Janice drove out of the parking lot and turned the opposite direction Seth had, making a wide circle before turning back to the road Seth had pointed out as the meeting place. They were in luck—no one followed.
It seemed like hours passed before they were parked and Heather was out of the car and stepping into the truck, waving goodbye to the Urban Arts Director.
And then she was exactly where she wanted to be. Alone with Seth.
Thank Christ that his truck had tinted windows, because the Prius wasn’t even out of sight and Seth couldn’t stop himself from pulling Heather across the bench and into his arms. He had to have his hands on her, couldn’t spend another minute without touching her. The morning had been long and good-for-the soul but it had also been hard-on-the-dick, his desire for her a pleasant ache that never eased.
Her mouth opened in a soft gasp as he moved in on her, and he took it as an invitation for his tongue, sliding it into the moist warmth between her lips. His hand twisted in her hair as their tongues tangled around each other, teasing and tasting, stroking and sucking. His other hand palmed her breast, each squeeze eliciting a breathy moan from Heather’s throat that he gladly swallowed with his kiss. Damn she was sexy. So sexy he could barely see straight. So sexy that she overwhelmed him entirely.
With unimaginable determination, he pulled away, and gazed down on her. Her face was flushed and her chest rose and fell in quick short breaths.
“Don’t stop,” she murmured, her eyes still pinned on his lips.
“There is nothing more that I want to do than keep kissing you, princess.” His thumb traced her jawline. “But I will not be able to stop with kisses. And though f**king you in my truck sounds incredible, it’s not on the agenda.”
“Screw agendas.”
He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “There is screwing on the agenda.” He let his teeth bite down on her sensitive lobe, his c**k twitching at her sexy moan. Then he reached over her, pulled her seatbelt across her, and latched it before scooting to his place behind the wheel. “Just not here. Not yet.”
She groaned. “Oh my God, I’ve already waited a lifetime.”
Seth put the truck in drive and pulled out onto the road, glancing furtively for any stray media. “I would have come to you anytime last week. All you had to—”
“—do is ask,” she finished with him. “I know, I know. I was being stupid.”
He scowled at her self-admonishment.
“I’m not being hard on myself, Seth. I’m being honest. I didn’t think you could handle my baggage.”
“I can.”
“I see that now. I’m sorry you had to go through the things you did, but I’m sort of glad too. Because I know you get it, even though I didn’t give you credit. It wasn’t personal. I don’t ever think anyone can handle my baggage.”
She turned in her seat so she could face him head on. “Which is really what I meant when I said it feels like I’ve waited a lifetime. I didn’t just mean this week or this morning—I meant I’ve literally spent my whole life waiting for someone to call me out and pull me in all at the same time. Does that make any sense?”
“It does.” While he relished the serious timbre of their conversation, Seth wanted their date to be fun. Heather had enough serious in her existence. “And I’m more than happy to pull out and push in whenever you need it.”
She laughed a whole-hearted belly laugh that made him wish the crotch of his pants had more stretch. “That’s not what I said, you perv.”
“Hmm. Guess I wasn’t listening close enough.” He swept a look along the sides of the highway, half intent on finding a place to pull over and put sex earlier on the agenda. But he could be patient. She was worth the wait, every time. “We have a little over an hour before we get to our destination. You can pick a station if you want. Or we can talk.”
“And if I ask where we’re going?”
“I won’t tell you.”
She stuck out her lower lip in a sexy pout that brought naughty images to his mind caused him to adjust himself for the millionth time that day. Think of puppies, he told himself. And nuns. Nuns with puppies.
“And if I insist?”
“I’m pretty sure any method of persuasion you might use would be considered dangerous when I’m driving a moving vehicle.”
“Then I’ll just have to accept that I’m going to be surprised.”
It startled him that she gave in so easily, but more than that, it pleased him that she would, again, give her trust over to him. His chest tightened at all that it implied. Even thoughts of nuns with puppies couldn’t stop the warmth from spreading from his center to his outer limbs. It felt like sitting in the sun, like finishing a good workout. Like falling in love.
At the edges of the warmth, darkness threatened to cloud his spirits with a reality he didn’t want to face. The truth that he had lied to her—was lying to her about what he did for a living. That he’d gone to great lengths to keep the truth hidden from her. It was a darkness that could end them and whatever they had together.
“I need to go over my lines for tomorrow in my head. Do you mind if I zone out over here for a bit?”
She drew him out of his momentary spiral of emotion, distracting him from the guilt of his deceit. But the sweet heated feeling remained. It was in his bones now, becoming a constant. Because of her. He needed to put the brakes on. It was too fast—he was falling too fast.
He swallowed, grateful that she couldn’t read his thoughts. “Zone away.” The quiet might do him good as well, might help him get hold of his feelings.
Zone out turned into softly snores within ten minutes. Seth glanced at her curled up against the door, her face pressed against the passenger window. Even in an entirely unattractive position with a bead of drool resting at the corner of her mouth, she looked beautiful. Stunning, in fact. As it happened every time he looked at her, Seth was surprised at how struck with Heather he was. Completely and entirely struck.
There wasn’t any use trying to slow it down—he’d already fallen.
Which was why he had to come clean. Today. He’d tell her today, on the car ride. After she woke up.
But Heather slept the entire drive, not even waking when Seth pulled the truck into the campground he’d set up earlier that day. He couldn’t tell her now. That would ruin the whole afternoon. Later, then. He’d tell her before the date was over.