Winnie

Rhett is kissing me. Rhett is kissing me and I can't breathe. He's kissing me and I think this may be bad for me later, but right now I'm going to enjoy the ride. I kiss him back and he groans into my mouth, deepening the kiss. I can taste his coffee from this morning and feel a hand sliding into my still damp hair, the other one going to the small of my back and pulling me tighter against him. I let out a sigh and he pulls back to look at me. He's smiling.

"My memory was severely lacking…" He places another light kiss to my lips.

"Have you thought about kissing me often?"

"Only every day since I turned seventeen." I roll my eyes at that.

"Be real, Holloway. It took everything in my arsenal to get you to even look at me back then."

"It seems you're under the impression that the first time I kissed you was the first time I wanted to."

"Well isn't it?"

"Absolutely not."

"So the night you kissed me when we went camping wasn't the first time you wanted to?"

"Not even close. By that time I had wanted to kiss you for years. That was just the first time I let myself be selfish."

"Years? I don't believe that. If you had wanted to kiss me before, I know I gave you every opportunity."

"Oh I remember. It felt like you were torturing me." he says as he kisses a line from my jaw to my ear.

"Torturing you? You wouldn't even look at me!" I remember trying to get his attention, thinking all it would take to turn his head was a short sundress or sunbathing in his yard. He stops his kissing to look at my face. There's a glint in his green eyes.

"I couldn't look at you, Winnie. Colt was always right there beside me and if he even caught a whiff of what I wanted to do with you, he would have killed me."

"I had no idea you felt that way about me back then."

"I've been thinking about you like this—" he breaks off and brings his lips to mine again, making me feel boneless. "—since your seventeenth birthday, Darlin'. Since you decided to torture me in that tiny orange bikini that made it impossible to look at you without everyone else knowing exactly what I was thinking about." No way he remembered that bikini. My jaw hangs and a laughter bubbles out of it.

"But that was five years before the summer you kissed me by the lake!"

"Mm, my favorite summer."

"Mine, too." I think about not telling him the truth, but I feel like being brave when I'm in his arms like this. "I thought about asking you to forget about our agreement."

"I wanted to ask you to come with me." That surprises me, I take a second to decide if I want to know but the words are out before I can make the decision.

"Why didn't you?" He looks up and his brows pinch before meeting my eyes again.

"You seemed so set on cutting things off. I didn't want to put myself out there first. If I could go back now, I would ask you. I can't go back and change anything, but I can do things differently now." I nod, he kisses my forehead then releases me but grabs my hand to pull me through the house to the front door where his shoes are. I already miss his warmth when he bends down to slip his sneakers on. "I do have to go next door for a while though. I'm meeting Alder and Knox. The rest of my furniture is being delivered today and then I will officially be moving in next door. You know, I didn't buy the house because of it's vicinity to you, but it was a big selling point."

"You knew I lived here before you bought it?"

"My family may have mentioned it the day I signed the papers, the same day you decided to give me a sneak peek in the window." He winks and I laugh loudly at that.

"I didn't know anyone was in the house and what were you doing staring into my window?"

"I wasn't staring into your window, I glanced in your houses direction."

"So, basically you're stalking me?" I tease.

"Yep. And I don't plan on stopping anytime soon." He grabs my face with both hands and kisses my lips in three quick pecks. "Can I see you tonight?"

"Yes." I answer a little too quickly but I can't find it in me to care. He wants me.

"Great. I'll pick us something up for dinner from Knox's?"

"That sounds great. I'm going to go to the bakery for a few hours. I have some orders to catch up on and getting things ready for next week."

"If you need any help, I'm there." That makes me smile. He's always showing up for me.

"I should be able to handle it all myself, but thank you."

"As long as you know you don't have to handle it on your own."

"I do and I appreciate the offer. Really."

"Oh, I have plenty of offers for you, darlin'. I'm hoping you'll take me up on a few of them." I smile at that and stretch up onto my toes to kiss him. He kisses me back, gripping my hips tightly before letting go. "I'll see you later."

"See you later." He opens the door and kisses my cheek before stepping out and bouncing down the steps. I shut the door and let out the girliest squeal I have ever squealed in my life. I have wanted this for so long and finding out that Rhett still wants me too, that he never sent those messages to me. It feels so good to let that go, but it also makes me feel incredibly vulnerable.

He wants me now but if he decides I'm not what he wants it will break me. We were together for a summer eight years ago. He may think he wants me, but there's so much that he doesn't know about me. Things he should probably find out before deciding he truly wants to be with me. I need to try and slow down. I take a deep breath and get ready for my day at the bakery.