Me too. “Have you ever seen stars this bright?” I asked, needing a distraction from the reaction my body had to him.
He nodded, and I felt the stubble on his jaw against my crown. “Up in Joshua Tree.”
“I’ve heard they have good rock climbing.”
His chest rumbled. No doubt his memory had brought up the same day mine had—the awful blind date with what’s-his-name when the guy implied a harness wouldn’t be able to fit around my hips and thighs. Who would have thought Drew and I would go from the heated words of that night to this?
“I was actually there for another reason.”
“Hiking?”
“Not quite.”
I leaned on my elbow to prop myself up so I could look at him. Our faces were inches apart, me hovering above him. My gaze fell to his lips. I watched, mesmerized as they parted then slowly arched upward.
He pushed himself up on his own elbow and faced me. His smile fell in slow motion, the air between us fairly vibrating.
“Nicole.” His voice held a deep, husky quality. “I’d really like to kiss you right now. May I?”
Whoever said asking for consent before a kiss wasn’t romantic had never been asked by Drew Bauer.
Unable to form words, I simply nodded.
His eyes flashed, then darkened. His hand came up to rest against the side of my neck, his thumb at my jaw. He stroked my earlobe, sending tingles down my arm. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.
I licked my lips, my breath caught in my chest. When he angled my head for a better position, I didn’t resist. I was putty in his hands. His face moved toward me, and my eyes slid shut.
His kiss was like nothing yet everything I’d imagined. Soft yet firm. Sweet yet heated. Leaving me craving more yet strangely satisfied. Stars may have been projected above us, but they flashed behind my eyes, shot through my body, and orbited around my heart.
It seemed to take all his strength to pull away, his breathing ragged. “Sorry, you were asking me why I was at Joshua Tree when I got distracted.”
It took me a second to gather my composure. “I wasn’t complaining.”
He flashed me a devilish grin that made my stomach twist. “I’d gone during the government shutdown when they had to close the national park. Some idiots with chainsaws thought it would be funny to chop down the multiple-centuries-old trees, so I camped out for a few days.”
“You were there to save the trees?”
He shrugged. “Technically they’re not trees. They’re—”
But I’d ceased listening and had lost the ounce of self-control I’d been clinging to. With a growl I didn’t know I was capable of, I closed the distance between us, barely registering Drew’s laugh as I claimed his lips with all the passion he’d asserted I possessed.
18
Drew
Ginny opened the front door before I’d even had the chance to ring the doorbell. Her eyes were wide and slightly crazed as she reached forward and grabbed my arm, hauling me across the threshold and into her house.
“Whoa.” I rubbed the back of my arm, even though it didn’t really hurt. “Is everything all right?”
My sister threw her hands up in the air. “No, everything isnotall right.”
Brother and doctor instincts kicked into high gear. “Okay, calm down and tell me what’s wrong.”
Instead of following my advice by sitting in one of the comfortable spots in the living room, she began to pace.
“‘Calm down,’ he says.” Her laugh held no humor. “So typical of a man. I’ll forgive you, Drew, but only because I need you to do something for me.”
She focused her gaze on me, a deranged glint in her eye, and I took a step back. I hadn’t seen that look since we were children. After watching the winter Olympics, she’d convinced me to play bobsled. Our gold medal was a trip to the emergency room after our sled overturned on the steep stairs and I rolled down head over heels, breaking my ulna.
