With This Heart(40)

When I finally walked out, I was greeted by Beck standing in front of a group of vending machines, gathering the various “courses” of our dinner.

“ Oh jeez, I don’t even want to know what you’re getting out of there.”

“ Unless you want s’mores for dinner, you’ll appreciate my vending machine hunt.”

“ At least get a granola bar or something,” I muttered, stepping closer to him.

“ It’s all taken care of,” he answered, shoving the food wrappers under his shirt so they wouldn’t get soaked in the rain. “C’mon!” He motioned for me to follow and then darted for the door.

Once we were back in the car, my body was shaking from head to toe from the cold rain. There was no way in hell I was getting out of the car again before the rain stopped. I was tired of being wet and cold.

“ Do you have a towel or anything?” I asked, rifling through my bag for a change of clothes. I pulled out an oversized t-shirt and a fresh pair of underwear. My sleeping shorts were somewhere in my bag, but I’d look for them when my teeth weren’t about to crack from chattering so hard.

“ No, but you can use one of my shirts,” he offered, and then climbed into the back with me. The space was small, but we could both fit easily. He tossed a t-shirt over and I caught it just before it hit my face. His scent overwhelmed me.

“ Mind if I change, too?” he asked, already working the hem of his shirt up.

“ Ahh,” I muttered awkwardly, trying to think of the correct answer. I didn’t want to seem like a prude, so I shrugged and turned away from him to give us both some privacy.

I heard him digging clothes out of his bag behind me, so I took a deep breath and tried to pretend he wasn’t watching as I crouched onto my knees and peeled my dress over my head. I was in my underwear and bra, but they were both wet and I’m sure completely translucent. Fortunately, the important sections were facing away from Beck.

I kept expecting him to say something or to make a joke, but he stayed silent as I reached for his shirt and dried off my arms, stomach, and back. I sat down and stretched my legs out to dry them off. I could feel his eyes on me, amplifying the goose bumps covering my skin. My ears were focused for any movements in my direction. Sadly, the only thing I heard was the rustle of a new shirt being put on. No hanky panky in the camper for me. I tugged my oversized shirt over my head and then reached under to unsnap my wet bra.

“ Abby,” Beck huffed agitatedly, and I twisted around to look at him. He was bent down onto his knees as well.

“ What’s wrong?”

“ Did you just take your bra off?” he asked.

My brows scrunched together and then I looked down at my lacy size 34-A bra still resting in my palm. It could have fit an American Girl Doll. Was I not supposed to take it off?

“ It was soaked,” I answered with a confused scowl.

He wet his lips and looked up at the roof of the camper for help. His hands rested on his hips and when I inched toward him, his jaw clicked a millimeter tighter.

I tilted my head and gave him a small smile. “Did you want me to leave my bra on, Beck?”

“ No… No, just will you put some pants on?”

I was making the cool, funny Beck uncomfortable in that moment. The second I got a taste of that power, I wanted more.

“ I was going to look for my shorts after I changed my shirt,” I explained. “Were you watching me take off my clothes?”

“ Of course I was,” he answered with a grin and a shrug. He was already collecting himself and I couldn’t let that happen.

I inched closer to him on my knees so that we were only a foot apart. The air in that Camper smelled like summer rain.

“ Because you like me?” I asked, tossing my bra onto my bag.

“ Ah, so you did hear me say that?” he asked with amusement in his hazel eyes.

I mashed my lips together before answering, “You kind of screamed it in the ocean.”

He laughed and then narrowed his eyes on me. “I had to be sure you heard it.” The tone in that Camper morphed in that moment. We were being silly, and then suddenly all of the spare oxygen was zapped from the tiny space and we were left floating on unspoken lust and desire.

“ I think everyone in the northern hemisphere heard it,” I murmured, looking up at him from beneath my wet lashes.

I wasn’t sure where we were going to go from there. But, of course, Beck had plans.

“ I’m going to kiss you now, Abby,” he said, bending low and erasing the gap between us.

My pulse spiked, “Normally you don’t warn m…”

His lips cut me off and I was no longer in the back of an old VW Camper; I was wrapped up in Beck’s touch, his mouth, his taste. He must have chewed a mint since the flea market because his mouth tasted like cool peppermint. His lips were soft and cold from the rain. My tongue traced across the seam of his mouth, and in an instant, his mouth opened for me and we were devouring one another, taking the kiss closer and closer into dangerous territory. I felt his hands glide up the sides of my legs, past my long shirt, and I welcomed it. I felt like I was inching toward bliss with every millimeter his finger crawled over my skin.

He’d pulled me up onto his lap so that his warm skin was pressed against mine beneath my shirt.

Our kiss never broke as his fingers reached slowly up my thigh. I wanted him. Oh, I wanted him so badly, so I inched my knees farther apart and pressed our bodies closer together. I didn’t know how far Beck would take it.