Page 51 of Up In Flames

“Like a lemur on a tree?”

I nod. “Just like that, but with sticky tape for hands.”

His grin grows, and heat sparkles in his eyes. “Then I’d be a fool to try to oust you.” He glances away before staring deep into my eyes once more. “And you won’t mind having a giant’s children?”

“Not if you’re the giant in question. Look, I was perfectly normal all through school, and I still had a hard time. That’s life. People called me ugly and fat until I hit eighteen and they realized that they were being bullies and quit it. It was awful. It led me to make some really bad decisions, but I survived. I eventually evened out.”

“You were gorgeous. An angel. I told you.”

“And you must have been blind.”

“Twenty-twenty vision.”

I feel heat stain my cheeks. He’s so sweet. How did I not pursue him on skates all these years? “Anyway, that’s why I was in the locker room the day you found me with the guys. I had parents who weren’t supporting me the way I needed them to, friends who were losing weight and gaining those sharp angles, while I gave new definition to round, and very little mental stimulation. I was… sad,” I finish lamely. “And gullible, I guess.”

“I’m so sorry, Jelly Bean. From where I stood, I assumed you were the IT girl, the one I could never have. Honestly, I could never have imagined you harbored self-doubts. To me, you were the ultimate.”

The weight of what he’s saying is too large. All the years of anguish, self-doubt, and loneliness could have been eliminated if I’d ever once just had a conversation with him. Maybe by now we’d be married.

“You’re the sweetest man I’ve ever met. I don’t think I deserve you.”

“Good, because I know I don’t deserve you. Maybe you won’t notice my deficiencies.”

Imposter syndrome has haunted me most of my life. I think it’s common in women, and pervasive among writers. To find a touch of it in the man sitting next to me, though, just melts my heart towards him even more.

Not to mention how he’s healing my scars.

I try to find the thread of what I want to say to him. “My point is, our children will have their challenges no matter their species, or what they look like, though I hope they look like you.”

“You do?” Again, he seems pleased, like he doesn’t know he’s a gift to women.

“I do. Plus, with you as their father, our children are going to be okay.”

The glow in his eyes looks like a blaze catching. “Unhook your seat belt.”

“What?”

“Just do it. Please.”

Keeping my eyes locked on his, I do as he asks. He grabs me up and jams me on top of him. Through two layers of jeans, my pussy rubs against his dick. He looks at me and smiles his devil smile.

“No. Not happening. You want to fuck here? On the side of the road where anybody can drive by and see us?”

“I’m game if you are.”

I take a peek around us. No one is near, but they will be soon. The gloaming is just settling in. We don’t have a lot of commuters, but we have some, even on this back road.

“Can it be a quickie?”

“Oh, Jelly Bean, I can be quick if you are,” he assures me, already unzipping my pants. “Question is, can you?”

Mr. Mittens yowls from his carrier in the back seat in an effort to get our attention.

He fails.

CHAPTER 17

Sampson