The Vincent Boys (The Vincent Boys #1)(21)

The park was deserted except for one beat-up Chevy truck. I ran to the passenger’s side and jumped in before someone could drive up and catch me. Beau was smiling at me, and my heartbeat picked up its pace.

“I really like it when you wear sundresses,” he said before cranking up the truck and pulling out onto the road. I glanced down at the short hem on the baby-blue sundress I’d picked out and a tingle of anticipation ran through me.

“I’m not going back through town. Come over here,” he said, patting the spot beside him. I scooted over as close as I could without my legs touching the stick shift.

“That’s not close enough. Straddle it,” he said. I glanced up at him and he took his eyes off the road just a moment to meet my gaze. My heart did a little fluttery thing against my chest. I moved a leg over the stick shift and scooted over until my thigh was up against his. I was suddenly light headed as his hand rested on the stick shift between my knees.

“How late do I get to keep you tonight?” he asked, breaking into my thoughts.

“Oh, um, they didn’t say but then I don’t normally go out this late. I told them I was going to a midnight movie.”

He shifted gears then rested his hand on my thigh. I was beginning to understand why he liked sundresses.

“Good, we’ve got time to go to the bay,” he replied.

I hadn’t been to the bay in years. Sawyer never wanted to drive out that way. He said the water was nasty but I always thought it was beautiful.

“I figured it would be best if we didn’t hang out around here.”

I nodded because I understood his meaning. He didn’t seem bothered by the fact he was doing things he shouldn’t be with his cousin’s girlfriend. The thought reminded me of the image I’d had of Beau the past few years. He played games to his advantage. The sexy rebel who took what he wanted. Except that image no longer seemed accurate. He’d held me today without question as I cried and slobbered all over him. He’d stopped working to comfort me. Someone with selfish motives didn’t do that. Besides, if what we were doing meant he had a black heart then I had one too.

“You’re frowning. What’s going through your head?” he asked.

I thought about lying to him, since I was becoming a regular old liar, but I couldn’t lie to him too. This was something I needed to talk about before . . . well, before we went all the way.

“How I know I’m doing something wrong and I feel guilty but neither of those things matter enough to make me stop.”

Beau’s hand left my thigh and returned to the stick shift. I studied his large tanned hand and wondered how it was fair for someone to be given all perfect body parts. His grip on the stick was so tight the tanned color of his skin paled some. I wanted to reach out and soothe him, make the tension go away. But we had to talk about this. He didn’t say anything else or make a move to touch me. A sick knot of dread settled in my stomach as I waited to see if he was going to turn around and take me back. I’d reminded him of how wrong what we were doing was and he wasn’t dealing with it well. He loved Sawyer and I’d never imagined he’d do something like this to his cousin. I wasn’t any better. I was supposed to love Sawyer too and I did but not the way I should. As the silence stretched on I waited for Beau to turn the truck around and take me back to the park, but he kept heading toward the bay. After a few minutes, when I was sure he wasn’t going to turn around, I relaxed and waited.

Beau pulled off a dirt road, and through the overgrown grass and weeds I could see a clearing up ahead. It was complete with a pier. Beau turned his truck and backed it up so the back end was facing the water.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“A piece of property a friend of mine owns. He bought it to build on when he gets out of college,” he replied and reached for the door to open it.

I started to scoot over so I could get out on the other side when his hand touched my leg, causing me to tremble before glancing back at him.

“Wait here. I’m going to fix it up back there then get you and carry you back. The grass is high and there could be snakes in it.”

I nodded and watched as he jumped down into the tall grass. The snakes bothered me some, but the idea of him carrying me was causing other ideas to form in my head that kept me occupied while I waited. Within minutes he was back standing outside the open truck door. He crooked his finger for me to come to him. I slid over until I was close enough for him to grab me under my legs and carry me. The moment he picked me up I suddenly worried I might be too heavy. I tried not to dwell on my weight but I didn’t normally have guys picking me up and carrying me around. Luckily my weight didn’t seem to be an issue as he carried me around the back of the truck and lifted me up into the bed of it with ease.

He’d spread out several quilts and a couple pillows. A cooler sat in the far corner. I crawled up to the middle and sat down. Beau stood at the tailgate watching me. The shadows from the moonlight shaded his eyes so I couldn’t be sure what he was thinking.

“Are you coming?” I asked, almost scared of his answer.

“Yeah, I got a little sidetracked by the view,” he replied.

A shiver of anticipation ran through me as he crawled up into the truck bed. Kneeling in front of me he reached out and took my right foot then laid it against his jean-clad thigh. Fascinated, I watched him as he unsnapped my sandal and placed it beside the cooler. He placed my foot back down on the blanket then reached for my left foot and with the same slow, careful attention he removed my other shoe. Once both my feet were bare he lifted his gaze to meet my eyes.