Page 120 of Inferno
Damn,Manning marveled,she’s gorgeous.
“What were you going to ask me before I interrupted you?” Taylor asked softly.
“Oh.” Manning gulped a nervous breath,thentook the plunge. “Would you go out with me?”
She closed her eyes for a moment, a dreamy smile hovering on her lips.
He waited anxiously.
“Yes,” she said simply.
“Yes?”
She nodded slowly, opening her eyes. “Yes, I’d love to go out with you.”
Manning’s heart soared. He caught both of her hands and held them,grinningso hard his cheeks hurt.
Taylor grinned back at him. “Are you happy?”
“Very.”
“Me, too.”
They stood there holding hands and cheesing at each other until Taylor’s expression suddenly turned serious.
“What is it?” Manning asked her.
She hesitated. “If we’re going to be together, you need to know something up front. I’m not putting out like Caitlyn. I’m saving myself for marriage, or at least until I know for sure that I’m ready to give myself to someone. My body is a temple, and any guy who wants to worship has to pay his dues first. So if you’re looking for a girl like Caitlyn, then…we can just be friends.”
A slow, satisfied smile spread across Manning’s face.
“What?” Taylor asked nervously.
“I like you even more now.”
She blushed, looking relieved. “I’m glad you’re not disappointed.”
Manning shook his head.“Nah.”
His father had always told him to look for girls who respected themselves and had high standards. As much as Manning had enjoyed having sex with Caitlyn, the experience had left him feeling empty afterward, which was weird. He’d always assumed that whenever he lost his virginity, he’d be bursting at the seams to brag to Michael and Quentin that he’d joined their ranks. But ever since the fellas had gotten here, he hadn’t uttered a word about Caitlyn.
So maybe Dad was right, Manning conceded. Maybe hehadn’tbeen ready to start having sex after all. Or maybe Caitlyn hadn’t been the right girl to lose his virginity to.
Both were probably true.
“Well,” Taylor said apologetically, breaking into his thoughts, “I should get going so we won’t miss our flight.”
“Okay,” Manning said. “I’ll walk you outside.”
As they started from the mud room, Taylor suddenly turned, threw her arms around his neck and crushed her mouth to his, shocking him with one of the sweetest, hottest, most thrilling kisses he’d ever had.
His head was still spinning when she pulled back and grinned at him. “I’vebeen wantingto do that ever since we were interrupted that night.”
Manning could only manage a grin that was as wobbly as his knees.
When they stepped out the front door, they saw that a light sprinkling of white flakes had begun falling from the sky.
“It’s snowing,” Taylor breathed.
