Page 29 of The Fire Walker
Jessie let out a squeal of laughter, her fingers digging into my shoulders. “You wouldn’tdare!”
“Oh, yeah?” I let her slip a little in my grasp, and she shrieked again, but my expression fell the instant I realized her face was mere inches from mine. I could feel the entire length of her body pressed against mine and the curve of her breasts against my chest. It was a perfect kiss moment, but I set her down gently and stepped away.Why the hell did I just dothat?
She glanced down at the water, tucking her hair behind an ear. I couldn’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses, but that little furrow between her eyebrows said itall.
“Are you hungry?” she said after amoment.
Inodded.
“There was a food cart back up there a bit. We can get a burger and sit outside if youwant.”
“Burgersagain?”
She shrugged. “What can I say? My stomach is easilypleased.”
“Sure. Whatever youlike.”
I held her boots while she washed her sandy feet under a tap, and being a typical guy, my gaze ran the entire length of her body. Her long, almond, toned legs, the curve of her ass, her long neck. It would be so easy to take her hand in mine, tug her to me, and kiss that little spot right underneath herear.
She tiptoed over to me and took her boots and pried mine from my unresponsive fingers. How couldn’t she know the things she did tome?
“Your turn,” shemurmured.
Blinking hard, I stuck my feet under the running water, and I imagined what I’d be like if she was looking at me the same way. She’d relaxed a lot since the other day, but there was still this wall of professionalism. Maybe that was what was stopping me? The fear of crossing some invisible line…the point of noreturn.
Pulling my boots back on, we walked down the boardwalk and found the burger cart Jessie had seen earlier. She was definitely not like other women. No fancy restaurants or flash clothes. No pretenses. She was justreal.
Burgers in hand, we found a bench near the water, and I straddled one end and she the other with our food and drinks in between. Cherry cola and cheeseburgers. I suppose it was another traditional American dish. As we ate, we watched the ocean as the sun set, eating our second fatty meal in as many days, laughing and swapping stories about the bands we’d seen play. It was great to talk with her about something that was so sacred to me and have her understand so completely. It was the same forher.
We fit. Couldn’t she seethat?
“You’d love New York,” she was saying. “There’s so much stuff going on underground. Punk, indie, trance. All kinds of stuff. It’s a hard town to crack, though. It’s still a very cliquey place. If you know someone who knows someone, you can get in just about anywhere. Don’t ask me about the ivy places,though.”
“Ivyplaces?”
“The rich hangouts. You know, like Gossip Girl on acid. Not myscene.”
“Uh, not my thing, either. I’d rather hang out at a gig or a pubsomewhere.”
“We don’t really have pubs in thecity.”
“An old man barthen.”
She screwed up hernose.
“No doof doof.” I waved my handsaround.
“Doof doof?” Jessie laughed like I wasinsane.
“The David Guetta vs. Lady Gaga megamix.”
She laughed, slapping a hand over her mouth. “It’s a bit like that,right?”
“Couldn’t think of anything worse than being Auto-Tuned.”
“A man after my own heart.”Shit, was Iever.
It was almost over. It felt like a whirlwind summer romance but without the kissing and hot sex. Knowing that she was leaving tomorrow and I still hadn’t come clean about what was growing inside my chest, was eating me up. Really, what had we been doing? When it boiled down to it, I had feelings for her. Not the lust-filled connection I’d felt on that last day of recording, which seemed so long ago already, but something deeper. Something scary and dangerous that had me wanting to hold on and not let go. It had slammed into me so fast it was totally fuckinginsane.
