12. The Love Comes to Town, Dash

I didn't know why I'd thought we'd have the rest of the day and night to be together, but I had. And even if we didn't set our itinerary in stone, I still wanted it to happen.

Whatever amount I'd been attracted to Beau last night, it soared off the charts today. I mean, in the deepest depths of outer space.

All that silly planning I'd done yesterday about our futures firmed into an impenetrable tapestry inside my head. I was so taken with him that a life of commitment and monogamy was something I was ready to sign up for, right that minute. Except I couldn't very well sign along the dotted line if he wasn't there to sign with me.

"Are you mad?" he asked.

Yeah, I was mad at the world. Screw that, I was mad at the universe. All the matter and space that played its role in allowing today to come to an end.

"No," I lied. "Disappointed. I liked spending time with you." I wadded up the towel and threw it toward the resort's bin. We were isolated from the world on a small, private stretch of the beach my family negotiated into their deal. When I began to gather the rest of our things, Beau stood. "I get it. You have to be at orientation training early in the morning."

"Can you come to my house tonight?" he asked. "Or we could meet somewhere."

"No, I'll come to you." I instantly set my aim as if I was on the free throw line as I tossed the towel toward the bin. Alas, it fell short again. I guess basketball was harder than it looked.

Now, I'd have time to shower. Polish myself up to look my best when I saw my guy tonight.

Beau . The name echoed through me. I liked that he was tall, taller than me but not by much. I also grooved on being able to tilt my head this way or that to better read his expressions. "What time should I be there?"

"My mom's goin' to bed early. Probably any time after dark," he said and bent to pick up his towel, wadding it between his fists. "There's an alcove in the middle of the trees where we parked. We can hang out there."

"Do I need to wear hiking boots or anything?" I asked, weary of the conditions. Hiking trails were one thing. Treading through forestry was quite another.

"No. It's a simple walk, but we can hear anyone if they come out there, givin' us time to escape."

The sunshine in my heart was back. The smile I'd had all day returned to my lips. "Yeah, I'd like that. I liked today. I said that already, but I really did."

"Me too," Beau grinned and bent around me to toss his towel away. It made it inside the bin. No matter what his father said, his athletic talent had to be natural, I'd bet my car on it. We still had a ten-minute walk to reach his bike locked at the dock. I'd enjoy every last second.

Well past our agreed upon time of nightfall, I rolled to the edge of the road close to the trees and contemplated my next move. I assessed Beau's house. All the lights on the third floor were turned off. Should I call it a night and meet up again with him tomorrow? A resounding no screamed through my head in an amped up stereophonic sound. We had agreed to meet, and he should be the one to turn me away.

After the longest dinner I'd ever had with my family, I decided I needed a grand romantic gesture to help ease my tardiness. I strategized, working through scenarios in my head. Romance meant sweet and personal, an effort I wanted to make every day to always ensure Beau felt special, loved, and wanted. So I'd start today with throwing rocks at his window, urging him out to spend time with me.

Sitting here in the dark, watching Beau's window, I saw the holes in my plan. Could I accurately aim to get the rocks in the proper third-floor window? Honestly, I didn't know how well I'd do.

If determination gave me a physical edge, I'd succeed easily. I cut the engine to Joy's car—that I technically stole again tonight—and started across the field. The high grass and uneven terrain made the walk harder and longer than expected. He had made it look easy, bouncing on the ground as if it were a gymnast tumble track.

It was far from that.

A new complication arose when I finally got to the house and the dogs around the neighborhood began to bark. Fearing I'd be caught, I crouched, getting as small as I could to prevent being seen.

I stayed low and did my best Donald Duck waddle to get closer to the house and decided to do a test throw with a tiny pebble to see how high I could get. Surprisingly, it wasn't a bad throw. I could easily reach the window and reared my arm back to make my aim. I let the small stone fly. At the same moment, the window opened and a leg started through the frame. My grand romantic gesture hit him in the chest. The startled expression he gave proved he hadn't known I was there.

About a second later, he spotted me on the ground and tossed out a hand that I interpreted to mean, what are you doing?

"Sorry," I whispered loudly and stayed in the shadows as I went to the first-floor ledge where he'd dropped from last night. I swear, Beau was half ninja with the easy skill he used to get where he was going.

He landed on his feet right in front of me. "Why'd you throw a rock at me?"

"If I could have made it actually hit the window, I thought you'd think it was sweet and excuse my late hour," I whispered back as we retraced my steps toward my car. A damned rut got me. I lost balance, stumbling in front of Beau.

He reached out to help me, meaning he'd voluntarily touched me. His hand circled my arm, sending instant goose bumps springing along my skin. My guy kept hold of me until he turned me in the direction he wanted me to go and I was securely back on my feet.

His skilled hand caressed over my shoulders and down my back before letting me go.

My cock grew harder, stiffer until that part of my body began to revolt with frustration at how patiently it waited for the same touch. "I brought a blanket and a couple water bottles. They're in the trunk."

"We'll go in right there." He pointed to a patch of thicket that showed no discernable entry. "There's an open patch a couple of feet in."

"Do we really have to trek through the brush where bugs and spiders hang out?" I asked and slowed my pace. "I brought mosquito repellent too…"

He laughed at me this time, not with me. "I think snakes and an occasional gator might be the likely irritants…"

I stopped dead in my tracks. Beau walked into me from behind, bumping me forward. Whatever look I had on my face when I stared at him over my shoulder caused his soft, mocking laughter to increase.

"You're funny," he said and started around me.

"I'm not going where snakes and alligators hang out." I refused to budge. "We can hang out in the car instead. I'll drive farther down the road."

"I was kiddin', but now the bugs and spiders are less annoyin', right?" Beau kept going toward the overgrown trees. My eyes landed on his ass. He needed to always wear Wranglers. They showed his sculpted butt. The strength of his walk with the way his legs slightly bowed really did it for me.

Of course, I had no choice but to follow. I made a pit stop by the trunk, grabbing my bag of essentials and quickly sprayed my legs with the bug repellent. Hopefully its power included keeping spiders away. I hated those things.

He looked back at me before stepping into the trees. I wished he had waited for me. But again, I was destined to follow wherever he led and started for the trail. Three steps in and I was surrounded by utter darkness. I needed time for my eyes to adjust. The exact amount of time for a creature to grab me and eat me up.

Where did I go?

Where did he go?

I tried to listen for a sound to indicate a direction, but heard nothing, and started forward. At some point I had to reach the middle.

An eerie vibe of the shadowless darkness sent a shiver down my spine.

New next rule in our relationship, Beau was never to leave me to my own devices when we were outdoors.

"Boo!" Beau suddenly, and loudly, dropped down in front of me.

I dropped everything I held and stumbled backward, trying to get away from the threat. If I managed to stay on my feet, I'd run for it. Instead of sprinting away, I screamed a high-pitched sound, kicking and punching while trying to stay on my feet. It wasn't easy or graceful.

Luckily, his loud cackle penetrated my very serious flight instinct. He had truly frightened me.

With eyes as big as saucers, I bent to catch my breath. I needed a minute and sent a prayer of thanks for not wetting my pants.

Beau had other plans and reached for my bicep to keep me upright, creating a whole different layer of problems to my current emotional breakdown. His touch caused desire to ripple over me in waves. My heart continued to thump wildly, my breath pumped in and out. I hoped I didn't hyperventilate.

I must have appeared as frantic as I felt because Beau barked with laughter.

"I'm sorry." His over-the-top humor implied something altogether different.

My racing heart thumped violently against my rib cage. "You're not sorry at all," I shot my accusation back with all the venom I could muster—it wasn't much.

"I am, but your face is totally freaked out. I didn't think I'd really scare you." He bent to pick up my bag. Everything had fallen out, making him stuff the blanket, bottles of water, and bug spray haphazardly inside.

He grabbed my arm again and led me through the trees like an expert.

"In the future, let's keep the scaring inside, like in a haunted house, or daylight, or not at all."

"Got it." I didn't think he did with the happy laughter bubbling out when he agreed.

A few steps later, we walked into an enchanting, soul-filling moonlit stretch of green grass about twenty feet wide. Somehow the dark night faded, and the moon lit the center in a soft glow.

"Does everyone know about this place?" I asked, turning a full circle, taking it all in. The scary forest transformed into a captivating fairy tale where peace and harmony hung out freely, waiting for us to arrive.

"Everyone who lives around here does, I guess. The guy who owns the property from where my grandparents live, all the way the other direction, wants to keep it in its natural state. Even if he builds a house, he's leaving all this alone," he explained and flipped out the blanket in the center of the clearing. It floated to the ground as Beau dropped down too, tossing the other items aside.

"So this is all private land?" I asked, closing the distance between me and Beau.

"Yeah. The owner lets the local Boy Scouts clubs camp out here." He patted the blanket beside him. "Come lay down and look up at the stars with me. You can see so much better here than in the city." Regretfully, he took his gaze from mine as he pointed up to the sky. "You know what that cluster is?"

Ah, the perfect invitation. I followed him down, laying inches away, eyeing which constellation he tried to draw my attention to. "Scorpius? I like mythology."

"I was testin' you," he said and steered me toward another cluster. "What's that one?"

I rolled my eyes, turning toward him. "The Big Dipper. I think I learned about the dippers in first grade."

He gave a quiet chuckle and searched the sky. "How about that one?"

Again, I followed his pointing finger.

"Did you forget I'm smart?" I asked and turned my face back to his. "It's Big Bear that encompasses the Big Dipper. Duh."

He didn't try again. We stared at each other for several long seconds.

"I like looking at you."

"You say things like that all the time," he muttered.

"Does it bother you?"

"No," Beau said quickly then changed his answer. "Maybe. I don't understand talkin' so freely. I need to get better at it, I guess."

I gave another ridiculous roll of my eyes for dramatic effect. "Oh, right. You have to be used to people telling you how hot you are. Your body's like a solid muscle…"

Beau laughed at me and turned away to stare up at the sky. "No one's told me I'm good lookin'. I had a friend back home that developed a crush on me, but she just kept sayin' she'd be my arm candy when I went to the NFL, and she wanted to spend all my money."

I barked right out loud. Who said things like they plan to spend all of someone else's money?

"Let's share rosters," I said. Beau's head whipped toward mine. If I gauged the confusion on his face, he'd been very serious when he said he wasn't ready to take the next natural steps by being my boyfriend. I didn't let it go. "What? It seems like an important relationship question."

"How many people have you been with?" Beau blurted.

"Like penetration?" The expression on his brow turned intense and vulnerable.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Zero. I told you that last night. I was seeing if you paid attention." The instant relief of Beau rolling his shoulders, pushing away the tension said it all, in my opinion. I decided having sex was most likely a big decision, that neither of us would go at willy-nilly. "I've kissed a few guys. My first time was about four years ago when I played spin the bottle at a school party. I've done some heavy…petting, I guess that's what I'd call it. It was a guy who came home from college last year during Christmas break."

"Do you see yourself as a top or a bottom?" he asked.

"Versatile all the way." With all certainty, I wanted to go both ways.

"Why didn't you do it with the Christmas dude?"

"I don't know. I feel like the first time needs to be special. If I'm going to remember it for the rest of my life, I at least want him to be someone I care about," I said, trying to explain my reasons without sounding like a dork. "Is there really no one else for you? No girls in your past I should know about?"

"I've done nothin'. I've known about my twisted ways since I was young. It's only in the last couple of years that it became a problem. I've been freaked out about the repercussions. It's made me close up, puttin' space between me and my life. Then you came along and changed everything."

"Yeah, that same connection is what drove me back here last night. Can I kiss you?" I asked.

Beau's gaze skidded to mine again. The passion in the stare was palpable. His chest rose and fell steadily, letting me know how much he cared. He answered my question with action. It was funny to think he kept himself hidden, because I could read him like a book.

Boldly, or at least it felt that way, I turned to my side to place a hand over his heart. His gaze stayed fixed on me. "We can wait. I'm just really, really, into you. I didn't even know I was unsettled in my life until you came barreling in, changing everything for me."

His palm rested on top of mine, his fingers circling until he held my hand. I liked it a lot. This was a hand I was determined to hold many times over. The tingles were back in full force, making me scoot over to lean in. His actions seemed invitation enough, but he also had me doing all the initiating.

Seconds before my lips landed on his, I took a deep breath in, taking Beau's scent into my soul. He smelled the same as before. Outdoors… No, that wasn't right. I couldn't put into words what the fragrance was, except it mixed with mine and became one.

I closed my eyes and touched my lips to his. Fireworks exploded behind my lids. The sultry evening turned red hot in all the right ways. His hand held mine. His other extended around my back, keeping me close.

When the tip of his tongue poked out, caressing over mine, my life was made perfect, and that was before his lips parted, letting me inside. The beauty of our surroundings added to the delicious warmth seeping over me. My entire body tensed and strained.

I was lost to Beau Brooks.