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Kicking my legs back and forth on the tailgate of whoever’s truck this was, I finished the last of my beer and watched Cassidy with a couple of his guy friends. Even though I was sitting alone, I knew he knew where I was. His constant glances as well as guiding the group over to me again and again reinforced things.
Luckily, most of the “girls” that Laura Marie had mentioned would be here hadn’t appeared yet, so it was me, Cassidy, and several of his guy friends. “You gonna serenade your girl yet?” the curly, blond-haired guy I think was named Joe asked my date. Then Joe swung his pale blue eyes to me. “Cassidy here can sing like you’d never believe.”
My mouth fell open. “You can sing?” I blinked at my date, who merely chuckled.
“Goldie, I think you forget we’ve not known each other that long,” he answered.
“So? If you’re gonna ask a lady on a date, that might be something you share with her,” I teased.
Joe clapped Cassidy in the back and grinned. “I’ll go get my guitar,” he said and jogged to the cab of the truck.
Tawny eyes locked onto mine. Bright orange swirled amongst the sea green and turquoise depths of irises that held a world I judged too quickly. My entire body turned warm as he stuffed his hands in his pockets and closed the distance between us.
Cassidy pushed between my legs, and with each step keeping us apart, my heart pumped harder. Blood raced into my ears, drumming with the heat that flashed across my skin. “One song, that’s it,” he muttered low, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.
“Technically, you also still owe me some dancing,” I flirted in response, my eyes darting down to his hands that hovered next to my thighs. His fingers trembled, reaching toward me, and then he paused and braced against the tailgate instead.
A tiny crack split through my heart as it hit me. He was still trying to respect boundaries I’d unintentionally set by not wanting to even talk about us kissing, even if I didn’t want him to right now. If I had just accepted that it was okay to have feelings for someone as quickly as I had, for someone who was anything but the expectations that I’d come with, we’d be further along in this dance we were doing.
It was my fault. There it was.
“You can touch me if you want,” I whispered, still stuck on his large hands that twitched next to me—hands that my body remembered exactly how they felt when he’d been kissing me. “I want you to,” I added and finally lifted my gaze to his.
Hazel eyes bore into my soul, his chest rising and falling rapidly as finally, his palms rested on the top of my thighs. In that moment, my entire thoughts became lost in his. I was his, and at least for tonight, Cassidy Duke was mine. There was an innocence in his gaze that wrapped me up in his desires. Something genuine and sincere about everything he’d confessed, speckled within the coils binding us together.
Everything that had once pushed me to kiss him came flooding back like a tsunami. All it would take was grabbing his crisp, forest green, striped button-up and tugging him forward to claim his lips.
My own mouth wanted a reminder of his taste, of the feel of his tongue against mine. It was more than a want, it was something I needed, nearly ready to beg for it from him. Even after hardly a full conversation for almost a week, my craving for him was still this strong.
His lips parted just slightly, drawing my gaze to the satin that waited just a few inches away. The shadows along his jaw deepened by the stubble and dark canvas stretching above us. What would be the harm in letting him in? I hadn’t set out on finding someone during this journey, I’d merely wanted brief safety away from a man who scared me.
Yet the safety that I found wasn’t for that reason, but as if here, this close to Cassidy, life itself became safe. Any terrifying thing I would face, was facing, wouldn’t be able to touch me with him around.
“Cassidy,” I whispered.
His brows twitched, warm breath washing over my face as he exhaled deeply.
And a guitar strummed, crushing the cocoon that blanketed warm around a man I shouldn’t be falling for but was.
Cassidy inhaled, his broad chest expanding with the breath, and he leaned away, a tight smile pulling on his lips.
“Alright,” Joe said. “How ’bout that song ‘Wondering Why’ by The Red Clay Strays. Y’all heard it?”
Cassidy’s tight smile shifted into a crooked grin, and then he began singing. Joe strummed in rhythm as his red-headed friend whose name I didn’t know pulled himself up beside me and used the tailgate for a drum.
Joe had not been lying, and I couldn’t look away from Cassidy. I’d never heard such a unique but amazing voice. A little bit of grit mixed with that western, mountain accent of Cassidy’s in a tune that I finally placed. This was the same song he’d been whistling while tracking Bud.
And he suddenly tugged me down from the truck. Fingers slipped into my right hand, gently pulling me into his body as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pressed his palm against the flat of my back. Cradled within his embrace, he swayed with the music. Not missing a single note, his voice carried a calm whisper across the cool night air.
One of his other friends, Wyatt, danced with a girl who’d shown up a few moments ago, and strangers that I’d not seen somehow found their way over to our little group. My gaze caught the arrival of the scowling face of Laura Marie and a few girls standing around her, but I let it go.
Falling into Cassidy’s slow dance, his chest vibrating with each note ringing from his lips, everything else faded away. His cheek pressed against my ear; it didn’t bother me at all that I was taller than all the other women here.
Right at this moment, I felt more desirable than almost any other moment of my life. On top of that, all of the other times I’d felt this way could be attributed to events occurring with Cassidy, which was not lost on me. But instead of feeling annoyed like I used to feel, I was blissfully happy.
While I hummed along with him, his hold tightened against the small of my back. He was actively seeking to have me closer to him. And I didn’t protest. Pressing flush against him, as snugly as I could, I melted in his arms.
I don’t even know what song he sang next, but he didn’t let go of me. His voice was soothing, and that’s all that I cared about.
