“Sorry your celebration got cut short,” Nick said as he parked behind Liz’s parents’ car in the driveway.
“Thank you for being there. I’m not sure what we would have done…” Liz dropped off as she wrapped her arms around Kara with the seat between them.
Her best friend still lived above the garage behind her childhood home, and her parents were both standing on the porch as she got out and rushed to them.
“I should have been watching out for her better,” Kara admitted when she watched Liz’s parents hold onto her friend.
Nick reached over and took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly. “We both should have been on better lookout. Liz is strong. She’s got her family to comfort her. The police have Mike and Dean in custody and are looking for Willy.”
“What does it matter? They technically just fought back after I attacked them,” Kara admitted. Kyle had informed them once things had settled down that there wasn’t much the three could be charged with. It wasn’t like Willy’s father being charged for fraud. A bar fight and the potential kidnapping charges were all hearsay. Only Nick had seen Willy choking her and, even now, the redness was a faint pink. And there wasn’t any evidence the three men planned to hurt Liz. They were claiming Liz went with them willingly. It was their word against hers and Liz’s.
“It’s a start,” Nick said as he pulled out of Liz’s driveway and headed towards their places.
She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as they drove out of town towards their homes.
When they reached her driveway, she felt steadier and under control. Nick had talked to her the entire drive, keeping her mind from what could have been.
He shut off his truck and turned to her. “Feeling better?” he asked in the darkness of the cab.
“Yes,” she sighed. She unhooked her seatbelt and slid over to him. “Thank you for keeping my mind occupied.” She dipped her fingers into his hair and pulled his face towards hers.
“Anytime,” he said against her lips. “I didn’t want to mention it earlier, but you were pretty impressive back there. From what I saw. The way you jump tackled Willy.” She heard him chuckle. “You looked like you were wrangling a steer instead of a two-hundred-pound overgrown man-child.”
She laughed. “That’s exactly what he is, and it felt like it. I could have torn his eyes out for the way he made Liz afraid.”
“You know, I never really liked Liz, before tonight. I mean, I always thought she was the empty-headed cheerleader type,” he admitted, causing her to laugh even more. “What?”
“Oh, she’d love to hear you say that. She worked hard to get that reputation after they found out in fifth grade she had a higher IQ than anyone else in the county. Her parents wanted to pull her out and put her into college instead of sixth grade.”
“She’s that smart?” Nick asked.
“Let’s just say she had to try hard to not let anyone else know that her brain is bigger than her cup size,” Kara joked. “She single-handedly made sure I passed algebra and French.”
“Why didn’t she go away to college?” he asked as they walked into her house.
Kara frowned. “Liz has… some phobias. Some pretty bad ones. She’s decided it is best she stick around home. She took a bunch of online classes and ended up getting several degrees. That she does absolutely nothing with,” she finished as she unlocked the door. “She loves running her place. She claims she was born to run a business. Even a hair salon.” She smiled. “She loves hair as much as running a business.”
She shut the door to the house behind them and pushed Nick against the wall.
“Now, enough about my friend.” She ran her hands over his chest and arms as his hands moved to her hips.
“Okay.” He smiled at her. “What do you want to talk about instead?”
“Absolutely nothing.” She went on her toes and kissed him and then pulled his shirt over his head.
ChapterFourteen
Nick’s mind went completely blank when Kara pressed her body against his. The different ranges of emotions he’d gone through that evening made it feel like his heart was on the end of a yoyo. He’d been pulled from being turned on dancing with Kara to fear and anger mixed with worry, and now he was back to being so turned on that it physically hurt him.
When his shoulders hit the wall and Kara’s hands started removing his clothes, it took him a couple of seconds to rein in his desire. Then her fingers wrapped around him and everything that had been building for her was released in a wave of passion.
He reversed their positions, pinning her against the wall as his hands snaked up her legs, under her skirt. He pushed her panties aside and buried his fingers into her heat. He marveled in the welcome he felt there. She was so hot, so wet, and his cock jerked in response as he slid his fingers in and out of her.
Her soft moans were making him even harder for her, making him move differently, just to get more of those sexy sounds from her.
She reached for the zipper of his jeans as he hiked up her skirt. Then he lifted her, and her legs wrapped around his hips. Seconds later, he thrust into her, causing them both to moan.
He listened as her breath hitched with each of his thrusts. Her nails scraped his shoulders, his arms, trying to pull him closer, to hold on to the moment.