Page 35 of Our Sweet Destiny
Chapter Twenty-One
THE BRISK NIGHT couldn’t have arrived soon enough for Rex. Between his father’s comment and thoughts of Jade, he’d felt hamstrung all afternoon. He stood beside his truck, just off of the exit ramp, feeling a little scandalous. He’d gone over the options in his mind time and time again, and this was the only way for him and Jade to have a fighting chance. What he felt for Jade was so much bigger thanlike. She consumed his thoughts every second of the day. He wondered what she was doing, how she was, when he’d see her again. Minutes dragged by like hours and hours like days.
Treat and Max’s relationship mirrored the pieces and flashes of the love he remembered seeing between his parents, and he never thought he was capable of feeling whatever those emotions were that made Treat want to rearrange his life just to be with Max, or that made his father keep his mother’s voice alive for twenty-six years. And then came Jade.
Seven minutes felt like seven hours, and as it neared eight o’clock, he worried she might have changed her mind. Then, just as that worry was taking hold in the pit of his stomach, headlights from the exit shone across the side of his truck, and Jade pulled in beside him. His cheeks stretched with a smile, and his heart bloomed in his chest. He opened her door, reminding himself that this was a proper date and not to attack her the moment he saw her.
Jade smiled, and her eyes danced with enthusiasm. “Hi,” she said in a breathy voice.
He took her hand as she stepped from the car. Her scent and the feel of her hand in his was enough to send pulses of desire through his veins. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the lips.
Her tender lips, the gentle flick of her tongue, were like a dare. He wasn’t an ice king, after all. He deepened the kiss, and she responded with a sweet moan, pressing her body against his. It was like torture to pull apart, but he forced himself to do just that.
“Good to see you, too,” she said, slipping her finger in his belt loop and kissing him lightly on the lips again.
“Girl, you’re playing a dangerous game.” He heard the edge in his voice, like all his nerves were wrapped around the neediness in him.
She arched a brow. “Where to, my secret lover?”
Could she be any sexier? He put his hand on the small of her back as they went to his truck, and his hand touched bare skin. He stole a furtive glance, then gritted his teeth against the swell of hunger that took him over when he saw all that bare flesh revealed by her backless dress. How would he keep from thinking about that all night?
BEING TRAPPED BESIDE Rex in the cab of his truck was nothing short of torturous. Her body was already reacting to the heat radiating from his body when they’d kissed. How was she going to make it through the evening?
“I hope you like music,” he said.
“Love it.”Love it? That’s all you’ve got?
The mountain peaks disappeared into the night sky on the outskirts of Allure. It had been a long time since Jade had been to that part of Allure. When he pulled into the parking lot of Bar None, a restaurant and bar known for being a little less touristy than others, she became a little more nervous. She’d been there several years ago with Riley, during a college break. They’d danced and sang karaoke and had a fun time, but it had been forever since she’d been on arealdate and that made her stomach knot up.
Rex opened the door for her, and when they entered the dim restaurant, live music filtered through the air. They followed the hostess to a booth by the small stage, passing by a table of men gawking at Jade and making no effort to hide their eager eyes. Rex put his hand possessively around her.
This should be interesting.
After her experience with Kane, Jade knew that there was a possessive line that, if crossed, would send her running for the hills, and her eyes were open to it.I’m a possessive jerk. I never knew I was, but the idea of you with anyone else kills me.Rex had been honest with her, which was something to be appreciated, she supposed, but it occurred to her that she needed to know if she had another Kane on her hands. He had nearly punched that guy outside of the other bar, and while a protective nature was admirable, a stalker mind-set was anything but. As much as she hated herself for thinking about doing what she was about to do and probably ruining their first real date, she knew she didn’t want to waste any of her life on someone who would end up driving her out of another town—no matter how many things she loved about him.
“Dance with me?” she asked.
The band was playing a song that was neither fast nor slow, which Jade knew would work to her advantage.
“I’m not much of a dancer, but sure,” he said.
One bonus point for dancing.
On the dance floor, she felt very small next to him. His boots made him almost six and a half feet tall. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. The buttons of his shirt jumped beneath her cheek with every beat of his heart. They moved in perfect unison. His fingertips grazed her bare back, and she almost decided to forgo her test to remain close. But it was something she needed to do. For a moment she wished Riley were there to tell her she was doing the right thing and give her the courage to do it. She conjured up her voice.Better to know now than later. Just do a quick test, not an all-nighter.She smiled and moved slowly from his grasp as the tempo kicked up a notch. Her hips swayed in an exaggerated fashion as she ran her hands seductively down his chest. She felt him stiffen beneath her touch, his eyes darting around the room and landing on the table of men, who were looking at her with wide eyes and lusty grins as they tossed quiet comments around like a basketball.
She almost abandoned her plan then and there as Rex’s eyes narrowed. She worried about making a scene, but in the next beat, his body began to move just as stealthily as hers. He met her, move for seductive move, paying no attention to the men at the table, and before she knew it, all the women in the room were gawking at him. She quickly realized she’d been had. While she was scheming up her plan, he’d already been one step ahead of her.
By the time the song ended and they landed back at their booth, they were both laughing.
“That was so fun,” she said. “I thought you weren’t much of a dancer.”
He shrugged. “I didn’t say I couldn’t dance, just that I wasn’t much of a dancer. I’ve seen better.”
His eyes never faltered from hers. Not one single glance at the table of men who were still ogling her, or at the women who were all but drooling over him. They ordered dinner and danced to another upbeat song.
Back at the table, they talked easily while they ate, and Jade had never felt so comfortable with a man. The first-date angst and her worry over his possessiveness was long gone.
“There’s so much I want to know about you,” he said.
