Dirty Thoughts - Megan Erickson Page 0,11
place. This was okay; he’d be okay. She was just a girl from high school—
“Is that okay?” Her voice shook a little from behind him.
He stopped and gripped her car keys so tightly, he knew the imprint would be in his palm.
He faced her. “Why wouldn’t it be okay?”
“I don’t know. I . . . ”
“I don’t own this town, Jenna.”
She pursed her lips. “I know that. Never mind. Forget I asked that.”
“Why would you think it wouldn’t be okay?”
She held his gaze. “Because no matter how much time has gone by, we still have a past. I thought we had closure, but the way you look at me, I’m not so sure of that. And I’m thinking I look at you the same way.”
Eighteen-year-old Jenna had been bold but unsure what to do with it, like she couldn’t harness her confidence.
Close-to-thirty-year-old Jenna, apparently, had grown into her boldness.
It was a major fucking turn-on.
He stepped closer, careful not to touch any of her fancy clothes but close enough that he could if he wanted to. The heat rolled off her body, and for a moment he wanted to melt into her. “How do I look at you, Sunshine?” he asked softly. He’d given her the nickname back in high school because everything about her was bright, from her clothes to her smile to her personality. Everything was better when she was around, like she was his own personal vitamin-D provider.
She rolled her lips between her teeth and let them out. He wanted to cup her face, rub some grease on her cheek, and swipe his thumb across those lipstick-coated lips. A trade.
“Like we’re still at River’s Edge.” She spoke hesitantly, haltingly, like each word was an effort. “Sometimes, I close my eyes, and I hear the leaves rustle above us. I can see the glow of the moon on the water, and I can smell the cigarette smoke from your clothes. You still smoke?”
She’d only said a couple of sentences, but he was right back at River’s Edge, holding her warm body in his arms, rubbing his stubbled chin in her hair while she drank a can of Bud Light he’d stolen from his father’s fridge.
Those nights were some of the best of his life. Until he fucked it up. And she’d let him go. “I still smoke sometimes.”
Her arm moved, like she was going to touch him, but then she flinched back. “They’ll kill you.”
“Why do you think I keep buying my dad cigarettes?”
She barked out a harsh laugh and then clapped her hand over her mouth. “That was so mean, Cal Payton,” she said around her fingers.
He smirked, glad the moment was broken. He didn’t want to see her hazel eyes wistful. Going down memory lane was not on his life agenda.
He took a step back. Her body swayed, like she wanted to follow, but she kept her feet planted. He held out the keys, and she took them. “Car’s out front. Brent got your payment over the phone and e-mailed you the receipt, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’re good to go.” He did turn around now and retreated behind the counter. He didn’t need to stand there within arm’s reach of her when he had no intention of touching her. He didn’t need to smell her hair or whatever perfume she had on.
He didn’t need it. He had his life. His good, solitary life without being responsible for other people. Jenna was just reminiscing. She could do that all she wanted, but she could leave him out of it.
She jingled the keys. “Okay, well, thank you so much for working on it. I know you guys are the best.”
There was the flattery again. “No problem. You have fun, uh, doing whatever you’re doing tonight.”
She smiled. “Delilah and I are going out. She said there’s a new place over in Hattery that serves great martinis.”
He wouldn’t know. Hattery was a little salty for his taste. “Drive safe, then.”
“Thanks again.”
“Any time.”
She turned around and walked out the door, her heels clicking on the floor.
When her car pulled away, he dropped his forehead onto the counter. This was going to take some time. He’d have to get used to possibly running into Jenna in town. When he did go out, he tended to head south to Brookridge. So if he hooked up with a woman, there wasn’t much risk of running into Jenna. He’d tried the relationship thing a couple of times after Jenna left. And he didn’t know if it was that