Chapter Two #2
He put the car in park and turned off the engine.
I wanted to invite him in, but I knew Max would still be up, lounging in the living room, probably watching some sporting event, and I didn't want the three of us sitting there together. It would have been too awkward, and Max would’ve found a way to embarrass me.
"So, tomorrow then?" I asked.
"Yeah, is four okay?"
"I work until two on Saturdays, so that'll be great." I reached for the handle of the door. He quickly grabbed my hand and pulled my body closer to his.
"Where do you think you're going?" He smiled. "I still have ten more minutes with you."
Ten minutes? What did he want to do with those ten minutes? He ran his finger down my cheek and rested it at the corner of my bottom lip, then took my chin and gently pulled my mouth to his. Before I knew it, his lips were on mine. They were warm and soft, and he was so tender.
I closed my eyes and sighed against his mouth. He didn't try to deepen the kiss; he just continued to move his lips against mine as he slipped his hand up my neck, tangling his fingers in my hair. I inched closer to him, pressing my lips against his.
I had never kissed a boy before, and technically, I still hadn't, since Alex was a man, but even having nothing to compare it to, I knew he was a good kisser. The tingling in my stomach that radiated down between my thighs proved as much.
After a few more moments, he stopped moving, but didn't take his lips away from mine. I opened my eyes and caught him looking at me.
"Did I do something wrong?" I whispered against his lips.
"No," he whispered back, and then gently kissed me one last time before pulling away. He seemed stunned, but I couldn't figure out why. There was no way that kiss meant anything to him. He’d probably done it hundreds of times with lots of girls.
"I better go in before Max comes out and starts banging on the window or something," I mumbled.
Alex came around and met me as I stepped out of the car. He took my hand and walked me to the porch.
"Thanks for dinner. I had a really good time."
"Me too." He quickly pulled me toward him and wrapped his arms around me. I looked up into his emerald eyes; they seemed so intense now. He looked as if he was struggling, but I had no experience with men, so I had no idea what could be wrong.
"Good night, Alex," I whispered.
He lowered his face to mine and slowly found my mouth again, but this time it was different. He urgently moved against my lips, causing me to part them so he could slip his tongue inside my mouth.
Wow, that was sexy!
His tongue was warm and slow as he rubbed it against mine. My knees quivered, and that strange feeling I’d experienced between my thighs when he kissed me in the car grew more extreme. My panties were wet.
That's new.
Just when I thought I needed to come up for air, Alex pulled away and gently kissed me one last time.
"Good night, Jocelyn Andrews." He smiled at me, those freakin' white teeth gleaming, and now my panties were really wet. "Sweet dreams."
* * * * *
The next day, Alex picked me up at precisely 4:00 p.m. I was beginning to see he was extremely punctual.
"Where are we going?" I asked as we pulled into a wooded area.
"This lake"—he pointed to a flash of blue beyond the trees as we got out of the car—"is just behind my house. It's part of our property, and we used to swim here all the time while we were growing up."
"It's very pretty." I smiled as he took my hand and led me to the dock. I liked when he touched me.
"When the weather gets nicer," he said, "I can take you here. We could have a picnic and spend the day together."
My stomach jumped when I realized he was talking about still spending time with me in the future.
"That sounds nice." I smiled. "I'd love to."
We sat on the edge of the dock and faced one another. I couldn’t believe I was with him. Things like this just didn’t happen to me.
"Are those your boats too?"
"Yes, my father is an avid boater, and I think that's one of the reasons he purchased the property. The house is over an hour's commute to the hospital, but he likes having a place to store his boats."
"My father loves to fish," I said. "He does it every chance he gets."
"How about you?"
I shook my head.
"Ever been on a boat?"
"No. That's Max's thing with his friends." Compared to Alex, I hadn't done much at all with my life.
"I'll have to take you out when the weather turns warmer."
"Okay." I didn't care what we'd be doing as long as I'd be doing it with him.
"Have you always lived here?"
"Yep. Same house, too. Max bought it when he and Liz got married."
"Liz?"
"My mother. She left when I was two."
"Do you keep in touch with her?"
"Sometimes." I shrugged. "Liz remarried, and she travels with her new husband, so she doesn't really call that often, and I haven't seen her in about two years."
"I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable, but I'd like to learn more about you."
"There's really not much to tell. My parents divorced when I was a baby. Liz was younger than Max, and she wasn't into the whole mom thing, and she hated small town life, so she left."
"That's awful." He touched my hand.
I pulled away; I didn't want him feeling sorry for me.
"I'm cool with it," I said. "I was so young that I wasn't used to having a mom around anyway, so I don't really miss it.
" That wasn't entirely true. I hadn’t missed a mother's presence until I'd met Sarah.
I pushed the hair out of my eyes and said, "It must have been nice growing up in your house, siblings and two parents and all. "
"We have our moments." He smiled. "Brenna is a bit of a bitch at times. She's very dramatic and plays the role of the middle child to perfection."
"I don't really know her that well. She's usually at Ryan's house or hanging out with Julia."
"Yeah, they're all so inseparable."
"Ryan's your age," I said. "Are you close?"
"We went to high school together," he said. "Brenna and Julia were always best friends, so we all hung out a lot, especially when Brenna and Ryan started dating."
"So, you're friends with Julia too?"
"Not great friends," he said. "How close are you to my brother?"
Hmm . . . . He changed the Julia subject pretty fast, and I had a feeling there was more to that story than he was willing to tell.
"Evan and I were lab partners first, and then we became friends," I said. "We had a lot of common interests."
"You had no interest in one another?"
"Not really," I said. "He was getting back with Cali, and to tell you the truth, I love Evan, but he's high maintenance."
Alex laughed.
"You know he is," I said. "He spends more time on his hair than I do."
"I'm glad my brother didn't go after you."
"How come?"
"Because then I would never have gotten the chance to do this." He pulled me closer to him and gently placed his lips against mine. "I've been thinking about you all day."
"Mmm," was the only response I could manage.
He moved his lips against mine, and then he tangled his fingers in my hair as he held me against his mouth.
His kiss was soft and gentle at first, but then it became more urgent as his hands tightened in my hair.
He wasn't hurting me, and I actually liked the force.
Our teeth collided as our tongues found their place inside each other's mouth.
Alex lay back on the cool dock, pulling me on top of him as he ran his hands up and down my back. We continued to kiss for a few minutes more and then, like the night before, he abruptly stopped.
He sat us up.
"Sorry." He smiled as he brushed my hair from my face.
"Why are you apologizing?"
"I got carried away."
"I'm not complaining," I whispered.
"I want to get to know you," he said, and for the first time since we met, he wasn't all confidence and swagger. He looked vulnerable and shy.
Could he really be interested in me? "Do you get to know all the girls you kiss?"
"No," he said. "But I had the advantage of hearing about you through Evan, and I like what he tells me."
"You talk about me with Evan?"
He nodded, and a big grin spread across his face. He looked like a little boy in a candy store. It was adorable, but distracted me only momentarily. I was quickly brought back to reality when I realized all Evan could tell him.
"Oh God! What?"
"Nothing." He ducked his head.
"It's something!" I panicked. "What did that head of hair tell you?"
"Jocelyn." He took my hand. "Relax. Evan practically drools over you. He told me to be careful with you. He's afraid I'll hurt you by moving too fast."
"I can take care of myself," I said. "I’ve been doing it for a long time."
"I know," he responded. "But I'm older and more experienced and that bothered Evan because you've never . . . ."
Now I was mortified. "He told you that I've never been on a date?"
He nodded and grinned again.
"Oh God!"
"Don't be embarrassed. It kinda turns me on to know I was your first kiss."
"Really?"
He leaned in closer to me and said, "Really." He gently kissed my lips. "I'd like to be many other firsts too."
I didn't know whether to kill Evan or thank him for telling Alex about my lack of experience; right now, it didn't matter. I just liked being close to him, and I really looked forward to getting to know him.
The next few months held so many possibilities . . . .