I haven’t been up here since I was straight out of high school, but tonight it feels right with her.
Her gaze is on the scenery outside the window. Even though it’s dark, she’s watching as we pass. All of a sudden, she looks at me.
“What?” I give her my attention for as long as I’m comfortable before turning my eyes back to the road.
A small smirk plays across her face. “Are you taking me to Cupid’s Point?”
“What would you say if I was?”
She giggles, a deep playful sound. “I’d say I haven’t been there in years and the last time I was - it was a disappointment.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, the guy who took me wasn’t a good kisser. I had way more faith in his ability than he actually had.”
“Well…” I grip the wheel tightly as I yank it onto the dirt road leading up to the lookout point. “Hopefully that’s not something you’ll say in reference to me when you gossip about your night here.”
She shrieks, causing me to laugh. It’s been a while since I’ve had this much fun with a woman.
“What makes you think I’ll gossip about you?”
“Just hoping I give you a good enough time tonight that you’ll want to.”
“Maybe I don’t kiss and tell.”
I pull as close to the edge as I dare before putting the Jeep in park. “Guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”
“Guess so,” she fires back.
“You wanna sit in here or get out?”
She eyes me before jerking her head toward the windshield. “Let’s sit out there. I’m dressed warmly.” She leans in close. “And I’m sure if I were to get cold, you’d take care of that for me, wouldn’t you?”
Damn straight I will.
“It’d be my pleasure.”
Turning the Jeep off, we both get out and walk toward the front.
“Wow,” she breathes. “I always forget how beautiful it is up here.”
“Yeah.” I lean against the bumper, crossing my legs in front of my body. “I always forget we’re looking down at Red Creek and not Bradford Station up here.”
“I guess that’s part of the allure of coming to Cupid’s Point. No matter what you do, you don’t feel as if your parents can see you since we aren’t looking down on Bradford,” she says as she comes to stand in front of me.
“Is that what you tell yourself?” I put my hands on her waist, turning her around so that she’s now against the bumper of my Jeep and I’m standing in front of her. She makes room for me between her legs.
She giggles. “Yes! Every single time. It’s why I came up here and let loose.”
Stepping so that our bodies are touching one another, I lean in closer, my lips close to her ear. “What’d you do up here?”
Hayden pulls back, a smile playing across the edges of her lips. It’s a secretive smirk, part flirty and all sexy. “The same thing everybody else did.”