“You didn’t let me down,” she said without thinking.

His eyes flew to hers. “Meaning?”

Lucy decided to go for broke. As he pointed out, she was leaving in three months. Nothing to lose. Other than her heart. “Meaning that my first kiss remains my best kiss,” she whispered.

“Well that’s a shame,” he said quietly, easing forward as she spread her knees slightly to make room for him to step between them. “Because I seem to remember that wasn’t my best work.”

“You angling for a do-over, Sullivan?” she teased, trying desperately to keep the girlish breathlessness out of her voice. To sound grown-up.

His gaze dropped to her mouth, and Lucy swallowed. She may not have mastered the art of sounding like a grown-up just yet, but the woman in her knew that he wanted to kiss her.

She held her breath. Maybe leaned forward…

He stepped back, swearing softly as he rubbed his hands over his hair.

“What am I doing?” she heard him mutter.

Reece turned and stomped toward the front door, and Lucy all but flew off the counter, racing past him and getting between him and the front door.

He got an annoyed look on his face and glared at her. “What?”

“You know what,” she snapped back. “Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

“I never should have started it,” he said, trying to step around her.

She stepped with him, blocking him. “What are you scared of?”

He surprised her by laughing. “With you? Everything.”

“Me too,” she whispered, taking a step forward.

Reece tensed, but didn’t move away. “Don’t do this, Lucy.”

She ignored him, and before her brain could tell her heart to get back in line, she went on her toes and kissed him.

It was a soft, awkward kiss. He was way taller than she was, and though she’d gotten plenty of kissing experience over the past year or two, most of that had been guys kissing her, not the other way around.

She pressed harder, her heart sinking when Reece didn’t respond. He didn’t move a single muscle as her lips moved pleadingly against his.

Lucy dropped back to her heels, not sure which emotion was stronger: humiliation or devastation.

She swallowed. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

Lucy stepped aside to flee upstairs to the safety of her bedroom, but he grabbed her, fingers wrapping around her upper arm, and dragged her against him.

Reece dipped his head, hesitating for a fraction of a second before whispering, “Fuck me.”

And then his mouth closed over hers, hot and possessive. Lucy gasped in surprise before opening her lips to his.

Reece’s hands found her shoulders, backing her into the front door. Once she was pinned between the door and his body, his hands lifted to her hair, tangling in it and tilting her head so he could take the kiss deeper.

Lucy kissed him back with everything she had, as one word looped on repeat in her head: finally.

Chapter 24

Lucy

The rain is vicious against our windshield and I try not to betray my nervousness as I glance down at my phone.

Reece doesn’t look away from the windshield, but his peripheral vision must notice. “Oscar again?”

Ugh. Oscar.

After nothing for days, Oscar’s apparently realized he acted like a tool and wants me back. I’m inclined to think the other girl realized he was a piece of crap and walked away. Had the guy chased after me then, I still wouldn’t have taken him back, but the fact that he waited for days? Pass.

Reece had finally caved, asked why my phone was blowing up, but after I told him, had merely muttered “That fucker,” and not mentioned it again.

“Nah. I blocked him,” I say tapping my nails against the screen.

Reece whistles. “Damn. Cutthroat. You block me back then?”

“Didn’t have to. You didn’t exactly chase me down.”

He doesn’t deny it, and we fall back into tense silence as the rain pounds harder.

It’s been like this ever since our kiss, both of us lost in thought as we made our way to our next stop, retreating to our respective motel rooms. I spent the evening watching a weird documentary on the chocolate-making process, followed by Armageddon (classic), and talking myself into not knocking on Reece’s door like I wanted to.

The tension eased slightly when we met up for breakfast this morning, both of us committed to making polite small talk, but I think we both prefer the silence.

I look at my phone as it buzzes once more. “It’s my mom again,” I say with a sigh. “Says there’s a bunch of severe weather warnings coming our way.”

He laughs softly. “What, did she put a GPS tracker on Horny?”

“Nah, but you know Delia. Demands regular check-ins, knowing where we are, what we’re doing, who’s driving, how fast they’re driving.”

“The speed limit. Always.”

I snort. The only attention Reece seems to pay to the speed limit is to go at least ten over.

Not so much now, however. What should have been an easy drive is anything but. The rain’s been constant, and just when I think it can’t possibly come down any harder, it does.

I suck in my breath as we pass a semi, its giant tires kicking up a deluge of water onto the windshield that temporarily puts our visibility at zero.

I give a nervous look at Reece, and though he doesn’t say a word, his knuckles seem to be a little bit white on the steering wheel.