When We Kiss

by Louise, Tia

  That makes him laugh. “I’m a man of the law. Would I lie to you?”

  “Yes.” I answer so fast, he laughs louder. It makes my stomach all tight and tingly. “It’s a game of honor. There are no rules for lying.”

  “I’m not lying.” A laugh, soft and low rolls from his throat, and my insides are all warm and fizzy.

  “It’s your turn.”

  His eyes travel around the room. “Let me see…”

  “The object is to get to know the other person better.”

  “I understand.” He gives me a glance like he wants to get to know me better naked. It’s hot. “Never have I ever… Hmm… watched a porno on a date.”

  He takes a drink, and my eyebrows shoot up. I sit motionless, like a dummy, not drinking. “You’ve watched porn on a date? Isn’t that illegal or something?”

  “It’s not going to work if you doubt everything I say.”

  Taking a deep breath, I shake my head. Just when you think you have somebody figured out… Chad Tucker is not such a square after all. I slide my fingers down the cool bottle.

  “You haven’t?” The disbelief in his voice makes me self-conscious. I shrug, and he murmurs. “I’d like to get that cherry.”

  I have to clear the lust from my throat. “Never have I ever…” My eyes circle the room. “Had phone sex.”

  I sit back and take a drink. Chad only looks at me, but this time the smirk on his face is hot. “Maybe you can get that cherry.”

  “You are not serious right now. You’ve watched porn on a date, but you’ve never had phone sex?”

  “I didn’t have access to cell phones for a while.”

  “Where was that? Tibet?”

  “On a destroyer in the Indian Ocean.”

  Leaning my head on my hand, I feel buzzy thinking of him in uniform out there defending our country. “Were you lonely?”

  He crosses both arms in front of him, leaning forward. His biceps are so round and bulgey. A vein runs down the center of one…

  “A little. I was pretty messed up myself.”

  “Why?” It’s the same simple question he put to me earlier. In my defense, all his sexy has pretty much depleted my brain’s store of clever comebacks.

  “My sister had just died… Or committed suicide.” He looks down then takes another long drink. “They never knew for sure.”

  Sadness fills my heart, and I slip off the stool, going around to hug him. “I’m so sorry.”

  He leans down, engulfing me in a warm, strong embrace. I’m surrounded by that clean, manly scent I’m starting to crave. My cheek is against his chest, and I can hear his heart beating solid and strong.

  “I thought she was the coolest person in the world.” His voice is quiet, tender. “Her nickname was Cherry… She was a wild child.” A sad smile curls his lips, but this time there’s no dimple. “Five years older than me. She knew everything I didn’t.”

  I step back so I can meet his eyes. “I can’t even imagine.”

  “I went straight into the academy after it happened, then I left for active duty. When I got out, Robbie Cole offered me this job. He’d been friends with my dad since way back.” He exhales deeply. “I figured it was time to stop running away. Time to be still and make peace with it.”

  “It sounds like you had to live your life.”

  He nods. “Life keeps going. No doubt about it.”

  “Her name was Cherry?”

  “Short for Charity.”

  “Charity.” I say it softly, imagining a girl who looked like Chad. A bad girl who might or might not have committed suicide.

  Without thinking, I step forward again, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him close. His face dips lower, beard brushing my temple, and I lift my chin.

  Our mouths touch, open. It’s a small kiss at first, a brush of lips, a nip, a pull. All at once, it’s too much to resist, and with a groan, he lifts me off my feet.

  My arms go around his neck and my legs around his waist. He pushes my mouth open, and our tongues curl and stroke. Heat blazes between us as I devour his luscious mouth. He keeps time with me, large hands sliding up my thighs, gripping my ass.

  I grind against him, feeling the hardness of him at my core, only thin scraps of cotton separate us.

  My mouth breaks away with a moan, and I look up at the wood ceiling. “Oh, God,” I gasp as his lips trace a line down my neck, his beard scratching my skin. My heart’s beating wildly, and I want this so bad.

  He sits my ass on the bar again then reaches up to my breast. My nipples are tight, tingling, and he slides his palm over them, squeezing and kneading. I can’t stop making little noises. My whole body is hot, wet, and when he goes in for another kiss, I hold his cheek, ready to rip off his clothes, my clothes…

  What am I doing? The thought rises unwelcome in my head. Pulling back, I know I have to grab the reins on this. We’re going too far, too fast.

  Chad doesn’t hesitate. He leans forward, kissing me again, and I whimper as I kiss him back. I’m still in his arms, and this moment of clarity won’t last long.

  “Wait…” My palms flatten against his chest, and I move away this time. “I can’t do this.”

  His brow furrows, and ahh, holy shit, he’s so handsome. “I have condoms.”

  “I bet you do.” Magnums, from the feel of it.

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “We’ve had too much to drink. I can’t… I—” I can’t do this with you…

  Chad is a good guy. He’s the type of guy who wants a family and a home right here in this small town. He wants peace and quiet. I hate peace and quiet. I’m not a good girl—just ask any of the old biddies in town. I’m a Jezebel. Maybe I’ll have a family one day, but it’ll be later, after I see the world…

  Oh, God, all my excuses sound so lame with this gorgeous man standing here, burning with lust for me, that massive snake straining in his sweatpants.

  “Right. You’re right. We should… slow it down.” Chad steps back, scrubbing a hand behind his neck. It drops quickly, covering the anaconda in his pants, shoving it down. Poor anaconda. “I need a few minutes before I can drive you home. What is it? One hour per drink?”

  Both our eyes go to the tequila and empty beer bottles on the bar.

  “It’s okay.” I pull out my phone and slide down to my feet. “I’ll call an Uber.”

  “No, I should drive you. Or at least let me pay…”

  I turn my phone face to him. “Already done.”

  I know myself. I have to act fast, rip off the Band-Aid, or I won’t leave at all. Now my only question is why the hell did my brain pick tonight to do the right thing?

  “I still can’t believe they have Uber in this town,” Chad mutters.

  “It’s because of the strip.” Looking down at my phone, I feel guilty. “Listen, I didn’t mean to—” The device dings. “Shit, it’s already here.”

  I pick up the plastic bag holding my clothes and start for the door. My shoes are down on the landing.

  “Wait…” Chad puts a hand on my forearm. It’s warm and inviting, and I hesitate, looking up into his whiskey eyes. “I had a great time tonight.”

  I step forward and give him the quickest peck on the cheek. “Me too.”

  Then I run down the stairs, snatching my ruined shoes off the step as I dash into the night before I can second-guess myself.

  Nine

  Tabby

  The universe hates me.

  The second I jump into the Uber, I nearly jump right back out again.

  “Tabby?” None other than Jimmy Rhodes is behind the wheel. “You’re World Sites, LLC?”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Earning money. What are you doing at Deputy Tucker’s place? Drunk?”

  “I am not drunk.” Seeing him is a total buzz-kill, and I slump back against the seat crossing my arms. “Are you even old enough to drive for Uber?”

  “I told you I’m eighteen now.” He’s driving too s
low down the short road through town. He doesn’t turn at the stop sign like he should, and I sit up quick.

  “You’re taking the long way.”

  “I’m following my Uber directions. It’s how I get paid.” He’s silent, but it doesn’t last long. “Really, Tab? Chad Tucker? He is not the guy for you. You’re too different.”

  Tell me about it. “I expect you think you’re the guy for me?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Snap out of it, Jimmy. I’m never going out with you.”

  His shoulders slump and all the cockiness is gone. Now I feel doubly bad.

  A quiet growl ripples through my throat. “Look, I’m sorry, Jimmy. You’re just too young for me.”

  “One of these days you’re going to see what you let slip away. I hope it’s not too late.”

  Leaning forward, I look out the window. We’re finally approaching my house, and my hand is on the door handle. “We’ll see.” I’m out before the car even comes to a complete stop. “Thanks for the lift.”

  Ditching my shoes and the plastic bag at the door, I head straight for the shower. I carefully place Chad’s tee and boxers on my bed. As soon as I finish getting the paint off me, I’m back in his clothes, surrounded by luscious Chad-scent. Why, brain? Why tonight?

  I know the answer. Chad is sexy and strong and good. Very, very good. Straight As, captain of the football team, military, future sheriff, future dad… porn on dates? Talk about a wild card. He’ll make some lucky girl a great husband one day. In the meantime, I’ve got to keep my eyes on my dream.

  For now, I snuggle down in the sheets, burying my nose in the neck of Chad’s tee.

  * * *

  “Hellooo?” Emberly’s voice rings through my cottage, pulling me from a deep sleep. “Anybody alive in here?”

  “Aunt Tabby!” Coco’s little voice joins my bestie’s, and I sit up fast.

  Then I clutch my head and sink into my pillows again. “Oh, shit.”

  “Hey!” Two bodies bound onto my bed, climbing to the top to lay beside me. Emberly pulls the blanket off my face. “How’d the date go? Uh, oh.”

  “What’s wrong?” Coco’s little body struggles to sit up beside me.

  “Aunt Tabby looks a little green around the gills.”

  “I am not.” I grumble—softly so as not to shatter my skull.

  “You need to wake up now, Aunt Tabby. Mama says if you sleep all day it messes up your arcadian rhythms.”

  My eyes squint through the blasting sunlight. “My what?”

  “Circadian!” Emberly laughs and reaches across me to muss her daughter’s hair. “Your circadian rhythms.”

  “What’s Circadian, Mama?”

  “It’s your body clock.”

  Coco starts to laugh, bouncing on the bed. “I’m not a clock!”

  Pulling the blanket over my head, I struggle to crawl lower. “Five more minutes!”

  Emberly catches me. “What do you need? Ibuprofen? Emergen-C? Hair of the dog?”

  “Mama!” Coco cries again, rooting around beside me like a little piglet. “Aunt Tabby doesn’t want dog hair!”

  I poke my head out of the blanket considering it. “We drank tequila. I don’t have any tequila.”

  “Ooo…” Emberly nudges me in the side with her elbow. “A tequila night. Sounds naughty.”

  Coco stops worming around and gets still. Emberly and I are lying head to head on my pillow facing the ceiling. I think we’re going to have a moment of calm when my goddaughter’s thoughtful voice breaks the silence.

  “Mama says tequila makes you pregnant,” she announces.

  Our heads snap to facing each other, eyes bugging out. Then we both explode with laughter, and I roll over, catching Coco around the waist and moving her between us. She squeals with delight and wiggles all around as Emberly tickles her.

  “That’s right,” my friend says. “You never, ever drink tequila unless you’re with the man you’re going to marry.”

  Dark brown eyes widen at me. “Were you with the man you’re going to marry, Aunt Tabby?”

  “No!” I answer fast, cutting off Emberly’s snorts of laughter. “I was with Mr. Chad, and he made this… modified tequila sunrise. We weren’t doing shots or anything”

  Coco’s brown eyes go wider. “Like with his gun?”

  “Yes, Tabby,” Emberly joins her being bad. “Did Chad shoot his gun?”

  “Okay, that’s enough.” Scooting to the side of the bed, I leave them both rolling around laughing as I stomp into the kitchen and pull out a packet of ginger tea.

  “What the heck happened here?” Emberly’s with me as I fill the kettle, leaning down to study what’s slowly turning into a bruise on my thigh.

  “Oh, that.” I switch on the gas and wait for it to ignite. “I guess Chad did shoot a gun last night.” She straightens, studying my face. “A paintball gun.”

  “Did he take you to that place Jimmy’s always going on about? The way he talks, you’d think it was some kind of magical kingdom.”

  “Like Disney World?” Coco is up on a stool at the bar, and I reach in the cabinet to get her an Oreo Pop Tart.

  “It was pretty elaborate. I’d never seen any of those people before in my life. How is that possible?”

  “They were probably all from Fireside and elsewhere. I can’t imagine too many of the senior citizens in Oceanside playing paint ball.”

  Shrugging, I put the Pop Tarts up and take down a box of ginger snaps for me. “It was actually a lot of fun.”

  “So you had a fun date with Chad?” Emberly crosses her arms, nodding like she won a bet or something.

  “Saying I told you so is so unattractive.” I crunch into a ginger snap then grab a washcloth to wipe the dark brown crumbs off Coco’s face.

  She hops off the stool and runs across to my small living room, where a flat screen is hung above a real wood fireplace.

  “I’ve been telling you so for a year.”

  Coco puts the TV on some kid show about a cat and a fish in school, and Emberly leans close over the bar so we can talk in private. “Did you sleep with him?”

  “No.”

  She frowns, pulling back. “You didn’t?”

  My nose wrinkles, and I bite into another ginger snap. “I don’t like how that makes me sound slutty.”

  “I’ve never called you that a day in your life.” She drops back onto the bar stool like she knows something. “So you didn’t sleep with him… Interesting.”

  “What’s so interesting about that?”

  “You’ll run out the door to hop on the back of Travis’s bike—”

  “That was different. Did you see Travis? He was like… Jax Teller with black hair.”

  Her lips twist, eyes cast to the side. “It’s true. He did have that Sons of Anarchy sex appeal.”

  “He was a lying, cheating, sack of shit is what he was.” Inwardly, I cringe. “I can’t believe I trusted him for so long. I can’t believe I thought he was the one.”

  “You never told me that.” My friend’s voice goes soft, gentle. It makes me uncomfortable.

  “He was not the one.” I snap a gingersnap hard between my fingers. “I blame all the old ladies in this town constantly going on about missing your chance and shit. Bullshit.”

  Maybe I do need some hair of the dog.

  “If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.” Emberly nods, then her eyes narrow. “I bet if we saw Travis Walker now, he wouldn’t look like Charlie Hunnam at all.”

  “He’d look like the south end of a northbound mule. One that can keep heading north.”

  Emberly starts to laugh. Then we both laugh, holding each other’s hands until we’re out of that dark place.

  “Oh…” Emberly wipes her eyes, exhaling a sigh. “I think you’re onto something with the hot cop. Chad’s like… some kind of sexy, muscle-bound, all-American action hero. He’s like Thor with brown hair… Why are all of my favorite actors blond?”

  I arch an eyebrow at her. “Sounds lik
e you should be dating him.”

  Her chin drops, and she reaches for a ginger snap. “You know that’s not my type.”

  “Yeah.” I feel bad for saying it. I know Emberly’s type. Jackson Cane, the one guy she’s always loved, who left for college and never came back. I heard he’s some hotshot lawyer in the city now. Asshole. “Sorry, Em.”

  “Forget about that.” She blinks a few times, then smiles up at me. “You, on the other hand… You’re different somehow. I think this good guy might be good for you.”

  “That’s too many goods for my taste.”

  She pats the watch on her wrist. “Gotta go. Are you sure you’re okay with keeping her tonight? If you’re not feeling up to it—”

  We’re crossing the living room, headed for the door. “Of course I’m up to it. We’re going to have fun tonight, aren’t we Coo-coo?”

  “Oh…” The little girl nods her head knowingly. “That’s how I’m a clock. Because you call me Coo-coo.”

  Emberly stops to kiss the top of her daughter’s head. “I won’t be late in the morning. You be sweet and mind Aunt Tabby.” She comes to me next and gives me a hug. “Not too much sugar.”

  Coco starts to whine, but I’m right there with the save. “Would I do that?” My voice goes high, and when I hug my friend, I give Coco a wink over her shoulder.

  The little girl laughs, and her mother only shakes her head. “I felt that. Y’all have fun. Thanks for letting me borrow the car.”

  “No problem. You left me your bike?”

  “I parked it right around the corner. Remember to put the chain on.”

  “You drive safe. You don’t have much practice.”

  My best friend prefers riding her bicycle all over the county. I don’t blame her, except I don’t wear the right shoes for biking.

  “I’m an excellent driver!” Emberly cries.

  “That’s what Rain Man says.”

  She’s out the door, and I prance over to give my goddaughter a kiss. “Okay, sugar puss. Let me check my emails and we can decide what we want to do this afternoon.”

  Last night was a little crazy, with me not getting home until after midnight. In the past, I wouldn’t have gotten home until three, but I’ve turned a new leaf this year. I’m being more responsible.