But the waves sure felt as if they were crashing over Emmy’s head right now.
Wait.
Waves. Surfboard. Surfer.
She knew one of the best life surfers ever. If anyone had a chance at helping her learn to balance the bad with the good, it was Cash.
She bolted from the window for her phone and texted him.
How do u feel abt teaching me 2 surf?
His answer chimed back. U realize it’s over 5 hrs 2 ocean, rt?
Emmy: Metaphorical surfing
Cash: Big word!
Emmy: R u off today?
Cash: From station. Just finishing lawn job
Emmy: Let’s meet when ur done
Cash: How abt I pick u up? 1 hr
Emmy: I’ll b ready
She tossed her phone aside and grabbed her sad little notebook of fun. What else did she have?
Ride the Ferris wheel at the county fair. That was out, since Haywood County wasn’t currently in fair season.
Go to Magic Kingdom. Not exactly an afternoon excursion.
Climb a water tower.
Go ice-skating.
Stomp grapes. Not even in Napa. Any-damn-where.
The water tower might be their best bet. But it was broad daylight. Could they be arrested for climbing it? That would be bad publicity for the tac team. Maybe she should call Maggie and ask permission—
Stop it. Would Cash Kingston ask his sister for permission to climb a water tower? No, he wouldn’t. So stop being a weenie and do it.
When Cash finally knocked on her door, Emmy had changed into slim gray joggers, a sports bra, and a fitted T-shirt. She opened the door and got a good look at the man she wanted to teach her how to live. Really live. With damp hair and the smell of body wash wafting from him, he was bright and shiny and so damn delicious that she wanted to take a big bite out of him.
In fact, her muscles tightened in a pounce response.
“Now you’re the one with the look,” he said.
“We have something to do right now.”
“What kind of something?”
“Fun,” she said cheerfully and locked her front door behind her. Moving in so close to Cash that her breasts brushed his chest, she said, “But fair warning… Later, I’m going to take all your clothes off and bite you. Do you have any problem with that?”
Cash’s entire body jerked. “Shit, Em. You can’t say things like that to a man and expect him to go out in public.”
Sure enough, Cash’s body was reacting to her words and the evidence was growing long and hard between them. She had plenty of plans for his body, and that part in particular, but right now, they had more pressing matters to address. She stepped back and said, “Projectile vomit.”
Mouth open, he stared at her. “Wh…what?”
“Sputum. Pus. Poop.”
“Did you take a knock to the head?”
“Every medical pro has something he or she can’t stand. I can handle anything but hemorrhoids.”
The confusion in his face cleared. “It’s yeast in skin folds for me.” He waved a hand in front of his now flat-front pants. “Good job.”
“Great.” She took his hand and pulled him into the hallway and down the stairs. “We can go have fun now.”
“Define fun.”
Enjoying the banter, she pushed a little sauciness into her grin. “Maybe I have a completely different Strategic Plan of Sexual Fun.”
“I want a copy of that list ASAP.”
Emmy laughed as they rushed outside into the sunshine. The sound coming from her throat caught her off guard because it was a real laugh, one full of happiness, even though she’d been angry an hour ago.
Pain and joy could coexist. But that didn’t mean she wanted to diminish her current joy by telling Cash she thought Oliver was behind the damn lawsuit.
Once they were in his truck, Cash said, “What’s the plan?”
“Today is Climb a Water Tower Day.”
“The one at the edge of town?” His eyebrows went up, but he pulled out of the parking spot and aimed the truck in the right direction. “Grif’s been bitching about it being an eyesore, but the city council apparently feels nostalgic about it.”
Water tower, here I come.
“You know it’s rusty and the paint is flaking, right? It’s a mess.”
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
But bolts on a damn Ferris wheel could come loose. And she could get pickpocketed at Disney World. Ice-skating could net her a concussion.
Everything fun had a risk component to it.
The risk of failure, of not doing “fun” well enough.
Was that a reason to scratch fun?
Hell. No.
She patted her bag. “I brought gloves, and I bet you have some in the truck. Unless that tower is already folded in half, we’re going up.”
“Damn, I like this Emmy McKay.”
That gave her a heart pang. “Does that mean you don’t like the other one? The step-by-step one?”
Cash groped for her hand and she let him take it. “They’re all the same Emmy. I know that, but sometimes you don’t.”
Cash believed she was already a surfer, which set off a warm glow inside her.
Within ten minutes, Cash pulled up to a chain link fence ringed with tall weeds inside and out. A big yellow sign said CAUTION. KEEP OUT! and the gate was threaded with a chain and secured with a keyed lock. He didn’t give it a second glance, just hopped out and opened the toolbox in the truck bed.
The muffled sound of a whippoorwill call came from outside, and she turned to see Cash with his lips puckered. He made the sound again.
“Why are you doing that?” she yelled to be heard through the window glass.
“It’s a little something Shep and I used to do to let one of us know when the other was around. Kind of a ‘it’s cool. I’m here and you’re okay’ thing.”
He was trying to reassure her, but this still felt strangely risky.
Emmy swallowed. What would her dad think about what she was about to do? Was this giving her best? Or was it a flagrant disregard for law and order? For warnings that were meant to protect people’s safety? For the rules with a capital R.
“Fuck the rules,” she said to herself.
“What was that?”
She shoved open the passenger side door and yelled, “Fuck the rules!”
Cash’s laughter was deep and traveled over the field, seeming to bounce off the water tower and roll back at them. “Someone put on her sassy pants today.”
“I want to break the rules.” She thrust her hands into her gloves and marched toward the fence, but Cash caught her by the end of her braid.
“Hold up, Miss Rule Breaker.”
“If you’re gonna try to talk me out of—”
He swung her around and kissed her. A soul-deep kiss involving lips, tongue, teeth. A dirty promises kiss. An I’m-going-to-do-you-so-good kiss.
The best kiss of Emmy’s life. So freaking amazing that she wrapped her arms around Cash’s neck and jumped. He caught her by the ass and smiled against her mouth.
The kiss stayed hot and heavy, but Cash swayed from side to side, dipping playfully so that Emmy had to hang on tight. She wanted to hang on to him. Today. Tomorrow. Maybe forever.
That set Emmy’s heart to pounding even harder than the amazing kiss. She was out of breath and possibly out of her mind when Cash finally lifted his lips from hers.
His eyes were dark as the most forbidden sin and made promises that sent a shiver up Emmy’s back. Then he grinned, a smile so charming and wicked that Emmy wanted to shove him back in the truck and jump him. “You can climb my water tower any day, Emmy McKay.”
She controlled herself and settled for giving Cash a smacking kiss on the lips. “I’ll add that to my other list as soon as we make it back to my place later.”
“Are you the kind of person who writes something on her list just so she can mark it off immediately?”
&n
bsp; “Absolutely.”
“I’m gonna help you fill up that sex notebook.” More gently this time, he kissed her, letting their lips part slowly. Then he gave her ass a friendly squeeze and swung her back to her feet. “But first, the water tower.”
After pulling on his gloves, he shifted a tray inside his toolbox and pulled out a pair of bolt cutters.
“This is illegal, isn’t it?”
“Chickening out, Em?”
“Think we could make the case that we saw something suspicious? Believed someone might be in danger inside the fence?”
He swung the bolt cutters onto his shoulder and strode toward the gate. “Maybe, but we won’t get caught.” With careful precision, he positioned the jaws on what looked like a weak spot in the chain. As he squeezed the handles, his arms flexed in a way that made Emmy a little hot.
She wanted to see his arms work like that when his body was above hers. They would coil and bunch. Just like the muscles in his butt would when he pushed inside—
Schlunk. The chain slid to the ground and Cash opened the gate with an ear-bleeding screech. “You ready?”
More ready than he probably realized.
“Let’s do this.” Emmy stepped through the gate and into the tall grass, thankful she’d opted for long pants. Chiggers weren’t normally out quite this early in the year, but she wasn’t willing to risk a billion red itchy spots all over her legs.
Chigger bites were the antithesis of sexy and fun.
She angled toward the ladder that would lead up to the catwalk ringing the water tower. Cash was right. The whole thing looked like a strong wind would take it out.
The four legs were a combination of baby blue painted spindles and rusted joints. The ladder steps were open-grated metal that groaned when she put her weight on them.
“Maybe I should go first,” Cash said.
“I’m lighter. And how stupid do I look? I want someone to catch me if I fall.”
“Then get to climbing.”
Emmy took the stairs slowly, less because she truly feared they were unstable and more because she wanted to savor the experience. Feel the bite of the metal through the soles of her shoes, the rasp of the handrail through her gloves, the bliss of the sun on her face.
Halfway up, she shivered with sudden awareness and it traveled through her torso and tightened her nipples. “You’re ogling my ass, aren’t you?”
“Would you be ogling mine if I was climbing above you?”
“You better believe it.”
“And there’s your answer.”
The rest of the way up, she put a little more sway into each step.
“You’re doing that on purpose.”
“What?”
“Making me want to bend you over, rip those sweatpants down, and fuck you right here.”
Shiver? No, this time, Emmy’s body reacted with a full-on quake. She blew out an unsteady breath. “I’m adding water tower sex to my list.”
“Sweetheart, this old tower wouldn’t withstand what I plan to do to you.”
When Emmy pulled herself up to the catwalk, her inner thighs were quivering, and it had nothing—nada—to do with the climb. “Today,” she said. “We’ve been dancing around this since I came back. When we leave here, we can go back to my place or yours. I don’t care which. I just want—”
Cash stepped up beside her and pulled her around so they were front to front. With his thumbs, he tilted up her face so she was looking into his. “I want, too. Anticipation isn’t a bad thing, though.”
“I think I’ve been anticipating this since the day I left town for college.”
Cash’s smile was both slightly sad and infinitely interested. “Come with me.”
He reached for her hand and edged around her, leading her to the other side of the catwalk. The landing beneath her feet was made of the same material as the stairs, and she could see all the way to the ground. Being so high above the earth gave her a thrill that ran up from her feet into her calves and thighs and landed in a sexual swell directly between her legs. “So this is why teenagers climb these things,” she said as she stripped off her gloves and slid them in her pocket.
“Because it’s forbidden?”
“No, because it turns them on.”
His hand tightened on hers. “Acrophilia, huh? You are a curiously complex woman.”
“It doesn’t affect you that way?”
He pulled her hand around his body and pressed it against a healthy hard-on. “The water tower doesn’t do this for me. It’s all you.”
“Maybe we should go and—”
“Nope,” he said. “Fun isn’t something you rush and check off. It’s something you soak up.”
He kissed her palm, then released her hand to grip the rail around the catwalk. With an effortless motion, he swung himself down and threaded his legs through the railing to sit on the landing. His chest was pressed against a piece of metal that looked as if it could give way any second. “It’s okay. I promise,” he told her. “Come sit beside me.”
Her scramble to plant her butt on the catwalk wasn’t quite as graceful as his, but when her legs were hanging over the edge into nothingness, she understood why Cash didn’t want to leave yet. From this vantage point, they were overlooking the town of Steele Ridge. The trees surrounding it were greening out with leaves, the flowers of the dogwood and tulip trees already blooming.
Cash pointed. “Mount Shiloh’s steeple.”
“I think I see the fire station, too.” It all looked so peaceful, so perfect. Like people dreamed small-town life could be.
Truth was, small town or big city, people had their problems. They all faced deepwater waves. But to surf them in a place this beautiful was a gift. How many people would give anything to live in the mountains? Breathe air rich with the scent of pine and peace.
“It’s easy to forget,” she said. “You grow up in a place like this and as a kid, you take it for granted. Even resent it sometimes.”
“Then you leave.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “You leave because you need something you can’t get here.” Crap, she hadn’t meant him. “That didn’t come out right—”
“You did need something you couldn’t get here, Em,” he said softly. “I didn’t understand that back then. I was arrogant to think we—that I—should be enough for you. The innocent stupidity of youth.” His easy smile made it clear he’d taken her comment as it was meant.
“But it’s only because I left that I can deeply appreciate all those things I took for granted.” Her heart full of love for her hometown, full of tender feeling for Cash, she took his hand. “Contrast and experience are critical if a person wants to grow. Even more important if she wants to appreciate what has always been in front of her.”
“This town, these mountains, are my heart. Because I felt that so strongly, I couldn’t see any reason to leave. I thought I saw something that you couldn’t. Or just wouldn’t.”
“But?”
“But then I went out to LA for a while. Did the UCLA paramedic program.”
“Wow.”
“Wow is right. It was an education.”
“Did you hate the city?”
“No, I loved every minute of it. The people, the pace, even the problems.” He looked over at her and Emmy could see the truth of his words. This was a man who had the ability to not only bloom but thrive anywhere he was planted. “But I missed home, and I made a commitment to this town.”
And Cash was the kind of man who kept his word. How many like him were left in this me-first world?
“So how do you feel about kids?” he asked suddenly, giving Emmy whiplash with the subject change.
“Um… Generally or specifically?”
Cash rested his forehead against the railing, rolling it right and left. “I’m an idiot. I don’t know what I’m doing. Talking about fucking one minute and kids the next.”
Emmy rolled her lips in, but didn’t succeed in suppressing her laughter. “Ther
e is some causality between the two.”
“I’ve been off balance since I found out you were engaged.” He lifted his head and a line of blue paint flakes across his forehead looked as if he’d been given a bad pin-striping job.
“I wasn’t ever actually engaged.”
“Still, I’m fumbling.”
And that very fact warmed Emmy’s heart more than almost anything else he could’ve admitted to her. “How many women have you fumbled with? If I remember correctly from your football days, you were an excellent ball handler.”
“Is this some kind of sex-sports metaphor?”
“How many women have tilted you off your axis? Because rumor in this town doesn’t just flow one way. I haven’t had to ask a single question to find out that Cash Kingston might take a woman out, might show her a good time in the bars and in the bed. But…”
“But he doesn’t take any of them home to Mama. Damn you, Emmy McKay, because none of them were you.”
15
Well, if he was worried about tipping his hand too early, he could put that aside. Apparently he was incapable of playing it cool and easy with this woman. He couldn’t have made it clearer that he’d been killing time when it came to romantic relationships over the past decade.
Made even more asinine by the fact that he hadn’t believed Emmy was ever coming back to North Carolina, much less to him. He was known as the good-time guy around town. He’d been willing to stay in the shallows rather than go deep with someone who wasn’t Emmy.
“Cash, I’m not sure—”
“We didn’t come up here to do this,” he cut in, because damned if he wanted to hear what might come out of her mouth. Yes, she’d made it clear that the attraction went both ways. That hadn’t died over the years. If anything, it had become more potent, more powerful. “Climbing the water tower is about having an experience. Something that’s worthy of checking off your list.”
Her mouth lifted on one side. “I thought you said the tower couldn’t handle that kind of experience.”
“I want you to close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Stop being suspicious and just close your eyes.”
She did, and he used the reprieve to mentally untangle the knot tied in his gut. “Now straighten your back a little. Head over heart. Heart over pelvis.”
Tasting Fire Page 14
