As I put us in park, we overlook all the dim lights of Storm Canyon. I’m a miracle worker on this old and rusted Buick Sedan to make it up the hill —mountain— that’s this overlook. There’s a car with no lights on a good distance away but otherwise, we’re two unbothered lovebirds.
Lovebirds?I doubt Kenzie would agree to that term.
The stall of the engine and my rev of the engine to bring it back to life must have brought her to her senses because she’s as jittery and unsure as she was in the booth. I’ll have to put her mind at ease and it will likely start with her questions getting some answers.
“Alright, Kenzie.” I liked calling her by little foodie terms of endearment, but I love calling her by her name even more. Something sweet and salacious about it and her.
“Alright, Dean,” she chirps back, hand on the door’s handle.
She’s ready to jump off this cliff at the first sign of danger from me.
“Ask your questions, shortcake.” I turn in my seat to face her, letting the car sit idle to keep the heat on.
Kenzie shifts in her seat, all we need is a table between us and it’s a skit of her earlier date, seats are just as about as old as the booth I slipped her from.
“Why were you in jail? How did you get out of jail? How did you know where I was going to be on my date?” She cuts right to the point. My little firecracker doesn’t wait around.
“Inquisitive poptart, aren’t you?” I let my words distract her as I wiggle my way across the seat till our knees are nearly touching. “I needed a car, tried to jack a truck, got caught. Not my proudest moment,” —for failing what should’ve been a simple job for me— “But, with a smile like this, they couldn’t keep me locked up.”
“Bullshit,” she calls out, rolling her eyes.
Sighing, I amend, “I offered to fix the truck in turn for dropped charges. Got it singing—”
“And this car?” Her eyebrow lifts as she begins to suspect she’s in hot wheels.
“A lender. Old man let me borrow it if I could get it running.”
“Which old man?” I expect she knows everyone in town.
I smirk and say, “He went by LeRoy, didn’t get a last name. And as for your date, Sheriff told me the Whole Hog is a good place in town for steak and fries and I had my suspicions your date might try to win you over with a side of beef. But you seem like a milkshake, gal, something sweet and creamy.”
I lick my lips, eyeing her up and down. I’ve never seen heaven captured in a body like this. She was breathtaking in an apron. In a sweet little dress with a sweater, she is the moon and sun keeping this world worth living for.
“Now my turn,” I pressed. “Tell me about yourself.”
She huffed, her cheeks turning pink. “That’s not a question.”
“What’s your favorite flower? When’s your birthday? Do you like sunrises or sunsets?” Her cheeks become more flushed the more I speak. “Does your daddy carry a 12 gauge I should be worried about?”
Kenzie is quiet, chewing on her bottom lip and searching the floor of the passenger side for her answers but all she’ll find is decades of dust I didn’t have time to Shop-Vac out.
“I like bluebells,” her voice is sheepishly soft. “There’s a field on the other side of town near where I live that blooms with them in the spring. I’m a summer child, born on the Fourth of July—”
“World knew it needed to celebrate you every year with fireworks.”
A small smile takes over her full pink lips. “I like sunrises. It’s quiet. Something about mornings that make me hope for a new and different day. A sunset always seems like a goodbye… I hate goodbyes.”
I wait but she doesn’t answer my final question, quiet and picking at the button on her sweater. The question doesn’t bear repeating and I’m not that stupid to pry. There’s daddy issues but I’m thinking they’re not of the normal kind.
“I’d very much like to kiss you, Kenzie.” My wry grin is met with wide green eyes, but it’s me who’s pleasantly surprised.
“Then why aren’t you kissing me?” Her question is accusatory and needy.
I’m already so close. Leaning towards her, my hand cups the back of her head and tendrils of silky strawberry blonde hair slip through my fingers. My lips capture hers in a slow claim, each of us exploring one another’s lips and breath and tongue.
A groan rumbles in my chest as I’m climbing on the seat and over her. Kenzie mewls the sweetest sound as I lay her back on the seat. She clings to my jacket, then my shirt, pushing it uptill her adventurous fingers find my toned abdomen. My knee wedges between her thighs, spreading them. She’s so goddamn warm there.
This time, I don’t give warning. I’m invigorated. I’m ravenous. Our kiss breaks and she pants, breasts swelling with each inhale against the sweetheart neckline of her dress. My mouth travels to her ear and down her throat to dip my tongue between her cleavage. She inhales sharply, moaning as I playfully pinch the peak of her nipple through her dress.