Somebody's Lover by Jasmine Haynes Page B

was in high school. In recent times, the pond had
taken a backseat to the video game craze and the call of the mall.
    Kids these days didn’t know what
they were missing.
    At eight-thirty, she hadn’t
arrived.
    He started to sweat at eight-forty.
    At eight-forty-five, fifteen
minutes late, she pulled in beside him. She didn’t get out right away. Instead,
in the last of the twilight, she simply looked through her window at him. His
heart jumped to his throat. She’d changed her mind. But at least she was here.
He could change it back for her. All he needed to do was put his hands on her.
    He grabbed the blanket and the wine
off the seat beside him and climbed out. She hadn’t opened her door when he got
to her. Reaching past her through the window, he took her keys out of the
ignition and threw them on the passenger seat next to her purse.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Making up your mind for you. Get
out.”
    “I wasn’t going to—”
    “Yes, you were. You were going to
tell me you couldn’t go through with it.” He died a little inside thinking
about it. If she said it, he’d go crazy.
    Her dress rose up her thighs as she
slid out. Barely more than a flowery slip with little straps holding it
together and a row of buttons down the front, he wanted to rip it off and bury
himself inside her right on the front seat of her minivan.
    He shook with how badly he needed
her.
    Taylor put her hand to his cheek, a
sweet scent rising up from her hair to captivate him. “I’m sorry I was late.
The kids were making a fuss. But I’m not leaving, Jace. I want you.”
    He held her palm to his lips and
closed his eyes. You’re losing it, man. Christ, he’d lost it over her a
long time ago. He just hadn’t known how badly.
    “We have tonight. But then it’s
over.”
    It was on the tip of his tongue to
say it didn’t have to end. But he’d promised he wouldn’t ask for anything. He
prayed she’d do the asking for him. Fear that she was stronger than him cleaved
his heart in two. “I know.”
    “You brought me wine.” She took the
bottle from his hand.
    If tonight was all he’d get, he’d
take it. “I forgot the glasses.”
    “It doesn’t matter. I haven’t drunk
wine from the bottle in...” She laughed, a light sound that burrowed beneath
his ribs. “Well, I guess I never have. It’ll be a first.”
    He needed to give her a lot of
firsts. The first time she came under the moonlight with him. The first time
she’d had a man buried to the hilt in three years. With her hand in his, he led
her down to the water. Later in the year, the mosquitoes would be out. For now
though, the night was warm, the lap of the water at the reeds gentle.
    Slipping the blanket from beneath
his arm, she spread it out on the grass, then sat.
    “You look pretty in that dress.”
    “You look nice in black.”
    She said it so shyly, his heart
flipped over. Pulling the bottle opener from his back pocket, he came down
beside her, then worked the cork. “Ladies first.”
    She drank, a sip. “Mmm, that’s
good. Nice and sweet.”
    He felt like a teenager, wanting to
make everything perfect. “I remembered you liked it sweet.”
    Her lips glistened with wine. He
swallowed, then leaned in to touch those luscious lips with his. Her flavor and
the drink’s sweetness burst in his mouth. He pulled away before he dragged her
down and had her right then. They didn’t have a lot of time, but he wouldn’t
rush this.
    Stretching out beside her, he
propped his head on his hand, holding the bottle loosely in front of him. “How
was your week?”
    She smiled. Her eyes sparkled in
the first light of the rising moon. “It was good, Jace. How was yours?”
    “Fine.” Better than any he’d ever
known. He touched her, she’d touched him. That was everything he’d ever wanted.
“Are the kids looking forward to summer?”
    “Yes. Brian’s going to camp at the
end of July for a week. And Jamey’s doing junior camp at the same