Page 54 of Welcome to Forever
She would just leave this part out when she was recapping the night for Val and Julie later. A date to the Veterans’ Center to play bingo with veterans and then a tour of Micah’s garden. She was going to sound pathetic.But the date did happen to be with the hot groundskeeper at the school, and that definitely wasn’t pathetic.
Five minutes later, Micah pulled into the driveway of a one-story house that was covered with cedar-shake siding. Kat leaned forward to watch the rain bounce off the house’s metal roof. Even with her rain-blurred view, it was breathtaking. “Wow.” She sighed, taking in the rugged, yet fanciful home. It was one she might’ve bought for herself if she’d been in the market.
Micah watched her. “Ben and I haven’t lived here long. I have big plans for this house, though. And my garden.”
“Sounds like you two will be staying awhile?” She regretted the hopeful tone in her voice.
The rain fell harder now, pelting against the windshield. She leaned back into the passenger seat. She’d always loved the rain, but without an umbrella, there was no way she was stepping foot outside. Not after taking so long to do her hair and makeup. And not while wearing a white linen dress that would show everything underneath if she got drenched.
“I hope to make this my forever home,” Micah said. “Ben needs stability. Heck, I was raised in the military. I’ve never stayed anywhere longer than five years. My contract is up next May, and I’m not planning on reenlisting.” He blew out a breath. “You’re the first person I’ve told that to.”
Kat’s lips parted as she looked at him. She’d just assumed he’d leave. All Marines left.Or they never came home,she thought, pulling her thoughts back to the present immediately. Now wasn’t the time or place to be thinking of the past. “I had no idea. I think that’s wonderful. For Ben,” she added.
Micah shrugged. “I have a nice little side business started with my landscaping. I want to expand to designing gardens like the ones you saw last week. That’s where my passion is.”
“That’s a great dream.”
“Think so?” He turned to her, his eyes darkening. They stared at each other for a long beat. “Looks like we’re stuck in here awhile,” he finally said. “Unless you want to get completely soaked.”
No. She didn’t. She tried to remember what she had on underneath the dress. She hadn’t obsessed over that part. Because the dress wasn’t coming off. It was staying on, and staying dry. “I don’t mind waiting out the storm.”
“Me, either.” He leaned in closer to her and reached out to brush a lock of damp hair from her face, his finger passing over her cheek slowly.
She swallowed thickly as her heart began to race. “You’re the first person I’ve dated since…” She didn’t complete her sentence. He already knew the rest. “I might not be good at this anymore,” she whispered. At what exactly, she wasn’t sure, because the dress was staying on, she reminded herself.
He leaned in even closer. “Good at what?” he asked in a deep voice that radiated up her legs, through her body, and resided in her chest.
“Whatever we’re doing here.”
“Talking?” His voice was barely a whisper against the beating of the rain. “You’re good at talking, Kat.” He guided her chin toward him and his lips brushed lightly against hers. “Kissing? You’re great at that, too.” His tongue slid into her mouth, exploring for just a moment as his hands did the same, running along her skin, awakening her body with the power that no cup of java ever had.
She arched to his touch, wanting the man in front of her. Screw the ramifications. Her body needed more of his touch. Right here, right now.
Clutching his shirt, she pulled him toward her and pressed her mouth into his, parting her lips and inviting him to kiss the dress right off her.
He groaned as he slowly folded her passenger seat down. Then he climbed on top of her, pinning her in the seat, not that she had a desire to be anywhere else. With his chest suspended over her, he continued to kiss her. His hips, however, pressed into her, showing her exactly how much he wanted her, which from her estimation was almost as badly as she wanted him.
“So damn gorgeous,” he whispered in her ear. The feel of his breath was as intoxicating as his touch. He trailed kisses from her ear down to the crook of her neck where she was ticklish. No way was she giggling and giving him cause to stop, though. Instead, she tilted her neck giving him better access, begging him to continue kissing her, which he did. Each kiss fired her up further, making her body wiggle and squirm. She needed more of him. Right. Now.
“The gardens can wait,” he whispered before his kisses started to descend, down her nape, her shoulder, her arm. He kissed each finger of her right hand lightly as his other hand ran under the hem of her dress.
“Mmm.” She closed her eyes, unwilling to entertain the second guesses streaming through her mind. Then the feel of his finger sliding inside her underwear silenced the worry completely. She arched harder.Yeah. Right there.Her next thought:Thank goodness for tinted windows.The storm was nowhere near ending, and there was no way she was stopping right now.No way, no how.
Micah pulled back and looked at her, his eyes molten with desire. “A Jeep isn’t the place to make love to a woman.”
No, it was a place to have hot, unbridled sex. Which was completely fine with her, she thought, starting to panic that the moment was ending. It couldn’t end.
“I want you, Kat, but I don’t want it to be here,” he said, in a voice so deep her body quivered in response.
They couldn’t stop. Not now. Please not now.
He pulled his body off hers and returned to his driver’s seat, breathing heavy himself. Running a quick hand over his short hair, he looked over at her with a teasing glance. “Do you melt?” he asked.
She shook her head quickly, her body still quivering from his touch. She was having withdrawal from the absence of his weight blanketing her already. Screw hair and makeup. Sheneededsex.
“Good,” he said, leaning in and kissing her lips tenderly. “Then let’s make a run for it.”
She nodded, suddenly willing if that meant that they could keep going.
