Stormy Surrender - By Nicole Andrews Moore Page 0,78

way he straightened.

In the background, lightening flashed. A few seconds later there was more thunder, followed by even brighter flashes of lightening. She paused to watch and worry before starting again. Then she mumbled under her breath, “I don’t know why you want to define this when you can’t even stand to be seen with me in public.” She turned to open her door once more. “It’s like Blaine all over again.”

He stopped her. “What are you talking about? I’m not afraid to be seen with you.” He walked closer, determined to take her in his arms. “How can you even think that?”

“Ha! Simple.” She shook her head. “So far you’ve thrown yourself out of a gazebo and into the bushes to avoid being seen with me.”

He laughed. “Is that what you think?”

“Well, what else is there?” She shook her head. “I like you. You feel like home. You and me…we seem to fit in so many important ways. Only…I can never settle again. And if you are just going to be a rebound, I’d rather wait because you are the kind of guy I’d like to try for so much more with, but not the way things are, the way that they should be.”

“What are you talking about?” He closed the gap between them and pulled her into his arms just as the rain started to come down. He started to lead her to the porch, but she made him wait.

“I don’t want you bossing me around all the time. I don’t want you changing me. I like me. I’m comfortable with me. And if change anything, it’s going to be on my terms.”

“Is this about the makeover?” She nodded. “Babe, I thought girls loved days of beauty. I thought it was good for the soul. I wasn’t trying to change you.”

“Not even just a little?” She raised her eyebrow at him and pushed her already wet hair back from her face.

He thought for a moment, then sighed. “Maybe a little, but for all the right reasons.”

“I don’t know anything about love, but I thought that the basis of a relationship was finding someone and accepting them for who they are. Instead, you are trying to remodel the house and me.” She looked down and water started to run into her eyes, so she threw her head back again.

“Can we go talk on the porch or inside?” She just looked at him. “Please.”

“Fine.” There was a nearly simultaneous clap of thunder and a lightening strike all at once. She scrambled a little faster. The storm seemed more powerful than any she could recall back home.

“Is it always like this?” She asked as he passed her a few bags from the car when he met her on the porch.

“Yes, whenever I see you, whenever I’m with you, it’s always like this. I’m always tied up in knots. I’m always bossy and protective. I’m always looking out for your best interests. That’s the basis of a good relationship. I think in a good relationship you begin by liking the person for whom they are, but if you are going to last, you have to evolve, you have to expect change. And you work to make each other better.”

She was staring up into those blue eyes, like the Caribbean waters on a clear day. The house shook with the power of the next resounding thunder clap. She shook, too. This was too much. All of it was too much.

He wrapped his arms around her. “And you can’t say that you haven’t done it, too. I saw you looking around, imagining remodeling me and my father’s house.”

She hung her head some at the truth of his statement. “I know. You’re right.”

“Of course, I’m right.” He leaned in to kiss her. It wasn’t a simple grazing of the lips. It wasn’t a sweet peck. This was passion to the nth degree. This was lip crushing madness. This was tongues thrusting. This was what she had read about but never experienced. And when he finally released her, she discovered her knees had the consistency of jelly and were equally sturdy. He was prepared for that though, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her into the house while she clung to the bags he had passed her.

“Strip,” he urged. “Time to get out of these wet clothes.” He brought her into the bathroom where she discovered that progress meant that a shower rod had already been installed. And that was where he intended for