Chapter 43

LYNN

"Ihate to say it, but if you don't get your hands off me and onto the steering wheel, we'll never get out of here," I scold Joey ten minutes later as his hand slides between my thighs and his lips travel up the column of my throat.

He doesn't move, instead murmuring against my skin, "You're the one pulling my hair out and making all those noises that have me hard enough to pound nails."

I giggle and release my grip on his hair. Oopsie. He pulls his head back just long enough for me to see the heat in his eyes before he drops one last kiss on my lips and says, "I missed you."

Something goes all gooey in my chest. "Me too." Which is ridiculous since it's been like two days, but it's true nonetheless.

Joey finally straightens and situates himself in the driver's seat so he can pull his truck from his parking spot. "I'm afraid to ask, but did you get in trouble at work?"

I grin to myself, remembering Amy's lecture from earlier. "Not really. Amy said she was ‘disappointed' in me, but Nora didn't seem to think anything of it, so I refuse to worry about it." After my talk with Mama last night and a few hours of tossing and turning, I decided that I would make it plain to Joey that he matters. Just like he's been bending himself backward to show me. If that meant I got fired from a job I wasn't even being paid to do, so be it. I'm still young, and I've got time to get the right experience.

The jersey was just my way of making sure Joey got the message, which, by the way he was just kissing me, I'd say he received loud and clear.

I lace my fingers in his as he pulls out from the lot with his left hand on the wheel.

"That's a bit of a turnaround," Joey comments. "I've got to say, I'm happy as hell I can show you off now." He winks at me, and I know my smile is downright stupid.

"Wait until you hear the rest."

I go on to tell Joey about Carter not believing us about Jeremy. He's less surprised than I was, saying that it's got to be hard believing that kind of thing about a trusted friend. Then I share the part about Guy confirming Jeremy's identity.

"What did Carter say about that?"

"I haven't told him yet."

Joey's gaze flashes to me, but he stays quiet, probably wanting to avoid the appearance that he's telling me what to do. But we don't need to continue this same routine anymore. It's time I laid everything out for Joey.

"You know when we were watching Field of Dreams and you asked if I'd ever had my heart broken?"

Joey's eyebrows lift. He clearly wasn't expecting this little tangent. "Yeah."

I take a breath. "Well, I didn't tell you the whole truth."

"Your dad," Joey confirms, referencing our painful conversation from two days ago.

I nod because he's right, but it's not the full story. "It pretty much destroyed us. And even though we're stubborn as mules and refuse to let anything keep us down, I never intended to let anyone in close enough to break my heart again." We stop at a red light, and Joey watches me while he squeezes my hand. I shore up all my nerves to continue. "So, yeah, I've had my heart broken by the loss of my dad, but never a guy. Not once. Because I've never given my heart to anyone for them to break." Here goes nothing. "Until now."

Joey's eyes widen, and the car behind us honks because the light has turned green. Of course the first time I confess to someone that I love them, I choose to do it at a traffic light! Jesus, Mary, and Jolene. The tires squeal as Joey guns the accelerator. I bite back a laugh when he immediately signals and pulls into a drugstore parking lot to the right.

I've been so caught up in my boundaries and protecting myself that I haven't been paying enough attention to what's right in front of my face. Joey has been the one to put it all out there—not afraid of exposing himself while at the same time respecting my fears and moving around all the obstacles I've thrown up. It's time I set it all aside and took a leap. The look on his face right now makes it all worth it, and more.

Joey slams the truck in park and hauls me halfway over the console to lay another hot kiss on me. Once I catch my breath, I whisper, "I love you."

He breaks every speed limit in North Carolina after that before hefting me over his shoulder in a fireman's hold and carrying me all the way from his condo parking garage to his front door. Only then does he let me down.

We leave a trail of discarded clothing from the front door to his bed like breadcrumbs for any creepy Peeping Tom who might happen to stop by. Joey's hard and gloriously naked body covers mine as he takes us down to the mattress, his lips already seeking out my peaked nipples.

"God, I love your body." His tongue swirls over one tip before he draws it into his mouth and sends my back arching off the bed. I could come from his above-the-waist skills alone. The boy knows how to worship every one of my erogenous zones, which I've only recently learned include both my earlobe and the hinge of my jaw.

But he's much more thorough than that. When I circle his torso with my arms and feel him up, he slides down my body, escaping my grip and leaving me with only his hair to hold onto as he spreads my thighs and dives right in with his fingers and tongue. I'm a panting mess in no time, squirming under him while he works me, the delicious tension building in my pelvis and racing toward release.

I pant his name as I come undone, pulsing and quaking around his fingers while he licks circles over my aching clit. Before I've even come down, his lips are back on mine, and I can taste myself in our heated kisses.

Finally able to have their fill, my hands go on an exploratory journey, concluding their field trip wrapped around his impossibly hard cock. My sex hums like it's calling out to be filled by him, so I'm not about to deny her. One jerk of my thighs has Joey rolling to his back, his hands skimming my body until they land on my ass as I kneel over him.

I keep his gaze as I lower myself, leading his cock to my entrance and pushing down with excruciating slowness. We both groan as he fills me up, my inner walls stretching to accommodate him.

"Joey." I breathe his name, and his hands shift to my hips while his eyes stay on mine. I can see everything I've been scared to ever want in their warm depths. He loves me. And I'm finally ready to let go with both hands.

Neither of us speaks as I flex my hips and begin moving over him, taking his cock deep and creating a rhythm that has every muscle in his gorgeous body strung tight. I'm so wet that when I put my hand between us, I can feel my juices all over his skin. His fingers dig into my hips as he thrusts upward to meet my every movement and bury himself to the hilt.

We pick up speed, both of us panting and grunting like—let's face it—the rutting beasts we are right now. I feel the familiar quiver begin, and there's no stopping it as I moan and ride Joey's cock like my life depends on it. My orgasm is so overwhelming, I barely hear him shout his release moments after my own.

I collapse onto his heaving chest, keeping him inside me and dropping tired kisses on his damp pecs as I lay there motionless. We both fight to catch our breaths before his firm arms wrap around me and he finally speaks.

"Damn, do I love you."