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She knew what he was trying to say.
“Your mother didn’t disappear because you weren’t in Winslow Heights,” Lucy said, her own throat clogging with emotion. “None of this is your fault.”
“If I’d been here—”
Zack broke off, shrugging his shoulders as if it didn’t matter, but she knew better. It mattered deeply to him.
“Lily still would have gone to the doctor that day. And to the store. You would have been at the office. Nothing would have changed. This wasn’t your problem to solve.”
She reached out and placed her hand on his, hoping the warmth of her touch might soothe him in some way. Their fingers tangled together, and he raised her knuckles to his lips, pressing a brief kiss there.
A streak of heat ran straight through her, rocking her with its unexpected ferocity. She’d known there was chemistry between them, but this was something she hadn’t experienced before. It was off the charts in its intensity.
She was surprised that he’d done it. He’d clearly said that she would have to make the first move, although a brush of his lips on the back of her hand wasn’t exactly a major sex play.
“I’m glad I ran into you, Lucy. You’ve made this trip home a hell of a lot more bearable. I was dreading it.”
But that didn’t mean he was going to stay.
“I’m glad that I ran into you, too.”
The movie had been all but forgotten. The awareness between them had grown, building a tension that she could almost reach out and touch, wrapping around them and pulling them closer together. This was it. The moment had arrived, and she could push it away or embrace it. He was leaving it all up to her. Not pushing, but not pulling away.
At some point in Lucy’s life, she’d figured out that fooling herself wasn’t a productive plan. Brutal self-honesty was painful in the short run but was better in the future. Tonight would be no different.
Lucy wanted this man. It might only be for one night or a few nights, but she knew deep in her heart that if she didn’t act on these feelings, she’d regret it down the road. She wasn’t even sure that she wanted forever with Zack.
Turning her body toward him, she reached up to cup his firm jaw with her hands, the stubble prickly on her palms. Their gazes met and she didn’t try to hide her desire. She could see it reflected back at her, blue eyes dark with arousal and the pupils blown wide.
“I’m happy that you came back,” she said, her throat tight with emotion. “I’m only sorry that it was under these circumstances.”
“I’m not sorry I came back at all.”
Leaning down, he brushed his lips softly against hers, a whisper of a kiss. Her lids fluttered closed and he kissed her gently again, his arms pulling her closer.
It didn’t matter who had made the first move or the second. They were both exactly where they wanted to be.
At some point their kisses had become deeper and far more passionate, their hands eager to explore each other’s bodies. When they were both breathless and flushed, Lucy had reached for his hand and led him to her bedroom. She wasn’t a teenager anymore that made out on couches when her parents weren’t home.
She wanted a comfortable bed where they could take their time touching, kissing, and caressing. Zack seemed to agree because he didn’t hesitate for even a moment, pressing her back onto the mattress with his hard body on top of her.
Their clothes seemed to melt away, landing scattered on the floor like a dotted path on a treasure map where the bed was X-marks-the-spot. She reveled in the heady sensation of skin on skin, letting her palms glide over his wide shoulders.
His body blocked out any light from the hallway, but she reveled in the cocoon that the two of them had made, far from the demands of the everyday world. Right now, it was only her and Zack, their world narrowed down to this moment together. Tomorrow might bring happiness or heartache, but she didn’t have it inside of her to care. She would simply live in the moment, giving herself to the pleasure of having his hands and mouth on every inch of her skin.
Her fingers tangled in his silky hair as his devilishly talented tongue lavished attention on one rose-tipped breast and then the other. His tantalizing kisses trailed down to her soft belly, then ever lower until he reached the most sensitive parts of her body. She gasped and writhed against the sheets, every inch of her skin alive with sensation with each flick of his tongue. Her nails grazed down his back when shockwaves of arousal surged through her veins and curled her toes.
When he pressed himself inside of her, she wrapped her legs around his waist, needing to pull him as close as possible. They moved tentatively at first, trying to find their rhythm. His lips pressed kisses everywhere he could reach as his thrusts sped up, their urgency driving them closer to the shiny pinnacle.
It was Lucy who fell off the cliff first, white-hot lava flowing through her veins and fireworks exploding behind her eyelids. Her body arched off the bed, and she heard herself whisper his name as pleasure suffused every cell like golden champagne bubbles in a crystal glass on New Year’s Eve.
Zack’s own completion was mesmerizing to watch, his head thrown back in ecstasy and his face contorted as if in exquisite pain. They collapsed together, a tangle of damp limbs on her white linen sheets. Their breathing slowed to normal and they cuddled together, still wanting more closeness and connection.
He might not be here in the future, but tonight he was. She’d enjoy it while it lasted, knowing that this little town wasn’t in Zack’s plans. They could care for each other, have fun, but it didn’t mean forever.
Some things simply weren’t going to last. Zack Winslow was one of them.
11
