Three Little Words (Fool's Gold #12)(41)

She read the emotions flashing through his dark eyes. Horror and shame were the dominant ones. There were others and each of them made her long for him more than she had before.

“No,” she said, grabbing his arm before he could say anything else. “I wanted you to kiss me. I wasn’t ready for how it made me feel.” She smiled. “I liked the kiss.”

He relaxed a little but didn’t move toward her.

She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled. He didn’t move. Of course, she could have forced him to do anything she wanted, but that didn’t seem like the best way to begin their first official date.

She released him and sighed. “It sucks to be short. Could you please just lean over and kiss me again?”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “You’re not going to threaten me with violence?”

“I want to, but I told myself it was wrong, what with this being a date and all.”

“I’m impressed by your self-control. Impressed and relieved.” The seriousness returned. “You’re sure?”

“Yes. Very. Please kiss me.”

He moved toward her. “I love it when women beg.”

She laughed as he wrapped his arms around her. Then they were touching everywhere and suddenly the situation wasn’t humorous.

She liked how he held her, as if he never wanted to let go. His body was warm and strong. Safe, she thought, letting her eyes drift shut. Perfect.

He touched his mouth to hers. There was more pressure this time. A hint of wanting. Gentleness still ruled, but she felt the potential of what there could be between them.

He didn’t try to deepen the kiss and he pulled back before she was ready. But instead of releasing her, he continued to hold her close. One of his hands lightly stroked her hair.

“Thanks for coming to dinner,” he murmured.

She let herself lean against him. “Thanks for asking me.”

“Anytime.”

She relaxed, feeling her defenses start to crumble. She might not understand how to do whatever it was they were doing, but with Kent there to guide her, she knew she could find her way.

* * *

“SO, THE BACK of Billy’s truck, huh?” Ford asked.

Isabel had just licked her ice-cream cone. She forced herself to swallow. “Excuse me?”

He winked. “Your first time. It was Billy, right?”

She glanced around. They were out on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The morning had been cool, but the afternoon had warmed up. Plenty of other people crowded the sidewalks as if everyone had suddenly noticed the changing of the leaves and realized there wasn’t much summer left.

“We are not discussing this,” she told him. “Not where anyone might hear.”

“You’re saying it’s the problem of being overheard, not the subject matter.”

“Mostly, although I’m not sure I want to talk about my first time with you.”

“Too late,” he said triumphantly. “You told me all about it in your letters.”

“You’re the most annoying man.”

“No way. You love spending time with me. I’m funny and nice to look at.”

She held in a smile. “Actually, what I most adore is your lack of ego. You’re so unaware of your charms.”

He bumped her shoulder with his. “My flaws keep me human.”

She licked her cone. “Then you’re one of the most grounded people I know. What made you think of Billy?”

He pointed.

She turned and saw a young couple making out by a pickup truck. They were probably still in high school.

“If either parent catches them, I guess there’s going to be some big-time explaining to do,” she said, turning back to him.

“Was it like that?” he asked.

“I don’t know. It wasn’t planned. He’d been surfing and I came down to the beach. It was dark and one thing led to another.”

Ford chuckled. “It wasn’t spontaneous.”

“How do you know?”

“He’s a guy. You were a beautiful young girl who was crazy about him. Trust me, Billy had been planning it for weeks.”

“You think so? He never said anything.”

“What’s he going to say? ‘I’m going to do my best to get into your pants, moving as fast as you’ll let me’?”

“That’s not very romantic.”

“Which is my point.”

She told herself not to dwell on the “beautiful young girl” part of his statement. He was generalizing. As in all teenagers were attractive by virtue of their youth and vitality.

“That would have been a good letter to skip,” she said instead. “I can’t believe I went into detail.” She paused. “Did I?”

“I lived it in real time.”

“You should have answered me. Then we would have had an actual correspondence.”

“I liked being your diary.” He finished his cone and dropped his napkin into a trash can. “You sent me a very detailed letter about the birth of Maeve’s first baby, then a second one telling me not to read it.”

“I was afraid you’d be hurt.”

“I was well over her by then.”

She tossed away the rest of her cone and wiped her hands. “Something I would have known if you’d ever answered.”