Well, I’d meant to say it. Instead, it came out pathetic and breathy—a whispered word wrapped in lust and carnal need. Had the bulb on the wall next to us been brighter, or more natural, I bet he would’ve seen me blush. He would’ve seen the familiar burn take over my neck and face.
“Thank you for the evening, Kenny.” He took my hand and waited until I met his stare.
I wanted to correct him again, force him to call me McKenna, but the second my eyes met his, energy ran through me like sizzling electricity. It caught me off guard and stilled my every thought, every move. My skin tingled and heart rate increased. And out of nowhere, the air became warmer, more stifling than a small, windowless room in the middle of summer.
“What’s wrong?” Drew, who had to be nearly a foot taller than me, stooped down enough to come as close to eye level as he could. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” I tried to answer, shaking my head. “I can’t explain it.”
His onyx eyes flashed with something—recognition maybe. I couldn’t tell, but it warmed and calmed me all at once. “Try.”
The atmosphere around us changed. Suddenly, a layer of intensity settled over us. The light next to the door didn’t change, though it seemed to grow dimmer. A wave of heat wrapped around me like a blanket, but at the same time, a chill ran between us—nowhere else, just between the front of my body and his. Scorching energy passed through the front porch that nearly left my hair standing on end. It pulled us closer without either of us moving and created a buzz within the heightening silence.
It was unexplainable.
Yet, at the same time, I felt in my soul that I understood it.
I shook my head, breaking the spell that had drawn us both in. Our lips mere inches apart, dangerously close to kissing. “I’m just tired, that’s all. My body is humming with the kind of exhaustion that makes you feel punch drunk. And I’m sure the drinks haven’t done anything to help with that,” I added with a mocking eye roll and smirk.
“It’s okay…I know what you mean. I felt it too.”
I froze, unsure if he meant he was tired as well, or if he was saying that he’d felt the same electricity that I had. If so, that would mean it hadn’t been all in my head. However, the more I ran through his words, the more lost in his rumbly voice I became.
It was like hearing thunder dance with lightning.
Like in the types of storms that practically sit right on top of you. The lightning becomes a silent tempo in the sky, the thunder creating the cadence, and together, they dance to the song of the storm. There’s no separation of the two. It rumbles around you like the earth is splitting at your feet. And you fall to the bottom, wrapped in the echo.
That’s what Drew’s voice sounded like.
And that’s what it did to me.
Catching me off guard, he leaned down just enough to bring his lips closer to my ear and whispered, “Goodnight,” before gliding across the dirt to his golf cart, taking the air in my lungs with him.
Chapter Three
Drew
The heat of the sun drenched the material of my shirt and soaked into my back. I knew it would only get worse once we got out on the water, but I couldn’t dwell on that. I couldn’t think about anything other than getting to Kenny’s cabin. I only had a small window of time to work with, and if I missed it, I knew I wouldn’t get another opportunity to do this again.
Luckily, I didn’t have to waste time knocking. As soon as I pulled up front, she came out and locked the door behind her. I should’ve gotten up to at least greet her, but the sight of her immobilized my limbs. My heart raced as she came closer, and the world came to a standstill as I studied everything about her. Large sunglasses covered her eyes, but they didn’t do anything to hide her beauty. She was gorgeous—beyond beautiful, surpassed sexy. Timeless. Perfect.
“How’d you sleep?” I asked as soon as she settled in the golf cart next to me.
“Surprisingly well for being in a strange bed.”
“Strange?” I teased. “And here I thought we bought normal furniture.” We slipped into familiar banter, like we’d known each other for years instead of under twenty-four hours.