on the last few words. He had to go. He would go. That was that.
Nodding, she said, “I understand.”
She didn’t. But he wasn’t going to go there. If he did, she would know how much he cared, how much he craved her.
Clearing his throat, he mumbled, “I guess I’ll see you around.”
She eyed him, knowingly. “No you won’t.”
Deke frowned. How did she do that? She was like Adam. She knew him—too well. He didn’t like it when Adam anticipated his thoughts or actions. And he found he didn’t like it any better when Sarah did.
Thinking about lying, Deke ruled it out. “Probably not,” he admitted reluctantly. “I’ll be busy…with work. I’m sure you will be, too.”
“Yeah, I have plans,” she replied as she went to the sink and rinsed her hands off.
He wanted to ask her what kind. But it wasn’t his place. So instead, he stood there like an idiot.
With a sigh, she twisted the faucet off and the water ceased at once. “I guess…” She trailed off then looked at him. Moisture filled her eyes, the gray depths glimmering with pain. She blinked once then twice and three times after that before she continued on. “I guess this is good-bye.”
The finality of her statement made Deke’s stomach turn, regret churning in its pit. Bile rose in his throat, and he knew then that he couldn’t say good-bye to her. Not without one single kiss. Not without something to remember her by.
So even though he knew it was stupid and he realized it would hurt them both more than it would help, Deke stalked over to her and did the thing he’d been fantasizing about for longer than he would admit. He kissed her.
The moment his mouth touched hers, she opened her lips and let him inside. He didn’t need to be asked twice. He delved between the sweetest lips he’d ever tasted. She was all softness, unbelievably delicate. Her floral flavor intoxicated him. She tasted like the very essence of springtime in Kansas—the rain, the sunshine, and the blooming wildflowers—all rolled in one.
Her kiss sent him back in time to the May days they’d played together. Despite their twelve-year age difference, he had always made time for little Sarah. He’d chased and teased her. Then she’d paid him back by convincing him to play dolls or tea party or something equally disturbing. But he hadn’t minded—too badly—because they had time to talk.
Back then, he had found it amusing that a six-year-old girl touched his impenetrable heart when no one else could. The sweet things she did like saving a homemade cookie just for him or drawing him a picture for no reason at all had made him feel special and loved and cared for. Her kind words when bitterness overwhelmed him, her soft encouragements when doubt consumed him, and her innocent responses when he felt old beyond his years had reached inside his hardened soul and softened it, if only a little. She warmed him, the coldest parts of him. But now she wasn’t warming him. She was setting him ablaze.
His temperature spiked, the blood thundering through his veins boiling as he snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. Yearning to be even closer, he molded his body to hers, and she moaned.
Hearing her needy response, Deke deepened the kiss, his tongue searching her humid mouth, hunting for something unknown. By some miracle, he found whatever he craved, and his heart swelled in his chest. For a split second, he couldn’t breathe.
He’d never known a kiss like this one. Adam’s kiss was strong, his lips firm and his body solid. Their kisses were so intense that Deke often wondered how they survived the onslaught. But they also fought each other for dominance, neither of them willing to cave to the other. Not Sarah. She allowed Deke to take over the kiss, to take control. He commanded, and she yielded to him.
With a soft sigh, Sarah curved herself into his body then placed her tiny hands on his chest. He groaned, the feel of her gentle touch reaching
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