Page 79 of Hot Ice, Tennessee

My stomach dipped as he turned and caught my eyes. He reached out and pushed one piece of my hair to the side, leaning down to press a quick peck to my head.

Oh, fuck.

I felt like the world was slowly shifting around me, even though my feet were planted firmly on the wet ground. I looked at the curves and dips of Jesse’s muscles, the way his tattoos looked even more beautiful under the water, droplets rolling down every inch of his smooth skin.

This is not happening.No, no, no.

But it was. I felt the tug inside me.

It was in the way my throat was just a little clenched up, the way my stomach kept feeling like it was on a rollercoaster every time I caught the radiant green of his eyes.

It was the beginning glimmer of a feeling I knew too well.

I was starting to fall for him.

And not just in the kind of way where I admired his body, or his eyelashes, or his prowess with a puck and a stick.

It was also the way he could be so commanding, so hard—then soft and gentle right afterward. The way he kept inserting himself in my life in a way that should have been too much, but instead was the most welcome intrusion I’d ever had.

So many people came and went from my life, joining the party or thehot messfor a moment, then taking a swift exit afterward. But there hadn't been a single shallow moment with Jesse. I wasn’t sure he even knew how todoshallow.

Jesse reached to shut off the water. Before he stepped out he turned to me and leaned in, pulling me close.

He pressed his lips to mine. His hands slid around my waist, warm and still completely wet.

I knew what it was, in that moment, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

I felt safe with him.

“You want to spend the night?” he asked.

14

JESSE

Mason sighed against my lips. I licked a stray droplet of water from his, waiting for his answer.

“I think I have to turn into a pumpkin, actually,” he said.

I groaned. “No you don’t. Turn into a pumpkin in my bed, please?”

“I have to be back at my house to wrap up the party,” he said. He bit down on his lower lip, giving me another hesitant look. “And… bad news.”

“Worse news than you not sleeping next to me?”

“I’m going to be out of town. I’m driving down to Atlanta with my friend Mary tomorrow.”

“Maybe you can come get in my bed when you’re back,” I said, sucking on one of his earlobes.

“I’ll be back in ten days.”

“Ten fucking days?” I protested. “Wow. What are you going to do in Atlanta?”

“Mary volunteers with a group that does free home repairs for elderly people who can’t afford it,” Mason explained. “I was talking to her the other night, and I maybe, sort of… told her that I’d go.”

“For an entire ten days?”

“Yeah.”

---