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He was being a goddamn teenager.
“I’d love to.”
Her smile was a straight-up beam of light, and he blinked and looked over her shoulder at Danny in the kitchen window, watching them with interest.
“And, Micah? Last night—”
“Don’t apologize again,” he said.
Last night hadn’t been about him. It was never going to be about him. He was just happy he could be there for her.
“I won’t,” she said and then laughed. “Though I am sorry.”
“Helen!”
“But also…” She sighed and smiled, her head tilted back to the sun, and he could see on her neck and the top of her chest the beard burn he’d left on her. The faded blue of a hickey.
And that seemed good. Right.
They’d left bruises of all kinds on each other.
“Thank you,” she said. “I mean, for real. I thought, maybe, that part of my life was gone. But it was really amazing to feel that way again.”
“Orgasmic?”
“Sure,” she said. “But also… desired.” The flush on her cheeks was burning up her face, leaving blotches on her neck.
And no one could resist her like this, much less him, who had zero experience resisting anything. He stood, the blanket falling to the grass damp with dew, and if she was looking, she’d see his erection.
Helen made a squeaking sound in her throat and he smiled.
Guess she noticed.
He crossed the small circle of the fire pit until he was standing in front of her. She tilted her head back to look at him, her lips parting, her chest rising with a heavy breath. He braced his hands on the arms of her chair and bent down until his face was close to hers. Her lips, which she nervously licked, a breath away.
“It was my pleasure,” he whispered.
And then to his total shock, she reached up with chilly fingers and cupped his face holding him still—not that he would move—so she could kiss him.
Shy, at first, for all her boldness, maybe waiting for him to jerk back and away from her. But when he smiled against her lips she opened her mouth and let him in. He pulled her to her feet and then up against his body, his arms wrapped around her waist. He kissed her, and kissed her again, and she put her fingers in his hair and ran her nails down his scalp in a way that gave him shivers. Honest to god, shivers.
From inside the house there was whooping and clapping, and they laughed into each other’s mouths. “I think Danny approves,” he said.
She leaned back, blinked at him, her lips swollen from their kisses.
Her smile was…radiant.
Radiant and reckless.
Crap. He hung onto that lyric.
Radiant and reckless, I am helpless. Why would I say no to this? When this is all I’ve ever wanted.
Fuck. That was good. She was really bringing out some seriously good music out of him.
“Micah?” she said, her fingers stroking the wrinkles that popped up between his eyes. “What are you thinking about?”
“You and songs.”
She laughed, thinking he was joking. But then she realized he wasn’t. “That sounds nice.”
“It is,” he said with a happy sigh. He threw his arm over her shoulder. “It’s real nice.”
Helen
He forgave her. That was a relief. As for the rest of it…the kissing? She had no freaking clue.
Maybe it was just a…fling. Just a casual kind of no-strings, rock-star-level fling. They’d stop by the Riverview Inn and Haven House. Alice was going to try and get him to stay for supper, and maybe, just maybe, he could be convinced to spend the night.
And then…maybe something would happen between them. Or not. Probably not.
But then she’d get him to White Plains, he’d give her one last kiss, tell her he’d see her at the picnic, and they would each get on with their lives.
That thought made her feel so sad.
They said goodbye to Danny. The way Micah and Danny hugged each other almost brought tears to her eyes. “I want to work with you again,” Micah said, clapping Danny on the back.
“You know where I am,” Danny said with his sweet guy smile.
“Thank you,” she said to Danny, going in for a hug.
“Be careful,” he whispered into her hair. “With him.” She leaned back, her arms still around her. “He’s not as tough as he pretends and you are…important to him.”
And then he stepped away with a big wave, and she and Micah piled into the truck.
She was rattled by Danny’s words, not because she didn’t believe them. She did. She’d hurt Micah last night with her carelessness. Understanding she had the power to hurt him was heavy. A power she’d never expected to have.
His phone buzzed and he fished it out of his back pocket. “Sorry. I need to take this.”
“Of course,” she said, and he answered his phone. She pulled out of the parking area and drove down the long drive toward the highway that would take them home.
