Page 10 of Her True Blue
“Jordana, there is nothing I want more than you. You’ve gotten me so hard someone might mistake it for a revolver in my pants.”
She giggles and opening stares at my third leg, her eyebrows lifting appreciatively.
I waggle my finger between us. “Don’t be doing that now, darlin’. I need to uphold my duty as a member of law enforcement. I wouldn’t want to have to arrest us for public indecency, now would I?”
Her giggle hangs between us as I swing an arm around her shoulder and we begin making our way back toward the car at the top of the ridge.
As I open the door, I plant a kiss on the top of her nose before kissing her lips to get a final taste before we leave.
“Jordana, I want to be with you. But after the public fireworks show and only in private. Because I promise you, when I fuck you, you’ll be seeing your own special brand of fireworks.”
Jordana
You’ll be seeingyour own private fireworks.
Cord’s promise keeps running through my head as we make our way through the crowds of people, spread out across the blanket-covered ground in the town square.
Every head turns and every set of eyes stare at us as Cord and I stroll leisurely hand-in-hand until he finds a spot and places the tri-colored blanket down next to a family and their children.
I don’t recognize them, but the man has enough facial similarities to Cord that I know it must be his brother.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here? My baby brother finally got the balls to ask the cute bank manager out on a date?” He chuckles sarcastically, but it comes off as a brotherly rib, not mean or rude.
Cord shifts to my side, locking his arm around my waist tighter.
“Figured I’d better do it before someone else did.”
He glances down at me, a crooked grin across his lips. “Jr. and Lara, this is Jordana Bolton. Jordana, this is my brother Jr. and his wife, Lara. And these are their three mini-me’s. Craw, Carlisle and Coby. My nephews.”
I wave and give them each a smile and greeting. “Hi Lara. I think we met a few weeks ago when you came in to the bank. Good to see you again. And nice to meet you, both.”
Cord helps me down and we nestle in as he sets down the cooler he brought along.
“Care for a beverage?” he asks me, opening the lid and demonstrating the variety of sodas and soft drinks he was thoughtful to bring for us.
“A Lemonade, please.” Handing me a cup, he pours our drinks and we settle back as the announcement from Mayor Wilton Rosedale begins over the speaker system.
“Welcome my fellow Americans and residents and guests of Milltown. We are honored to have you here with us tonight to celebrate our nation’s birthday. Some of you have attended our annual July Fourth in Milltown celebration since you were too young to remember, and others, this may be your first time. Whatever the case may be, I hope you enjoy the show and remember that our freedom is the cornerstone of our country and we’ve fought to continue our independence for well over 200 years. And in the words of Nelson Mandela, ‘For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.’ Enjoy the show!”
The meaning behind the quote burrows under my skin and slams straight into my heart. It’s as if the Mayor spoke those words just for me. To remind me that I have to do something now that I’m free of my past and the former chains Trever kept me locked in for so many years.
I can’t live my life any longer scared of punishment when I’ve done no crime.
My only crime was to fall for someone who didn’t have the capacity to love me back.
“Are you okay?”
The sound of Cord’s caring voice next to my ear startles me. I turn to look up, his sweet, sky-blue eyes staring down at me with something I’ve never seen before. Genuine concern.
Returning his smile, I link my fingers through his and drag them to my lap. “Of course. I was just thinking that this is the first time I’ve ever done something like this.”
“Like what?”
“This. A fireworks show,” I admit in an embarrassed whisper.
He seems completely taken back by my answer, but it’s the truth. As a kid in foster care, I’d never been taken to these sorts of festivals just for the fun of it. I was dragged along to many casinos with my foster mother, the bright lights of the table games and slot machines being the only sort of show I ever saw.
Using his thumb, our hands still clasped together, he runs it over my thigh, hidden underneath the blanket. It shoots a thrill over me like nothing I’ve ever experienced. It’s tender and sweet, but also filled with the dangerous promise of what’s to come later. What we’ll do with one another once we’re alone in the dark and not surrounded by the friends and his family and the entire town.
