She leaned her head back. “You’re right, I suppose. But when are you going to kiss me?”
Dameon chuckled. “Is that why you picked me up? Were you hoping we could drive to someplace remote and steal a kiss?”
“A girl can hope.”
“So can a guy.” He slipped the car into gear. Considering it had hit a tree, it still ran fairly well. He had pulled out the right front fender to allow the front wheel to move properly. A mechanic said a new radiator was needed for the trip back to New Jersey, but for simple driving around town, it should be fine, providing they remembered to put water and fluid into it.
“You have perfect lips, by the way. A man couldn’t resist kissing them for long.”
“You’re a tease. I should have let you walk home in this cold.”
Dameon smiled. “You’ll know better next time.”
Steam poured out of the front hood. Dameon pulled over. “Jamie, did you check the radiator before you left?”
“No, Father said it should be all right.”
Dameon turned off the engine. “How long did you have it running, waiting for me?”
“An hour.”
“That would be the problem.”
“What?”
“You can’t leave it running, sweetheart. Not until the radiator’s replaced.”
“Oh, will it still work? Around town, I mean.”
“Should be fine, once we get some water into it.” Dameon opened the driver’s door, then proceeded to open the hood of the car. A huge billow of steam flew upward. Using the cuff of his wool coat, he opened the cap to the radiator, then threw some snow on it. It hissed and creaked, rebelling against the sudden cold.
“What do we do now?” Jamie asked, standing beside him.
Feeling a touch of mischief, he wadded up a ball of snow and flung it at her. For the next few minutes, a roaring snowball fight ensued. She ran and ducked and avoided as many of his snowballs as possible, all the while making her own ammunition on the run. One thing was certain: she’d done this a time or two.
Dameon took aim and fired off another shot.
She wiggled her hip to the right and avoided the missile. “Miss me, miss me, now ya gotta kiss me.” She stuck out her tongue.
He charged at her and roared.
She squealed and ran away.
Step by step, he gained ground on her and tackled her into the snow. They fell into a snowbank, laughing.
The laughter stopped as he noticed her beautiful brown eyes on a sea of lovely porcelain skin. With the touch of his finger, he brushed away the hair from her eyes. “May I?”
She nodded her agreement.
He eased down his lips to meet hers. Heaven, honey, and fire coursed through his veins. The kiss was sweet but ignited into passion. A deeper kiss developed. Not wanting to break the connection, he pulled away, nevertheless. “Oh, Jamie, you’re so beautiful.”
Jamie lay in the snow, not wanting to move. Dameon’s kisses were sweet as honey. And for the first time in her life, she felt so at peace. She now understood her parents craving time alone with one another. She wanted the same with Dameon.
A desire to be closer to him burned within her. Rather than respond to it, she gathered a small handful of snow and rubbed it on his exposed neck.
“Oh, yeah.” Dameon grabbed an even larger handful of snow and rubbed it on her neck.
Jamie laughed, then cried, “Stop, please stop.”
He stopped and leaned over her. “You’re beautiful, sweetheart.”
She loved hearing him tell her how beautiful she was. “Why do you call me sweetheart?” she asked.
“Because you have a sweet heart. You openly care for others. It’s how I’ve seen you from the moment we met.”
She liked that. “Hmm, so what should I call you?”
“Dameon is fine.” He got up and offered her a hand to help her up.
She took the proffered hand. “Thank you. But I definitely need to come up with a nickname for you.”
“I’m certain it will come to you.”
She let her mind ramble for a few moments. Dameon, Dame—nope, that wouldn’t do. Farmer, grower—no, he’s a milk farmer. Let’s see, cows, milk, cheese—cheese wouldn’t work. Hmm, he came to speed skate. Of course, I never saw him skate.
He was leaning over the engine. He was a handy fellow to have around. Handy Andy. Nah, that wouldn’t do.
It should be a name of love, from one lover to another. His kisses were sweet as honey. Then again, honey was used all the time with couples. On the other hand, lover was far too personal and would definitely upset her father.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, wiping his hands off.
“Your nickname or, rather, love name. Your kiss was sweet as honey, but so many people use honey.”
“Hmm, I thought your kiss was sweet as honey, too.” He wiggled his eyebrows again. “Want to see if they are still sweet?”
“You’re going to be hard to stop.”
“Why would you want to stop?” He nestled up beside her.
“Because you gave your word,” she whispered.
He stepped back. “You’re right. I’ll be more careful.”
“Balance, honey. We just need balance.”
He smiled.
“What?”
“You used it.”
Jamie laughed. “I guess it just fits.”
“Yeah, I guess it does. Come on. I think we can get to your house with the little bit of snow that’s melted into the radiator. Besides, your father will be waiting with a shotgun if we take much longer.”
“He didn’t know where I was going.”
“Don’t be too sure of that. He knows.”
Jamie slid back into the front seat and over to the passenger side. “You’re probably right.”
“Not a doubt in my mind.” Dameon started up the car. It bucked but made it the mile down the road.
“Good night, sweetheart. I think it’s best that you go straight to bed. We’ll talk in the morning over breakfast,” he suggested.
“Do you know how early you get up each morning?” she asked.
“A little before five. Why?”
“I’m not a morning person.”
“Ah, that would be a problem living on a farm.”
“Don’t remind me.” She sighed. “Good night, Dameon.” She yawned. “I’ll try and see you in the morning.”
He waved her off and went about taking care of the engine, while Jamie went inside and warmed up.
“Mom. Dad. You’re up?”
“Of course, dear. What took you so long?” her mother asked, holding her father’s hand.
Dameon had warned her. She should have expected them to be waiting for her. “I left the car running while I waited for Dameon to come out of the club. On the way home, the engine overheated. He’s putting in some water now. We had to wait for the engine to cool down before coming home.”
“I’ll go check on the car, Sophia.” Her father got up and went outside.
Her mother patted the sofa for Jamie to sit beside her. With her loving touch, she pushed back Jamie’s bangs. “Do you love him?”
“How bad is the damage?”
Startled, Dameon banged his head on the hood of the car. “I think it will be all right. But I’d order that new radiator immediately.” He wiped his hands on a cloth.
Henri Preston gave a stiff nod in response. Perhaps he didn’t like being told what to do. It surely couldn’t be the cost, could it?
“I’m glad you were there when the car overheated.”
“I’ve worked on machinery most of my life. Running a farm takes a variety of equipment, and keeping them working seems to be a large part of the job. Especially since the Depression hit.”
“It hasn’t been easy on many.” Henri turned and looked back at the house.
“Begging your pardon, sir, but why didn’t you move into one of the houses closer to the country club? Why so far out of town?”
“Sophia an
d I enjoy our privacy, but economics played a factor, too.”
“Ah. If there’s a junkyard around here, we might be able to find a radiator that would work just fine at little cost.”
“Really?” The excitement in Mr. Preston’s voice was hard to ignore. Money was tighter than Dameon realized for this family. Or perhaps Mr. Preston had been keeping that information from his family. Jamie had never given any indication of a problem.
“Yes, sir. I told Jamie I would cut down my hours so we could spend a little time with one another. I’d be happy to look around and see what I can find.”
“I’d appreciate that, Dameon.”
“You’re welcome, sir.”
Dameon closed the hood.
“I’m afraid I know little about mechanical things.”
“It would be my pleasure. It’s the least I can do for your family giving me a warm bed to sleep in each night.”
“Speaking about that, do I need to remind you about your word?”
“No, sir. I’m remembering. But with all due respect, I like your daughter.”
A smile edged the side of Henri Preston’s mouth. “I may have overreacted some last night.”
“Truthfully, I’d probably have done the same thing,” Dameon confessed. “If I were in your shoes.”
“It’s quite different when you’re the one courting than when you’re the parent of the one being courted.”
Dameon let out a nervous chuckle. “I can only imagine. I spoke to God on the matter this very morning and suggested I should only have sons.”
Mr. Preston roared and slapped him on the back. “Ah, but parents want their children to experience everything they experienced while raising them.”
“You’re positively cruel.”
“Parents’ revenge, son. Parents’ revenge.”
Dameon groaned. Perhaps children were something he should avoid having at all costs. Jamie’s sweet face came into his mind. Then again, children were a blessing from the Lord.
The next morning Dameon worked out a new schedule with Mr. Daschel, then tracked down a used radiator for the Prestons’ car. Working with the few tools he could scrounge up around the barn, Dameon went to work removing the old radiator.
“Good morning, Dameon.” Henri Preston’s voice seemed almost cheery.
“Good morning, sir. I found a radiator and managed to get the man down to three dollars.”
“Wonderful.” Henri Preston reached for his wallet. “I’m sorry; I only have two dollars on me. I’ll go back into the house and get the other dollar from Sophia.”
“There’s no rush. I trust you for it.” Dameon winked.
Henri’s shoulders slumped slightly. Just how bad is their financial situation?
With any luck, Dameon would have most of the money needed for the balloon payment, but he’d have to be very careful in his expenses to make it back home, and he’d still depend on the kindness of strangers.
Ten minutes later, Jamie returned with the dollar. “Daddy said to give you this. How’s it coming?”
“Slowly. Wanna help?”
“Doing that?” She pointed to the open hood of the car. “You can’t be serious.” She narrowed her gaze onto him. “Are you?”
“Yup.” He dropped the wrench into her hand. “Come here and hold the wrench like this.”
“It’s heavy,” she complained.
“Needs to be to do its job. Here, hold it like this.” Dameon leaned over her and helped her place her hand on the wrench in the optimum spot for leverage. “Okay, you hold this as tight as you can while I use this wrench to try and free this nut from the bolt.”
“All right.”
Dameon worked his way under the car and tugged on the stubborn nut. Jamie lost her grip on the wrench and dropped it. Thankfully, Dameon saw it coming in enough time to shift his head to the side.
“Sorry. It moved.”
Dameon chuckled. “Yeah, that’s why I need you to hold it real tight.”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
“Give it all your strength. You nearly beaned me with that wrench.”
“I’m so sorry. Are you all right?”
“Fine, fine. I saw it coming and moved. Ready to try again?”
She nodded. He positioned her once again and caught a glimpse of her biting the tip of her tongue, trying to hold the wrench in place. Lord, she’s adorable.
An hour later, they both cleaned the grease off themselves. “That was fun,” she quipped.
“You’re a fast learner.”
“Thanks. But don’t spread it around. Wouldn’t want it known that I’m a grease animal.”
“Monkey,” he corrected.
“Monkey, right. You work well with your hands.”
Dameon fought off his first response to be angry with her for the remark, knowing that she wasn’t being intentionally insulting. “Thanks.”
They leaned against the kitchen counter. “I don’t want to go to work today, but I need to. I’m sorry we didn’t get to have time to go to the games.”
“There are a few more days of games.” She looked down at her feet, then back up at him. “I enjoyed working with you.”
Dameon tried to still the thumping of his heart. He loved this woman more deeply than he loved anyone else, but it wasn’t logical. They came from different worlds and would never see one another again.
She took a tentative step forward and reached for his hand. The softness of her hand in his erupted a protective desire in him to wrap her in his safekeeping from now to eternity. He led her into his embrace. “Oh, sweetheart. I enjoyed working with you, too.” He flicked her long bangs away from her eyes. “You know you have the most gorgeous eyes? A man could get lost in them.”
She blinked and tried to look away.
“Please tell me why it’s so hard for you to accept a compliment about your beauty.”
She wrenched from his embrace and walked across the kitchen, not turning around to look at him. “You’ve seen my mother. How can I compare to her?” Jamie turned and faced him with tears in her eyes.
Instantly, he had her back in his arms. “You silly girl, you. You’re gorgeous. I’ve never known anyone to be as beautiful as you. Your mother is a fine-looking woman, but you are more beautiful. The contrast of your dark hair against your lighter skin tone, the deep chocolate color of your eyes that sparkle with flecks of gold … How can you possibly believe you are not her equal?”
“Do you really, really see me that way?” she pleaded.
“Oh, my sweet sweetheart. Yes, most undeniably, yes. A man—this man—could get lost in your beauty. But it goes beyond your looks. It’s your heart, my love. Your sweet heart.”
“But—”
He planted a kiss upon her lips to squelch the argument. She had to know she was beautiful. If nothing else could happen from their relationship, she had to know she was truly beautiful, inside and out.
The kiss deepened. His heart pounded. He needed to remain in control. Breaking off the kiss, he quelled the passion. He hoped.
Jamie found it impossible to sit still the rest of the day. Dameon was working. She had no interest in attending the games. The Olympic Games had lost their thrill when compared to her growing love and attraction to Dameon. She didn’t want to watch unless he was beside her. They seemed more powerful, more engaging with him there.
She’d admitted to her mother her growing affection for Dameon, and her mother cautioned her about allowing herself to feel too much for a man she had just met. To be wise, one must spend time with the Lord and seek His guidance. But how could she pray when all she could think about was being in the man’s arms, listening to his words, absorbing his kisses?
Her stomach churned at the memory of their last kiss. Thankfully, her father had not been in the house. He certainly would have sent Dameon packing for that kiss. It hadn’t been that he’d done anything inappropriate; in fact, he’d pulled away before their passions overtook them, but …
Ah, that�
��s why she needed to spend more time with the Lord. Her passions were out of control. She was running away with her desires and not thinking with her head. Taking the steps two at a time, she ran up to her room and pulled out her Bible.
She opened to the last place she had stopped reading the night before during her prayer time. “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” she read from 1 Thessalonians 2:19. Would Jesus be glorified by the thoughts and desires she had for Dameon this afternoon?
Admittedly, He wouldn’t. Her heart sank. She loved Dameon; that was beyond question now. But how could she love a man and still honor God without lapsing into the physical aspects of a relationship?
“Lord, I don’t know how to balance my new feelings for Dameon and live an honorable life. My hope is to not dishonor You. My desires for Dameon have been less than honorable,” she admitted. “He loves me, Lord. I’m sure of it. But we come from different worlds. He could not live in mine, as I’m fairly sure I couldn’t live in his. What are we going to do?”
Jamie fell on her bed and cried. The only thought she had come up with was to end the relationship now before they crossed the line and broke one another’s hearts.
She was a racer who had won one race, but the crown, the glory of the race, came at the cost of losing her heart. It wasn’t fair. Life wasn’t fair.
Jamie wiped the tears from her face and marched the long trek to the country club to break the news to Dameon. They had no choice. They had to end their relationship before it was too late.
Chapter 7
You decided this all on your own?” Dameon demanded. How could a few hours change his life so drastically? Earlier, he’d been contemplating marriage with Jamie; now she was breaking up a relationship that had hardly gotten off the ground.
“Dameon, I’m sorry. I don’t want this, either, but I was reading and praying, and I believe it’s what we have to do.”
“Why?” He balled the dishcloth in his hands.
“Because our relationship can’t be honoring God. We’re two very different people.”
That was it: their social class. Hadn’t he been arguing with himself over the same issues? Hadn’t he himself overlooked the problem and decided to move forward and get to know Jamie better? “I see.”
The Timeless Love Romance Collection Page 38
