“So?”
Narrowing my eyes, I toss it back to her. “Soooooo?”
“Truth or dare?” she says, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Seriously?” I clear my throat, repelling the unsure lump in my throat. “Truth.” Chicken shit!
“Is it true that you dated Candy when you worked at Pinkies four years ago?”
Christ. “I only—”
She shakes her head. “Ah-ah, only need a one word answer there, bud.”
“Truth but—” I’m tempted to bite that finger she’s shaking at me.
“Shhh! All I needed to know.”
The hell it is, but I’ll play along…for now. “Fine, truth or dare, Beautiful?” I know she can feel the challenge in my eyes.
“Truth.”
“Is it true that you had your turn on the pole at the previous mentioned strip club?” I expect a quick denial. I knew when Nate said it he was full of shit.
“I had been drinking and—”
I cut her off as quickly as she had me and throw her own words back at her. “Only one word answers, Skye.” That little hmphing thing she does is as fucking precious as it is hysterical.
All week I’ve wondered if what Nate had said was true. I figured he was bullshitting because honestly that’s what Nate does. I’d have paid to seen her on the stage…if it ever happened in the first place. All those curves on display. Hips swaying to the music, lights reflecting off her shiny dark hair.
Taking in the sexy as fuck way she bit into her bottom lip and the fact she wouldn’t—rather couldn’t look me in the eyes I knew, I just knew the answer before she said it aloud.
“Truth.”
I heard the word from her own lips, saw the word slip from her mouth, and yet I found it hard to believe. Skye released that throaty laugh that sends a heat through my veins and simmers low in my groin. “No shit?”
When she laughed again, I felt my chest tighten. How the hell her embarrassed low laugh paired with an extremely charming blush hit me quite so hard I’m unsure. It did. No, she did.
It was Skye to snap be back into reality. “I had one too many shots of tequila that night—”
When I went to remind her of the one word only answer rule she held a single finger to my lips.
“I don’t care about the stupid rules, Rhett. I was drunk, okay I was half drunk…” I stared at her in disbelief before she finally fessed up. “Fine! I was buzzed, and I thought it’d be fun to try once—only once.”
She reached down and fiddled with the sand. Grain after lucky grain of sand sifted through her fingers. The sexy and confident Skye appeared self-conscious and it killed me—fucking slayed me. Lifting her chin with merely a single finger. “Hey, what’s that look for, beautiful?”
“It was stupid, I know but…” She sat a bit straighter, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin a pinch more she continued. “It was fun even if I’m well aware, and honestly I don’t care, that I had no business up there—”
Instead of arguing, I pull her not so gently down to my mouth and completely swallow her remaining words. Once my lips are against hers, where I’ve wanted them every fucking minute of every fucking day since I met her, my plan to give her a subtle reminder of what a sexy wanted woman she is was shot to hell. Those full lips I can’t resist nipping at and then soothing the sting with my tongue. There’s no way I can pull away from her mouth now. Jesus! It’s as if I’ve never kissed a woman before, or maybe it’s just that I’ve never kissed one that could compare to Skye.
Pulling away from her mouth then was as hard as pulling out of her driveway is now. Straddling my bike is easier said than done with an erection raging like I have now.
Firing up my bike, I try to push the look on Skye’s face outta my goddamn head. When I said I’d better get home, I saw the confusion in her face and maybe even some hurt. The last thing I want is to see her hurt and know that I caused it. I had to leave. I needed to put some space between us before we crossed the line and I couldn’t walk away from her, couldn’t slow down and take my time, and cherish her as she deserves. Fuck, this is all new territory for me and quite honestly, it scares the living shit out of me. Every relationship I’ve ever had I’ve been the one to fuck it up. I’ve been the one to run, to leave. And I’ve never felt the way I do when I’m with her. When I’m with Skye.
Jesus, listen to me! It’s like I’ve grown a couple ovaries in place of my balls. Hell, I’d wonder if it was true if I didn’t have a serious case of blue balls happening right now.
This new unknown territory has me scared shitless. A certain dark haired, green-eyed, curvy as fuck woman has me all sorts of messed up and it’d be funny if it wasn’t so damn terrifying.
**Skye**
Maybe I should get a dog? Okay, I know it’s usually the norm for a single woman my age to start collecting cats like they’re miniature spoons. You know the kind right? Every truck stop from coast to coast has racks of thimbles, playing cards, all those dang shot glasses, and those tiny spoons with the state name printed on it. I have a box of those things around here somewhere. Why my dad thought I needed a miniature spoon from every state is beyond me, but I loved them all because at least my dad thought of me. No cats though. Dog? Mmmmaybe.
I always wanted a dog, but my mother never cared for animals in the house. Not that she really cared for us girls in the house either but she tolerated us. Oh, I know my mother loved us, both Rain and I. But, she never seemed settled. As a child, I didn’t know what the issue was or why she wasn’t very happy. I thought it was because my dad was gone so much. He’d been a long haul trucker as long as I could remember and mom always seemed more distant than my father who was thousands of miles away. Go figure, huh?
As an adult? And after daddy died, I’ve come to realize that my mother most likely felt trapped. I know she loves me and loves my sister Rain as well, but I’ve also seen her free spirit fly without hesitation in recent years. I believe she loved daddy, but I also think she was lonely. Donna Louise Blake wasn’t meant to be a stay at home mommy. No, she was made to travel with no agenda, photograph flowers, wear flowing skirts, write poetry, and listen to Stevie Nicks—not be tied down for years with children she’d practically raised by herself.
I understand that now and I don’t think less of her, actually, the opposite. Donna Blake, gypsy at heart, put her wants and needs on hold to raise two girls who knew they were loved and were taken care of. If only I still felt that love now. I know, I know, I’ve had it much better than many kids have, and I’m an adult after all but…sometimes I don’t want to be an adult.
Like today for example. I could go without being an adult at the moment. Because only an adult woman would feel like she’d been toyed with once again. Yup, only an adult woman would start to feel like maybe she’s not only missing something but maybe there is something wrong with her. Uh-huh, only an adult woman such as herself would be contemplating getting a dog, because once again she came home alone and to an empty place…alone—wait, I said that already, didn’t I?
Truth was I’m even more confused tonight than I was last night and the night before. Rhett’s been coming over, kissing me, whispering all sorts of things he wants to do to me, but he’s yet to do them. God, I want him to do them. We’ve spent night after night talking, cuddling on the couch watching Netflix. He has to be the only man that says we can watch Netflix and chill and actually mean it. C’mon! Everyone knows that Netflix and chill means someone’s about to get pregnant if you’re not careful.
Instead, Rhett kissed me until I was dazed and hardly able to catch my breath. I know damn well what he saw when he looked in my eyes. The something I saw in his…want, need, plain ol’ desire.