Giving In (The Sandy Cove Series Book 1) (24 page)

But I interrupt.

I spin her away from him, and my lips are the
only things that silence her as I pull her against my chest and
kiss her. Her body molds to mine as she doesn’t protest the kiss,
only throwing her arms around my neck, and I lift her tiny body. I
could care less that there’s a hundred people in this room, that
Knox is here watching us. I kiss this girl because she’s the only
thing in this room right now. All that matters, all that I think
ever will ever matter.

The way her tongue lashes around mine, her nails
digging into my hair as she holds on for dear life, her sweet lips,
her sweet scent. The scent of my Turnip.

I place her back down on the floor and
immediately she goes to speak, “I don’t know… I don’t under…”

I place my finger on her lips telling her softly
to shhh… I go into my pocket and pull out the paper towel. The
words are smudged, but these are my thoughts. I won’t let some
smeared ink ruin what I have to say to her.

“Let me talk first since you usually have the
first and final words.” She rolls her eyes at me and it’s
adorable.

“I wrote this on the bus on the way home. And
before you say anything, I got on the wrong bus, lost my phone,
fell asleep and missed one of the stops, but here I am, and I’m
sorry I worried you.” I clear my throat as I begin to read the
words that are meant for her.

“I’m not a man of many words, let me rephrase
that, I am a man of many words, but usually not the right ones, but
here goes. A year and a half ago right across that dance floor,
right to where that door is, I met a girl who knocked me for a
loop, except I didn’t know it then. You took me under your spell,
and it had nothing to do with what went on behind that door. It had
everything to do with the way you made me feel. I felt. I actually
felt.” She looks confused.

“Do you understand where I’m going with
this?”

She bites her bottom lip and wipes a tear
falling down over her adorable freckled cheek.

Knox interrupts, his cronies gathering around
him, watching me, waiting to see what I’m going to say next.

“No one knows where you’re going with this,
asshole, so why don’t you shove off and let Harlow and me finish
our conversation.”

He steps a bit closer, puffing out his chest.
I’ll give him credit, he’s got balls to stand up to me like this. I
look dead on in his eyes, and I’m not about to let him ruin what I
came here to say to her. So even if what I’m about to say isn’t
directly to her face, I bare my soul with my words. I’m looking at
him, so he understands that I’m not fucking around. I’m here to let
this girl know I want her, and he can’t have her, again, ever
again.

“So why don’t I tell you where I’m going with
this, Chad. See that girl next to you?” I point to Harlow, and then
I stuff the paper towel with the words back in my jeans. I don’t
need it. Whatever comes out of my mouth is what it is.

“She just turned my world upside down. She makes
it chaotic with her big words and over-opinionated attitude. But
you see, I like that. It means, if she feels the same way about me
that I feel about her, our life won’t be boring. Now you see where
I’m going with this?”

Chad bursts out with laughter.

“Oh, come on Harlow. Are you really going to
fall for this shit? Look at him. I know what he is. He’s a fucking
rent-a-cop. Please. What can he really give you?”

He backs up, and I push up my sleeves in an
attempt to let him know to back the fuck up.

“See those tears in her eyes, they’re not there
because I caused them and never will be. That’s what I’ll give to
her.”

I think I’ve wasted enough words on him, so I
turn my body towards her. Her eyes are bright blue, dark smudges
from her mascara circle under them, so I take my fingers and wipe
any traces of tears of darkness away. If it’s the last thing I do,
I’ll never have to do it again.

“I can’t promise you the world, ‘cause I don’t
have it. I can’t promise you I’ll give you flowers, or take you
dancing. I’m not the person who talks all mushy like in those silly
books you read, or like those guys in the old movies you make me
watch with you. I’m honest to a fault so when you ask me if your
ass looks big in a pair of jeans and they do, I’m going to say yea,
go change them. When you have a big zit on your face and you ask me
if I can see it, I’ll say yes, go put some girly stuff on it and
cover the damn thing ‘cause I won’t lie. I can’t promise we won’t
fight, because let’s face it, it’s what we do best. We don’t agree
half the time, but it’s what makes us… Well us.”

I pause and wait for her to slap me, kick me in
the balls, or just walk away, but all she says is, “Continue.” So I
do.

“If you don’t feel the same, let me know. If
there’s doubt in there…” I point to her heart. “Walk away, and if
you just want to be friends, well, I’ll have to learn to live with
that part, but I won’t live without you in my life.”

She’s silent and I’m not sure where this is
going to go. Time seems to stand still as I wait for her to say
something, anything. Max’s band starts to play and it’s suddenly
deafening loud in here. She goes on her tippy-toes and whispers in
my ear.

“You think it would be appropriate if we go in
the bathroom and finish where we left off a year and a half
ago?”

That’s my girl.

I caress her hair, the softness making my
fingers tingle.

“Nah, let’s start by introducing ourselves, last
names included.” I extend out my hand. “Hi, I’m Raphael Cruz, but
you can call me Cruz.” She takes my hand and laughs.

“Harlow Hannum, damn glad to meet you,
Cruz.”

I’ll admit, keeping my hands to myself on the
walk home is difficult, but I do it, and don’t think for one minute
I don’t have a million dirty thoughts about what I want to do to
her when we get home. I just want to be close to her, so here’s my
arm around her shoulders, her arm around my waist, and the two of
us are as giddy as kids at a carnival. The last few blocks we
sprint. We race to the top of the wooden steps, into the house, and
as soon as I fling open the door, I grab her and thrust my tongue
in her mouth, devouring, tasting her. Hands are in hair, tugging.
My hands fly to touch her breasts. I touch them slowly, and then
pick up my pace. I can feel her nipples harden beneath my thumb.
Her hands are caressing the crotch of my jeans, which quickly turns
intense, bordering on God damn obscene. She’s so fucking hot.

But this isn’t what I want. It’s how we got here
in the first place.

I take a step back from her, and I notice the
confused look on her face.

“Turnip, this isn’t what I want.”

The confused look is now replaced with one of
dread and sadness, and I think I just said the wrong thing. Well, I
said the right thing, I just said it the wrong way.

Am I already on my way to fucking this up?

Grabbing her sweet face in my hands, I pull her
body closer to mine. She’s a bit frigid, so I rest my forehead
against hers.

“I didn’t mean it that way. I mean I want to
slow this down, not rush it, although I want nothing more than to
rip off your clothes and devour you. But not here, not like
this.”

And I mean it. She’s too special just to throw
on my bed and fuck.

She relaxes, her body softening, and I feel the
relief release from her. I bring my lips to hers, taking them
softly, and placing kisses across her jaw to her neck,
concentrating on a spot behind one of her ears. I grab her lobe and
nibble on it, sending chills throughout her body. She shudders and
sighs.

“I want you so much it hurts.”

When I tell her that, she moans softly and her
hands roam my body, making me so much harder than I already am.

“I have to tell you something, Cruz.”

I continue my assault on her neck, and whisper
in her ear, “Tell me.”

“I got a job.” I don’t stop what I’m doing
because I’m so consumed with her taste, her smell, her warmth.

“That’s great… So proud of you.”

I reach her lips and peck gently on them, as I
place my hands on her hips.

“There’s something else.” She dips her face and
begins to mirror what I just did to her neck, her jaw, her ear.

“What’s that?” I say back.

“You did too.”

I pop my head up, not really understanding or
hearing what she just said.

I pull away from her, but just enough to still
be looking at her face.

“What do you mean I got a job too?”

She smiles, and she grazes my jaw bone with her
fingers.

“Your Captain called Max when he couldn’t get a
hold of you and told him there’s an immediate opening for a full
time position on Sandy Cove’s force. You, Officer, are no longer a
rent-a-cop.”

Well, I’ll be damned.

I pick up her tiny body and swing her around,
making her laugh and squeal.

“I got a job and you… You got a job, and we
can…”

Wait. I got a job here and she got a job…

“Where did you get a job at, Turnip?”

Her eyes turn down so her focus is on the floor.
I lift her chin with my finger so she’s looking at me. Those
adorable freckles in my full view.

“Home.”

She got a job at home. Of course, she did. I
didn’t expect her to get one here. It’s not her home. Just her
summer home. My happiness for her finally getting her dream is
replaced with gloom. I just got her, now I have to let her go. I
can’t give up this opportunity. Full-time positions are few and far
between, and I worked so hard for it, but I worked so hard to let
her know my feelings too. I stroke those tiny specks on her cheeks
and grin, but it’s not my megawatt one.

“I know that face, Cruz, and believe me, I’m
feeling it too. I realize what this means as well, but I’m not
worried. For once, I’m not.”

“How’s this going to work?”

She gives me a reassuring smile, kisses my lips
with sincerity and tells me, “Because we care about each other, and
it’s strong and distance is just going to make us stronger. Then
when we do see each other, we’ll savor it. It’ll be like we never
left each other’s sides.”

This woman is so sure of herself, so sure about
us, and that’s just another reason why she owns me.

She fucking owns me.

“I can hardly stand being away from you for a
day, how are we going to make this work? I’ve never done this
before.”

She doesn’t speak. She takes my hand and leads
me to the back door, down the steps towards our dock.

Our place, our sanctuary. It’s where we
belong.

She forces my shoulders down to sit on one of
our special chairs, and she slips off her shoes one by one… Slowly.
Her legs straddle mine, and I can feel the heat between her legs on
my jeans, and it’s amazing. Her vanilla scent engulfing my senses,
the way her hair feels as it grazes my arm, tickling my flesh. She
begins to rub herself on my lap, wrapping her hands around my neck,
biting and licking the skin on it. Her faint breath in my ear as
she reassures me there’s nothing to worry about.

“I need you to listen to me, Cruz. I think I
know you better than you know yourself, and you will be fine. Trust
me, trust in us, and let’s make the most out of what time we’ll
have out of this. Let’s let it all fall into place and see where
the rest goes. I’m going to be the risk taker this time. You’ve
taught me that. I knew it from the first time you made me stick my
toe in the water.”

Her words melt into me, and already she’s
turning me into something I’d never thought I’d be: a pussy.

“I’m going to give as much of myself as I can
for now, Turnip. This is so new for me, but this feeling is
addictive, and I don’t want it to end, so yea, let’s just dive in,
and see what happens.”

She kisses my lips and nods. “Agreed,” she
whispers against my mouth.

The tension rolls off of me, and we go back to
kissing… A lot. Her hand wanders across my stomach, lifting my
shirt, touching my skin, and it feels so good. I can hardly stand
it. Just her touch can send a million, tiny electrical waves
through me, one inch at a time.

The friction of her middle rubbing against the
crotch of my jeans is painful, but pleasurable, and I want her. I
need to take her.

Now.

I inch up her shirt, feeling the smoothness of
her belly on my fingertips as I lift the shirt and pull it over her
head. I throw it to the side as her tits practically pour out of
the black lace bra that holds them against her. I give her a look
as to ask if it’s ok I continue. Her eyes say yes so I unhook it
from behind. Her gorgeous nipples exposed to me, erect, almost
begging for my mouth on them, and that’s what I do. One at a time,
suckling on each one, stroking them with my tongue while I hear her
subtle moans. Her hands still linked behind my head, but her head
is thrown back, exposing her long neck to me. I release a nipple
and attack her neck, licking the salt from it, tasting her, feeding
on her, wanting more.