Page 26 of Beck & Coll
“Shut up! Youwereright by my side.” I eyed him. “Maybe you’re a jinx.”
“Oh, I’m a jinx now?” He pulled me into his arms, and before I knew it, we were kissing on the bank of the Papa River.
I kissed him back, loving the minty taste of his mouth.
It was the third week of September. The weather was in the sixties, but the sun was high in the sky. Beckham and I covered each other in sunscreen before donning the life jackets. I listened while he explained both the basics and the important topics. Finally, it was time to climb into the canoe.
Beck took the lead, paddling us out into the swift moving river. The waves lapped gently, but the current carried us along at a good clip. I took in the surroundings, and everywhere I looked was gorgeous—the mountains, the trees, the calm blue sky, and the water.
“It’s so peaceful here,” I told Beckham.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “That’s one of the reasons that I love it so much. It’s like heaven on earth.”
We rode in silence. Him paddling easily, and me just taking in the sights and sounds.
After about a half an hour, he paddled us over to the shore. I stepped out of the canoe exactly the way he told me to and was rewarded with staying on my feet. He tied up the canoe, and then I followed him to a clearing where he had a picnic set up.
My hand went up to my mouth in surprise. “Oh, wow. When did you have time to do this, Beck?”
He gave me a sheepish grin. “I didn’t. Brewer made the food, and Bright dropped it off and set this up.”
I stared at him. “I’m impressed.”
“That was the goal, gorgeous. I’ve never met anybody like you, Coll. I’ve never had such an… immediate and strong attraction to a woman… ever.” He took a deep breath. “I know your life isn’t here. It’s in Chicago. So, I understand that thisthing is temporary, but for however long… for however long I can have you, that’s how long I want you. And while I got you, I’mma make sure I show you what it’s like to be wanted.”
Tears sprang to my eyes as I stared at him, the beautiful man in front of me with the boyish sincerity in both his eyes and his voice.
I wiped at them impatiently. “I wish—” I began.
He stepped closer to me. “Don’t wish, baby. It’s okay. We have the time we have. I don’t wanna worry about what happens after this moment. I just want this moment. Okay?”
I sniffled and nodded my head. “Okay.”
“Okay then. Sit down. Let me feed you, baby.”
That night, I invited Beckham over for dinner. He was right that instead of putting our concentration on the fact that we only had a few days, we should put our concentration on making the most of the days we did have. With that in mind, I decided that we should make pizza together.
“Now that the dough is rolled out…” I told him as he kept adjusting the dough. “Leave the dough alone, Beck. Why are you bothering it?”
He glanced over at me. “Is this the real you? You this bossy in real life, Coll?” He smoldered at me, his eyes heated with desire.
“Leave me alone, and pay attention to your dough.”
“What kind of sauce does this pizza get?”
“First, the crust goes into the oven. Cooking the crust before you add the other stuff keeps it crispy.”
“I’ll let you make it on this because you’re from Chicago. Y’all are supposed to have the best pizza.”
“You’ve never been to Chicago?”
“Nah. I’ve never gotten around to it.”
“Well, now you’ll have a reason. You can come visit me.”
He closed the space between us with just a few strides of his long legs then took me into his arms. “Deep down inside, I’m hoping I won’t have to travel to get up with you. I’m hoping you’ll be in my bed, right up underneath me.”
I leaned completely into him, while my heart melted a little bit… no… a lot. My heart melted a lot. “I don’t really have good luck with relationships, and?—”
