Back to You(69)

She turned in her seat, facing him fully. “Okay, I give. Where the hell are we?”
He followed her lead, unbuckling his seatbelt and shifting in his seat so he was facing her. “I did find this place hiking once. I used to do it a lot right after I recovered from my neck injury.” He turned to look out the blackened windshield. “I’ve never come here at night, though. I just always thought tonight would be a cool night to do it.”
“Why?”
He smiled and glanced down at his watch. “You’ll see in about four minutes.”
“Oh my God, it’s four minutes until midnight?” Lauren asked, surprised. When Adam nodded, she said, “How is that possible? It feels like the night just started.@ sittingleasi”
“I know,” he said. “It’s always like that with you.”
She smiled. “You mean the night flying by?”
Adam looked down as the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Night, day, phone calls, chiropractic appointments.” He took a small breath, and to Lauren’s surprise, he almost looked sheepish. “I always feel like time goes too fast with you.” He laughed softly as he looked up at her. “Or maybe I just never feel like it’s enough.”
Lauren stared at him, and he looked down again. “I know that sounds—”
She leaned forward, cutting him off as she pressed her lips to his.
He chuckled softly in surprise and amusement, kissing her back. “That wasn’t a line, you know,” he said against her mouth, and she nodded.
“I know,” she breathed before taking his bottom lip between hers, and he made a small sound in the back of his throat, leaning forward and kissing her fully.
His hand came to her face, his thumb caressing her cheek as his fingers slid behind her ear, and she shivered, shifting her body and trying to get as close to him as the console in between them would allow.
A sudden hissing sound followed by a muted pop caused Lauren to open her eyes just in time to see a rainbow of colors explode in the sky, lighting it with a million shimmering twinkles. She broke the kiss, turning her head to look out the windshield; just as the colors fizzled away, the silence was filled with a new series of hisses and pops as fireworks shattered the darkness, some little starbursts of color, while others were tremendous explosions of glitter and light.
Lauren stared out the windshield in awe until she felt his thumb on her cheek again, and she finally pulled her eyes away from the spectacle to look at him.
“Happy New Year,” he whispered.
Another pop sounded, louder than the ones before, and by the sound of it, and the way light danced over Adam’s face, Lauren knew it must have been amazing.
But this time, she kept her eyes on him.
He leaned toward her, bringing his mouth back to hers, and she kissed him, the soft sounds of their lips brushing together mixing with the muted booms of the fireworks in the distance.
Lauren shifted again, trying to get closer, and when the console prevented her, she came up onto her knees and tried to maneuver around the stick shift. Adam immediately sat back against his seat, gripping her hips and helping her over the console and onto his lap.
He slid his hands into her hair, gazing up at her, and as she leaned down to kiss him again, she felt his hands slide down the sides of her neck and over her shoulders.
She shivered, and Adam pulled back slightly, their lips barely touching and their breath mingling together. He ghosted his hands over her ribs, his thumbs grazing the sides of her breasts, and Lauren gasped softly against his mouth before closing the tiny distance, kissing him more earnestly.
He had been so patient with her, always so patient. But she was pushing the boundary right now, and she knew it.
They had only been on three dates before this, so it wasn’t as though it was completely unreasonable that she hadn’t been intimate with him yet. And every time they’d gone out, he’d always been a perfect gentleman, never pushing, never taking it to a new level without her permission.
But she knew he was ready for more. Hell, even she was ready for@ucleasi more. At least, her body was.
But she just couldn’t bring herself to sleep with him yet.
She told herself it was because she wanted to make sure this was something real, something meaningful, before she gave herself over to him.
But she knew what the real reason was.
She knew what always happened whenever she slept with someone. She knew what she would end up doing. And she wasn’t ready for that to happen yet. She liked him too much.
Adam hummed in contentment against her mouth before pulling back slightly and brushing the hair out of her face. “So,” he said breathlessly, “where does the character go from here?”