Pieces of Us - Carrie Elks Page 0,21

climbed. “Are you crazy?”

He raised an eyebrow. “We were. Not so much anymore. Lucas is all about safety now.”

“He’s a fireman, right?”

They started to walk again, but this time Griff reached for her hand, sliding her palm into his.

“Yep. Captain of the Angel Sands Fire Station. We all give him hell for being cautious, but he’s right.”

“And how long were you grounded when your folks found out?” she asked him, trying to imagine a teenage Griff being forced to stay home. From the little she knew of him, that would be his worst nightmare.

“I wasn’t.”

“Why not?”

“I guess they didn’t care about it.” He shrugged.

They’d reached the crest of the hill, and Griff released her hand. She looked around at the view of the hills as they rose and dipped below them, the land stretching out to the coast, and the sparkling blue ocean.

“Come here,” Griff said, “I want to show you something.”

She raised an eyebrow, feeling flirtatious. “Oh yeah? What kind of thing?”

He laughed, the ease returning to his face. “It’s over here,” he said, walking along the hilltop to the other side. The air was cooler up here, enough for her to unknot her sweater from her waist and pull it over her head. As they came to a stop she could see a dilapidated two-story wooden building clinging to the side of the hill, with two large rusty metal chutes leading out of it to the valley below.

“What is that?” she asked, peering over.

“An old gold mine.”

“You’re kidding me.” She wanted to laugh. “No way.”

“It was one of the biggest producers of gold in its time. Back in the early 1900s, there were around fifty men working here. Most of them bunked in wooden cabins in the valley down there.”

“Do you think there’s any gold left?” she asked him. “We could get rich.”

“If there is, it’s probably buried far below the rocks. The mine’s been abandoned for almost a century.”

“Have you ever been inside?”

“Not that I’m telling.” His face was straight, but there was humor in his eyes. “It’s dangerous. See the signs?”

“So is pebble skiing.”

He chuckled. “Touché.”

She loved the way the skin at the corner of his eyes crinkled as he grinned at her. She could feel her heart race again, the way it always did when their gazes caught. A breeze ruffled his brown hair, revealing a jagged scar leading from his brow to his temple. Without thinking, she reached up to trace the silvery line.

“How’d you get this?” she asked.

He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, his gaze fiery as he looked down at her.

“Surfing accident.”

She couldn’t bring herself to pull her hand away from his face. It was too warm, too real, too him. She cupped her palm on his jaw, feeling the roughness of his beard growth on her palm. “It’s hot,” she said, the words spilling out before she could stop them.

He swallowed hard. “Autumn…”

“Yeah?”

“If you keep touching me like that, I’m going to touch you back.”

His words sent a shot of electricity through her. Up here, it felt like they were the only two people in the world, and she liked it. It made her feel brave and strong and like a completely different person.

The sort of person who wanted this strong, tall guy to kiss her.

She lifted her head, her eyes challenging his. “Go ahead. Touch me.”

His control had been hanging on a shoestring since he’d picked her up from the beach cottage. It wasn’t just those tight shorts that molded perfectly to her ass, nor the thin tank that she’d thankfully covered up with her sweater. It was the way she’d grinned at him, laughed with him, been more carefree than he’d thought she had in her.

Now she was looking up at him, her full, pink lips parted, her warm eyes sparkling beneath the afternoon sun, self confidence-radiating off her. It was sexy as hell.

The atmosphere between them sparked and flashed, sending a jolt of desire through his body. He could feel himself respond to her, need making him ache. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered, his voice thick and raw.

With the pad of his thumb, he traced the line of her jaw, then slid it to those full lips. He softly brushed them, and she opened her mouth to suck him in to her warm, wet mouth.

“Jesus,” he rasped.

The last vestige of control left him. Pulling his thumb from between her lips, he tucked it under her chin, angling her head before he leaned toward her