Page 50 of Into the Shadows

“You’d be right about that. I’m not that baby eighteen-year-old trying to impress you anymore.”

“You don’t want to impress me anymore, Sparkles?”

She smirks. “Oh, I do. I just have other ways of going about it now.”

My dick perks up at the idea. “I think I need a demonstration.”

“Maybe later, if you play your cards right.”

I reach to snag her hip and pull her into me. Her lush mouth has me groaning as her tongue teases my lips. Her confidence has grown by leaps and bounds since the first time she kissed me, and it’s starting to get harder and harder to remember she’s still innocent when it comes to sex. All I want to do is throw her over my bike and fuck her so hard she screams.

I pull away from her to stop those thoughts in their tracks. “Come on, temptress. I have somewhere I want to take you.”

She pulls her smaller helmet down over her silky brown hair and swings her leg over the back of my bike. There’s no hesitation when she wraps her arms around me, and I revel in the press of her soft curves against my back. It’s nice not feeling like the biggest fucking pervert alive this time.

Her hands roam my chest as we ride through town. When one starts to dip down to my crotch, I quickly grab it before she can get too far.Naughty girl.I press it into my stomach to silently tell her to keep it up where it’s not distracting.

I finally pull into the field where Lottie took me the first day we met. A cocoon of silence greets us after I turn the bike off. My shoulders drop at the peace surrounding us, and I tap Lottie’s hands to prompt her to get off the bike first.

She tightens her arms around my waist before letting go. I follow suit, grabbing the groceries and blanket from thesecond saddlebag. We work together to set up the picnic I brought. It’s not as well-organized as Lottie’s was, but it’s got all her favorite snacks and a bottle of wine.

Lottie’s smile is bright as she takes in the whole scene. “This is amazing, Teddy.”

“I thought I could recreate the day we first met, only without the predatory atmosphere this time.”

She drops her head back in a laugh. “There was nothing predatory about that day. In fact, I think I was the one thinking all the dirty thoughts.”

I give her a look. “You’re telling me my sweet, innocent, sparkly girl was imagining me ripping that tiny T-shirt off you and turning you into averydirty girl instead?”

Lottie’s cheeks turn beet red. She fans her face. “Okay, no. I wasn’t thinking that exactly, but I am now.”

I laugh. Reaching for one of the crackers, I add cheese and meat on top before lifting it to Lottie’s mouth to feed her. Her amber eyes are burning with desire, but I do my best to ignore it. I didn’t bring her out here just to fuck her, though I’m not opposed to the idea. I wanted to share a private moment with her without the whole town watching us.

Every time we’ve gone out, even just to get ice cream at Jones’s, I notice everyone staring at us. I know they’re wondering what Lottie is doing with a loser like me. She’s the golden girl of Sonoma. She deserves to date someone without a past like mine.

“You want to know what I was really thinking that day?” Lottie asks.

I lean down on my elbow, my entire focus on her gorgeous face. “Sure.”

“What is this hot-as-hell man doing with a girl like me? I thought for sure you’d walk away when I made it clear I wasn’t going to sleep with you. When you didn’t, I couldn’t figure outwhy you’d want to spend time with a goody-two-shoes when you could’ve had any woman you looked at.” Lottie looks down at her fingers, twisting them together in different configurations.

“You want to know what I was thinking? What I still wonder sometimes?”

Her head lifts, vulnerability shining in her eyes as she nods.

“What the fuck is this perfect-as-hell woman doing with a trailer-trash guy like me?”

She frowns at me. “You’re not trailer trash.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I don’t think anyone is trash, whether they live in a trailer or not.”

A sardonic smirk tilts the corner of my mouth. “I’m the son of an alcoholic single mother. I barely passed high school to graduate, and now I live in a rundown house without any plans to find anything better.”

Lottie’s face falls into a frown. “And you’re a decorated Marine who served this country with more bravery and strength than most people will ever have in their lifetime. You’re incredibly kind to every single person you meet, whether you want to talk to them or not, and you’re more intelligent than you give yourself credit for. You’d never have made it as far up in the military as you did if you weren’t smart.”

I stare in awe at this fierce woman as she breathes heavily from defending me. “No one has ever stood up for me like that.”

---