Page 59 of Tastes Like Summer

“I—” I clear my throat. “There are… things to consider. To talk about before we decide anything.”

“Such as?” His voice is soft as he brings my right hand to his chest, before moving the left one to wrap around the back of his neck.

Michael presses a soft kiss against my lips, and I lose all ability to speak. How can he still do this to me after what just happened? Shouldn’t I be desensitized or something?

“You were saying?” he murmurs.

“I have a hard time speaking when you touch me like that,” I try to say, but the words come out breathy and ragged at the same time.

“I have a hard time, too.” I can feel his grin against the skin of my neck as he presses his hard cock where I’m already hot and wet again.

I half laugh, half moan, the knowledge that he wants this just as badly almost even more intoxicating than the moment itself.

“Michael, I’m serious,” I say, hating myself a little for pushing against his chest.

He stops immediately and gives me space, though his hands never leave my body, sliding instead from my waist and tits down to my thighs. He does, however, remain snuggly between my legs.

“I like you,” I whisper, as if it weren’t already obvious.

“I like you, too. Very, very much.”

“And this feels good, but…” I exhale and shake my head. “The more I think about it, the more I wonder whether this is the right thing to do. No matter how much either one of us wants it.”

“What? Why?” He frowns, the fog of lust clearing around us.

“Well, for starters, I live almost two thousand miles away from here. The girls and I go back to Denver in late August.”

At least that’s the plan. The temptation to stay for Labor Day weekend is big, especially since the girls don’t start school until the week after. But... No. I have responsibilities. I need to find a new apartment and get settled before the school year starts.

“I—” He exhales, eyes wide and frantic as he searches for the right words. Finally, he pulls his brows together and stares at me in determination. “That doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care.”

It’s like a blow to the chest. He doesn’t care?

“Uh—” I stutter, taking a moment to organize my thoughts. “I think there’s been a disconnect here,” I say, my heart breaking. If he feels a fraction of what I feel for him, he would care. This just shows we shouldn’t be doing this—shouldn’t be alone like this together, shouldn’t be touching each other in ways that light our skin on fire. “While I respect that you don’t care,” I say, suppressing the sudden urge to vomit the fantastic dinner I enjoyed earlier tonight, “I’m not that type of person. You’re the first guy I’ve liked since—” I clear my throat. “It’s fine if you want to do the whole casual thing, but that’s not me. I don’t think I could manage that. That isn’t what this is to me, so I should probably lea⁠—”

“Wait, no,” he cuts me off, holding me on the counter before I can jump off. “That’s not what I meant. What I meant was that I don’t care that you live somewhere else because I really like you and I’m sure two intelligent people like ourselves can figure out something by the end of the summer.”

I grimace. “Like what?”

He shrugs, helpless. “I don’t know. But I want to try. Please.” He swallows once, hands shaking as he brings them to my face. “Please, Diana. Don’t let this die before we even give it a chance to start.”

I search for something in his eyes, unsure of what exactly, but enough to tell me that this won’t turn into a massive mistake.

“I like you so much, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my feelings from deepening,” I whisper, this admission ripping at my chest. Shaking, terrified I’ve exposed too much of myself and my aching heart, I put my hands on his chest.

He moves closer, his mouth millimeters from mine. With his eyes on my lips, he breathes “Diana, I’m already in so deep, I can’t see sunlight. I’m here, waiting to catch you whenever you’re ready.”

I look around the empty space, bobbing my head at everything the commercial realtor says as if I’ve been able to process a single word that’s come out of his mouth. I’ve been doing my best, but my mind is a bit preoccupied reliving last night—from the pain of seeing Diana arrive for a date to my farm, the ache of taking in how beautiful she is and thinking she wasn’t mine, the absolute bliss of what we did in my kitchen (which I had to deep clean in the morning, of course), and flying high on my way home after dropping her off with a goodnight kiss and a Talk tomorrow.

“Great. That’s great,” I say with a nod, feeling a grin nearly split my face in two.

“Great?” Lexi breaks through my daydreaming, her face pinched in a frown. “Michael, are you even listening? He just told us that the water main will need to be repaired before opening, significantly delaying our preferred start date. Meaning, this isn’t really the ideal space for us, no matter how good the location.”

“Oh.” I pause, looking between John, our realtor, and Lexi. “So, that’s not good, right? It means we shouldn’t pick this place?”

Lexi’s eyes widen, hands on her hips. “Would you give us a sec, John? Michael and I need to have a little chat.” Once he steps out and we’re alone, Lexi glares at me. “Okay, what’s up? Your head has been up in the clouds all day. Did you even pay attention to the previous two spaces we saw this morning? We’ve both put everything we have into this business. I’ve sacrificed a lot of time with the boys and Lauren, and I know you’ve done the same with Rachel. So can you please tell me what the hell is going on?”

I laugh once, scratching the back of my neck as I sheepishly answer like a fucking teenager: “She likes me.”