Body Heat

by Mia Ford

  I laughed and took Linda’s hand without even thinking about it, she didn’t pull away from me as I brought her to the black convertible I had sitting out in her driveway.

  “It’s nice to see that you don’t have someone driving you around all the time,” Linda stated, letting me walk her to the passenger side and opening the door for her.

  She slid inside and I shut the door behind her, quickly walking over to the driver’s side door I got inside and started it up. Revving the engine I back down the driveway and into the street.

  “Do you like sports?” I asked her, starting a new conversation.

  “I like softball and volleyball.” She stated, rubbing her eyes and I could see that she hadn’t gotten much sleep herself.

  “Good, I like volleyball. I don’t enjoy softball too much or baseball but they are the same thing only played with different sized balls.” The second the words came out of my mouth I knew that it had sounded stupid. She knew what the difference was but instead of giving me a strange look she threw her head back and laughed at me.

  I was glad that I could get her to laugh, it was sweet music to my ears and it was worth my father hollering at me when he realized that I wasn’t going to be going to work this morning when he called and asked me to fill in for someone who was out sick. That laughter alone had made me forget how upset my father had been with me.

  “I promise that we’re going to have a great day of swimming, tanning, and whatever life throws at us today,” I told her, taking a hand off the steering wheel and slipping it over hers. Again she didn’t pull away and I was happy to see that she wanted the same things that I did.

  I glanced at her from time to time and saw that she had a smile on her face every time I looked at her, the sun was beating down on us both and we were sweating before we even made it to the beach.

  “I hope the water is nice and cold. I’m going to run right into it.” She laughed when I stopped at a red light.

  “We’ll find out, it’s right over there.” I pointed, taking my other hand off the steering wheel. I didn’t want to let go of her hand.

  She looked over at the beach and we saw how calm the water was. I was surprised to see that there were so many people hanging out at the beach and it wasn’t even noon time yet.

  “I guess a lot of people decided that they were going to play hooky today.” Linda laughed, shaking her head as we pulled into the parking lot that had a thin layer of sand on the surface.

  I was a little bummed because I was hoping that the beach wouldn’t be full. I wanted to spend time alone with her. I wanted to hold her in my arms and show her that I already had feelings for her. I wasn’t the type of man to beat around the bush, I didn’t think it was being too pushy, I thought it was just coming out and saying what I wanted.

  “Yeah, hopefully, we can find a spot that’s meant for only us,” I told her, pulling into a parking space and getting out.

  Before I could go around to the other side of the car she was already out of the car, bringing the towel around her neck so that she didn’t have to hold it.

  “I’m glad that I didn’t ask Glenda to pack us anything to eat. I think it’s way too hot.” She groaned as we headed down to the water.

  “I can’t eat when it’s this hot outside.” I agreed with her, most times I couldn’t eat anything until the sun went down and the night air turned cool.

  While we were walking on the sand I looked for a spot that was further away from the other beach goers and finally found a spot that was shady where she could lay her towel down. It was under a big tree that had leaves drooping down. I knew we would have shade all day from the tree and maybe it would keep us cooler than everyone else.

  “This looks like a good spot doesn’t it?” I asked her, looking behind us.

  The crowd of people looked like ants and I didn’t realize how far we had walked but she smiled and nodded her head. She took the towel from around her neck and laid it out on the sand.

  I stood there watching her, she made sure that there were no wrinkles in the towel, no lumps from the sand before she sat down on it and I sat down beside her while she took her pink flip flops off.

  “I have to see how cool that water is.” She stated, getting ready to get back up.

  That’s when I couldn’t take it anymore. I brought my hand to hers and held it tightly, stopping her from getting up.

  Linda looked at me surprised but I could tell just by looking in her eyes that she was curious too and without thinking twice I pressed my lips against hers. They were sweet just like I imagined they would be and just as soft as I thought they were when I focused on them last night at dinner.

  Chapter 9

  He caught me off guard but his lips felt good on mine, I felt his tongue lightly pushing against my lips and I parted them slightly. I felt his tongue touch mine and I moaned softly for him, I hadn’t meant to but I did and I felt my heart racing as he continued to hold onto my hand.

  It was everything I dreamed it would be, I felt my free hand go to his arm and I kissed him back. I didn’t want him thinking I didn’t want him to kiss me, that I wasn’t interested because I was. I heard his moans against my mouth as the kiss grew deeper and deeper and the heat that was rising was something that we were creating on our own.

  I pulled away when he let go of my hand and brought his hand up right below my tits. I jerked back surprised that he would reach for me like that in public.

  “I’m sorry, I went too far.” He whispered, biting down on his lip.

  I shook my head, I was breathless but I wanted to tell him that I enjoyed it. I loved the way he kissed and it just surprised me because of where we were, not because of who he was.

  “I should’ve brought water with me.” I murmured.

  “I didn’t think of it either, I only thought about seeing you.” He laughed, and I was glad that he couldn’t wait to see me.

  I never had a man tell me what he was feeling or what he was thinking, it was like they always kept it top secret until they wanted to see how far they could get with me. Luke’s honesty was what had made me want him even more. I knew he was the one, even before this morning. I think I realized he was the one I was going to give myself to since last night when I knew he wanted to kiss me but waited.

  “Are you ready to go for that swim now?” He asked, taking his sunglasses off and setting them on the towel.

  “Yes.” I grinned at him, glad that he was the one who got up from the towel first.

  He reached down with both hands and pulled me to my feet. Letting go of one of them we ran together and didn’t hesitate when the water ran over our feet. We continued running until our feet could no longer touch and we were swimming, letting go of each other’s hands.

  The water was cold and refreshing and I ended up getting some water inside my mouth which gave me the water I needed but too much of it and I began coughing as we treaded water.

  “You alright?” He asked me, a smile on his face when I nodded my head.

  “I’m glad that you like adventure Linda, I don’t know too many women who will just go out and have fun. It’s almost like they’ve forgotten how to.” He winked at me and I felt my heart skip a beat.

  I smiled at him and dove under the water, coming up right in front of him, our faces just inches away from each other. When he leaned in for another kiss I pushed away and splashed him, it was nice to see that he was being a good sport about it as we began seeing who could splash the most. In the end, he had won because I ran out of the water to catch my breath from all the cold water splashing on my face.

  I sat back on the towel and watched him come out of the water, my hair was a mess but I didn’t care. I was having fun and that’s what it was all about, that’s what life is about because you can’t always be serious or else you’d have a boring life.

  Luke made me feel as if I could be myself and I was falling in love with him, even more, every minute that we spent
together.

  “I have a question for you and you can tell me no if you want to.” He started out when he sat down beside me again.

  “Oh boy, I don’t know if I’m going to like this.” I laughed at him, seeing that he was trying to ask me something serious so I stopped laughing.

  “Would you like to spend the night under the stars with me?” He asked, keeping his face down as he stared at the sand just inches away from our feet.

  “Here?” I asked him, my eyes widening.

  “No, in my backyard. I wouldn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable and make you want to go home and think you had no ride. I would want you where you could walk home.” He lifted his head and laughed at me.

  “That’s not what I was thinking. I don’t know what time the beach closes and I don’t want security coming down and catching us here.” I grinned at him, making him laugh even harder.

  “I pegged you for a woman that doesn’t get into trouble much. Me on the other hand, I could care less about the beach closing. If security caught us they would give us a warning and tell us to go home.” He flashed that amazing smile my way and I almost forgot how to speak.

  “Yea, that’s one thing that I can say I’m not. I don’t get into trouble. Ever.” I smiled at him as the sun quickly dried our wet bodies.

  “So yes?” He asked, realizing he hadn’t gotten an answer out of me yet.

  “Yes, I would love to sleep under the stars with you tonight.” I nodded my head, it would be the first time I’d ever slept under the stars and I realized it would be my first time ever being with a man.

  “Good, I hope you’re having a good time because I know I am.” He told me, looking out at the water as more crowds started showing up.

  “I’m having an amazing time with you. I can be myself and not have to worry about what you think.” I nudged him playfully.

  We sat there and talked most of the day, going in and out of the water and watching people come and go. Some who had been at the beach before us and some that arrived and left while we were there.

  “What do you do for work?” I asked him, realizing that I never brought it up at dinner last night.

  “I’m a clothes designer, I help my father with the business that he’s created. Sometimes he thinks I’m too smart for the company and other times I think he just feels as if he has to stay guarded, afraid that my bright ideas are going to make him lose his job.” Luke told me, there was no smile on his face when he talked about his father and I could see that it was a touchy subject for him.

  “Does he really think that you’re going to overrule him?” I asked, a little concerned.

  “He hasn’t come out and said it but I know that’s why he gives me such a hard time. Not to mention I’m cocky. I know that he’s not going to fire me, I know that no matter how upset he gets with me for showing up late, or not coming in at all that I’m too big of an asset for the company and I’m the one who makes the clothes come alive on paper because of my artistic talent. They jump right out at you from the drawing pad.” He nodded his head.

  “If you could take the company over would you?” I couldn’t help but wonder if he would put his father out if that was his flaw.

  “No, I know that I’m not going to get the business until he passes, and I don’t want that either. I want to work with him, I want to work beside him instead of underneath him and he doesn’t get that. I don’t know how many times I’ve talked to him about it but he just doesn’t understand that I want to be his equal.” He shook his head, I could see that he was getting upset so I didn’t push any further.

  It was a day to get to know each other and he had opened up enough for me as far as I was concerned. I didn’t even want to talk about my parent’s not my father anyways. My mother was always happy about the modeling but my father he didn’t think that it was appropriate for his little girl to be prancing around in summer dresser that was a little too short at the bottom and more than a little too tight up top.

  We stayed at the beach until the sun was almost setting, there weren’t many people on the beach when we decided to leave for the day and I was glad that we had stayed in the shade all day because when I really thought about it I had forgotten to bring my sunscreen with me. We had only gone in and out of the water a few times, enough to cool ourselves and sit back on the towel and talk.

  “I really enjoyed the day,” I told him, wanting to let him know that even just talking was fine with me.

  “I did too, most girls I’ve noticed like to have money spent on them every time you turn around. I spent nothing but gas money on this trip and you’re having the time of your life.” He grinned as we got back into the car.

  “I don’t need money, I have my own.” I laughed at him as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

  The day was put behind us and the more nightfall came the more I thought about telling him I was a virgin but I kept it to myself because I didn’t want it to be a turn off for him.

  Chapter 10

  I could see that she looked a little tired when I pulled up into the driveway of her house. I was hoping that she was going to change her mind about spending the night with me, I was hoping against all hope that she wasn’t going to.

  “I don’t have a sleeping bag.” She stated, her eyes growing wide and making me smile. It was the little things that she worried about, the little things that she thought were big issues.

  “I have an airbed and some blanket in case it gets cold out.” I laughed at her, seeing the look of relief wash over her face.

  We could hear the crickets in the tall grass that separated her place from mine and it was so peaceful that we sat in the car and just listened to them. Neither one of us talking and it was a comfortable silence between us.

  When we watched the first star come out was when we got out of the car and I walked her to the porch.

  “I’m going to change and then I’ll be right over.” She whispered as I pressed my mouth against hers and wrapped my arms around her.

  I had wanted to kiss her for the first time at the beach, I wanted to kiss her several times and I didn’t see a good time. This was the time that it was meant for and I couldn’t stop myself even if I wanted to.

  I felt her arms go around my neck and felt her press against me as I held her tighter to my body. I wanted to have her right then and there but knew it wasn’t possible. I felt like I’d known her forever and the only thing that was keeping us from being connected was showing each other how we felt physically.

  “Mm, I’ll be waiting for outback. Just come around the side of the house and you’ll see me setting up.” I whispered to her, breaking the kiss but holding her in my arms a few seconds longer.

  “Great, the sooner I get inside the sooner I will be over.” She laughed, squirming in my arms and I let her go.

  I watched her go into the house and it felt as if we were teenagers. I felt as if she were my first girlfriend and we were doing everything together for the first time. I turned and left her yard with a smile on my face. I had smiled so much today that my face was beginning to hurt but I just couldn’t stop smiling and she was the reason for it.

  As I got the airbed and brought it out on my back deck and started the air pump up was when I saw her out of the corner of my eye. She dressed in a pair of white sweat pants and a black hoody, she looked amazing with her hair down and looking out of place.

  We didn’t talk to each other there was no way we could be heard over the sound of the airbed so we didn’t even try. Her eyes got bigger and bigger when she realized how big the bed was. We could sleep comfortably on it, or have a good time without falling off. I couldn’t help but laugh at myself imagining us messing around on a small airbed. But the more I looked at her the more I wanted her.

  “You didn’t change out of your swimming trunks?” She asked as soon as I shut the pump off.

  “No, I’ll be alright. I have blankets right here too. Thick b
lankets.” I nodded my head towards the pile.

  “Do you want me to help you bring that out on the grass?” She offered to help and it didn’t really surprise me that she had but I shook my head no and pushed it out until I was in the middle of the backyard.

  She followed me with the blankets in her arms, the pile was so high the only way I could see the top of her head was because she was looking off to the side so that she could see where she was going. I laughed and took the blankets from her, laying them out on the bed with her on the other side making sure that the blankets covered every inch of the airbed.

  “There.” I groaned, laying on the bed and watching her get on the bed. She sat up and looked up at the stars.

  “This is better than the city, without all the lights you can see the stars better.” She told me and slowly laid down beside me.

  She was watching the stars while I was watching her and that’s when it hit me. The reason she wasn’t kissing me first, the reason she wasn’t getting hot and heavy and bothered like I was, was because I guessed that it had to be her first time and my heart started racing.

  Not that it would change anything in my mind about her, she was an amazing woman and I found nothing wrong with her but I had to know. I had to ask to see if I was right.

  “Can I ask you something?” I whispered, putting an arm around her, feeling her move closer to me.

  “You can ask me anything.” She whispered, laying her head on my bare chest as we looked up at the stars.

  “I was just wondering, and it’s okay if you are. But I was wondering if this was your first time.” It was more of a statement than a question and the way her body tensed I knew I had my answer.

  “You told me I could ask you anything, this is what I want to ask you,” I whispered, not wanting to push her on telling me but I wanted her to know that she could go to me with anything.

  “Yes, I’ve never actually gone all the way with a guy before.” She murmured, refusing to look at me she kept her eyes on the stars.