Truly, Madly, Whiskey(20)
He waited until she was plastered against him again, her heart dancing a jig against his back. He drove across the parking lot and she slapped his stomach again.
He stopped and glanced over his shoulder without an ounce of irritation. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. It’s weird not being in control.”
He torqued his body, holding her arm. “Sweetheart, you are in complete control. You say go, I go. You say stop, I stop. I’m your driver. That’s all. But we can take your car—”
She shook her head vehemently. “No. I think I needed to know you’d stop.”
That earned her a sexy smile. “Babe, there’s nothing I won’t do for you.”
Swallowing hard, she motioned for him to turn around and snuggled up to him again.
Peaceful Harbor wasn’t very big, and across town really meant driving only a few miles. Bear drove slowly, leaving plenty of room between them and the other cars, and checking on her at every stoplight. She was surprised at how freeing it felt to be on the bike, and how safe she felt with Bear. David had shed new light on the depth of her feelings, allowing her to acknowledge and feel them even stronger.
They drove down the winding side streets of her old stomping grounds toward Eternity Lane, passing houses she hadn’t seen in years. When he drove up the steep road that led to the park, her nerves flared to life again.
He parked in the lot and cut the engine, but her body continued vibrating. He took off his helmet and stepped from the bike. His long legs made it look natural and easy, but as she slung her leg over the motorcycle, she pictured herself looking like a spider trying to dismount from a horse.
Bear wrapped his hands around her ribs, lifting her from the seat and planting her feet beside his. He took off her helmet and set it on the bike. “What did you think of your maiden voyage?”
“It was a little scary at first, but then it was exhilarating. I needed it tonight. Thank you.” She looked up at the cloudy sky, glad it hadn’t rained.
He draped an arm over her shoulder, as if last week’s tiff had never occurred. It dawned on her that in all the time she’d known him, he’d put an arm over her shoulder or around her waist, keeping her as close as possible, rather than holding her hand like most couples did. Then again, they weren’t a couple, and Bear was definitely not a typical guy. Most guys would have either pushed harder for more a long time ago, or given up and walked away.
“What did you have in mind when you asked me to come here? A little no-pants dance in the grass?”
She laughed, and he pulled her against him, gazing into her eyes. She expected to see heat, to have to fend him off so they could talk, but she couldn’t have been more wrong.
BEAR TRIED TO keep things light and not let on about the worry mounting inside him. But he couldn’t stop thinking about her short-notice visit in the medical building, and he was curious about her friend David. How many times had his brother Bones, an oncologist, told him that a person’s health could change on a dime? Their father’s stroke had given him proof enough. Now, as he gazed into Crystal’s eyes, the spark of snark that usually glimmered back at him was dulled by worry, and that concerned him.
He touched his forehead to hers and his facade fell away. “I don’t want to joke around. Let me in, baby. Let me help with whatever’s stolen that spark from your beautiful eyes.”
“Bear,” she whispered.
In his name he heard a plea and a warning. He wanted to hand over the reins, let her lead, but he sensed that she was having trouble with that. “Tell me what you need,” was the best he had to offer.
She moved from within his arms and took his hand. He didn’t think that was a good sign, and he didn’t like not having her where he could feel her emotions as clearly as he could see them, but he went with her to the crest of the hill, where they sat in the grass overlooking the street below.
They sat in silence for a long moment, and the uncertainty was eating him alive.
“This is what I know about you.” Her soft voice broke through the silence. “You grew up in Peaceful Harbor with your brothers and sister and your parents, all of whom help run the bar. You and Dixie run the auto shop. You’re a member of a motorcycle club, and I think you’re the most loyal person I’ve ever met in my life, although Truman is right up there with you. You love Tru and Quincy as if they’re your brothers, and when the babies and Gemma came into their lives, you loved them, too. And then there I was, practically joined at the hip with Gemma. And for some reason you opened your heart, and your family, to me, too. I feel like that’s a lot to know about a person, even though there are a million things I don’t know.”
“I’ll tell you whatever else you’d like to know.”
“I know you would. We might have to go back and forth a hundred times before you got out of joking mode, but I know we’d eventually get there. The thing is,” she said a little more confidently, “I realized that what I know about you doesn’t matter as much as what you know about yourself. You obviously know that I’m attracted to you, but mostly, I’m attracted to what’s inside you, that at your core, you know who you are. That confidence shines brighter than the moon and the stars and the sun put together.”
She lifted her eyes to his, and for the first time in his life, he didn’t have a snappy comeback. In fact, he didn’t have any words at all.