Page 54 of Heat Advisory

Her face lit up when she talked about her family. I loved seeing her this happy.

We pulled into a gas station just outside of Redding, the kind with a flickering neon sign that seemed to be working on a part-time basis.

Cora went inside to use the restroom while I filled the tank. I drummed my fingers on the pump, counting down the seconds. When she returned, she was quiet, thoughtful in a way that made me pay attention.

We had just gotten back on the highway when, out of nowhere, she said, “Do you ever feel like everyone else has their life together except for you? I think about your sister, and all of my sisters, and how they all just seem to have everything together in their lives, and I don’t. They’re all either married or about to be married, except for Gale and Hazel, but neither of them wants to get married, so they don’t count. They all have their jobs and feel content.”

I tried to interrupt, but she kept right on talking without missing a beat.

“Don’t get me wrong… I have a great job—my dream job—but something just feels like it’s missing. I just wonder sometimes if it’s me. If I’m the problem, like I’m doing something wrong.”

I didn’t answer right away because I didn’t know what to say. I understood, though. More than most people, I knew what that felt like, especially when everyone around you seemed to have their shit together and your own life didn’t turn out like you’d thought it would.

I may not have known exactly what to say, but I knew I needed to say something, and I needed to have her full attention when I did.

I turned the wheel and pulled off the road and into the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse. Windows were boarded. Weeds were growing through the pavement.

I killed the engine, and then I turned to her. “Cora,” I said, my voice calm but measured. “I’m not sure where this came from, but I get it. I know what that feels like more than you can even know. I watched friends graduate from college at the same time my baseball career had completely fallen apart. I questioned every decision I had made up to that point as I watched other people turn more successful and my life going the opposite direction.”

I saw sympathy form across her face, and I knew I needed to steer this conversation in a new direction. “But you can’t compare yourself to other people. You’re smart. You’re funny. You’re beautiful even when you’re covered in cat hair. You’re the kind of person who remembers everyone’s name even when they don’t deserve it. And you’re the only one who ever saw me—the real me—in high school. Everyone else just noticed the guy who might end up becoming a professional baseball player, but you saw me for something else.”

She blinked. “That was…weirdly sweet.”

“I’m not above weirdly sweet, especially when you’re sitting two feet away from me looking as beautiful as you do.”

I didn’t wait for her to argue. I leaned over to cup her face in my hands and kissed her.

She didn’t pull away. She kissed me back hard and hungry, like she’d been waiting for this too. I slid my hands down her back, attempting to pull her closer, but she was stuck. Before it even registered, I heard her unbuckle her seat belt, and she shifted until she was half on my lap, her legs straddling mine, her fingers tangled in my shirt.

We were both breathing fast. Hearts pounding, clothes getting wrinkled, the world outside my truck completely forgotten.

She broke the kiss first, her wide eyes now dark as midnight.

“This might be a bad idea,” she whispered.

“Maybe. But it could also end up being your favorite bad idea.” I wasn’t above persuasion to get what I wanted, and I wanted Cora. I wanted her so damn badly. “Sometimes bad decisions come with good intentions.”

I kissed her again, sliding my hands to the thin straps of her dress and lowering them over her shoulders, feeling her soft, silky skin under my fingers. Goosebumps formed as I ran my fingers from her arms, up her shoulders to her back.

Feeling bold, I worked the back of her bra and swiftly unclasped it. I moved my other hand to her front, pulling her pink bra down and lifting to cup her breast in my hand.

She gasped, causing her mouth to separate from mine, but she stayed close. Her eyes met mine, and I watched the silent inner workings of her brain as she tried to figure out what to do next.

“Take what you need, Cora.”

“I don’t know what I need,” she replied, her breath ragged.

“Yeah, you do,” I whispered my encouragement. “You need me. Just like you always have.”

She bit her lip, deep in thought, and it was sexy as hell watching her brain process whatever she was thinking. I rolled my hips upward, my throbbing hard cock stretching my jeans to their limit. As the rough fabric rubbed against her, she moaned.

I shifted my mouth to the side of her head and whispered into her ear. “You want me to take care of you, and I’m here to do that. Let me take care of you.”

She pressed her hips down against my cock, and I had to reel in my control, or I’d come in my pants just from her movement.

I moved my hand between her legs and gently stroked my fingers over her soaked underwear. Moving them aside, I slid one finger inside her, causing her to make the most amazing sound of pleasure. She was drenched, and I planned to make her even more so. I added a second finger, and she was wrapped around me so tight that I couldn’t wait to feel that hot, wet heat around my dick.

“I need more, Jay.” Her voice was soft as she made her command. “I want you inside me, please.”