Risk (Gentry Boys #2)(34)

As I climbed into the passenger seat I couldn’t help but wonder what he meant by that. Creedence wasn’t a man who explained himself so I doubted he would elaborate even if I asked. But I wondered just the same. It seemed too much to hope for that he meant nothing was wrong when he was with me. It sounded like romantic overkill and that certainly wasn’t his style.

It wasn’t until Creed turned on the ignition that I remembered what song I’d plugged in. I had wanted to listen to it on the way to work. I wanted to think about the important moment I’d heard it last. I blushed, hoping maybe he wouldn’t remember.

Creed paused though and listened to Mr. Alan Jackson’s voice.

“I know this song,” he said.

“Yes.”

He shot me a curious look. “This was playing that night at The Hole.”

“When I asked you to dance-“

“And I told you we were gonna dance all night.”

“Yes sir. And that’s exactly what we did.”

Creed’s blue eyes were thoughtful as he listened to the music. “What’s it called again?”

“Between the Devil and Me.”

Creed backed the car up. “It’s a good song.”

I cleared my throat. “When can I hear you sing?”

He didn’t answer right away. I figured he wasn’t going to.

“Soon,” he finally said.

I felt a smile break out across my face. Creed glanced at me. He laughed a little.

“What?”

He brushed his hand against my cheek. “You’re easy to please, Truly.”

Creed’s words made me blush even though they weren’t delivered in a sexual way. I was feeling more and more like there might be more between us than bedroom gymnastics. I just couldn’t make up my mind if that was a good thing or not.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Don’t know. Where do you want to go?”

“We could go take a walk by the lake.”

Creed moved into the left lane. “I like that idea.”

It wasn’t a true lake. It was an enormous reservoir that had been dammed up around a portion of the dried up Salt River and artificially filled. Still, there was something calming about a large body of water, particularly one in the middle of the desert. There were a few cars parked nearby and a handful of people strolling around but it was mostly quiet.

“You want to walk up to the bridge?” I asked.

Creed was already starting down the path leading closer to the water. “Maybe in a few minutes. You coming?”

His arm went around my shoulders when I joined him. We stared out at the serene stillness of the lake.

“I miss water,” I said. “This is nice but it’s not the ocean.”

“You know the ocean?”

“Quite well. And you?”

He chuckled. “Not a whole lot of ocean in Emblem.”

The lights of the bridge reflected on the motionless expanse of the water. I leaned over the wall and looked down.

“I think my favorite home as a child was this tiny Gulf town in the Florida panhandle. The place we were living in barely had standing walls but it was just a few hundred yards from the beach. We were there for a whole sweet summer. Mama was always gone, looking for men and for mischief. The four of us girls wore the same ragged swimsuits every day for two months and we damn well owned that beach. It was our private kingdom. Best thing was searching the tide pools every evening for the little sea critters that would find themselves caught there. We would carry them back to the wider ocean cupped in our palms and my sister Mia would cry over the futility of not being able to get them all. We figured we were saving them. Anyway, the hurricane that swept through there in late summer was one of the big ones. Took away the house we were living in and a fair amount of the beach too.”

I glanced over at Creed. He was still staring out at the lake.

“Sorry,” I blushed. “I tend to run on at times.”

“Am I complaining?”

“No. But long winded tales of my wacky childhood might not be very interesting to you.”

Creed turned to face me. I wasn’t petite but I barely reached the top of his shoulder. He stared straight down into my eyes and then said something that nearly knocked me over.

“I think everything you say is interesting, Truly. That’s why I’m here.”

That boy was turning me into a puddle of dreamy syrup. If I didn’t guard my heart more carefully then it just might become lost in Creed Gentry’s blue eyes.

I didn’t want to talk anymore for now. I just wanted to kiss him. We started out softly, sweetly, then quickly grew more intense. I reached under his shirt and felt his hard chest muscles. Creed’s big hands moved over my back and into my hair. He left my mouth and pushed his face into my breasts. I pulled back a little, long enough to undo the first few buttons of my shirt. Creed liked that a lot. I could tell by the way his breathing grew ragged and certainly by the way he moved his hand to casually stroke himself.

“Creed,” I breathed as his tongue went wild over my skin. Then I bit off my own objection as his mouth first found one nipple and then the other.

A certain bastard from long ago had bad intentions but he could have been right about something. I might have been born to this shit because, heaven help me, nothing ever felt so good as having this big man suck my tits and know that soon he was going to enter my body.