I moved forward and wanted to kiss her.
That's when she mustered up the nerve and shoved me away. I thought for a second she was going to slap me. Instead, she hugged herself again.
I knew my place right then and there.
The wounds may have healed. The scars may have been hidden. But the pain was still real.
I stared at her.
I should have chased you. Day to day. Across the country. But I wanted you fucking happy. You were meant to go and be happy, Lacey. Why didn't you find happiness? Today was supposed to be the last time I came to this fucking rock and waited for you. And now you're here. What the fuck do I do now?
I knew what I wanted to do.
But I decided to stick with what I needed to do.
"I'll go get your car out of that ditch."
I carefully hooked up to the front axle of her car. I just needed to pull it enough to get the driver's side back tire out of the ditch. She was lucky she didn't go any further. If she'd ended up with the car completely off the road and in the ditch we'd be in big trouble.
I was on my hands and knees as I checked to make sure I wasn't going to damage anything. Lucky for her, my pickup truck was built like a beast and could handle her tiny-ass car.
I got up on my knees and wiped my hands on my jeans.
All I needed to do was put her car in neutral and then find a good spot to back up my truck so I could pull her out. Then I'd turn the car around for her so she didn't end up in trouble again.
As I was on my knees, I felt my jeans tighten against my leg. The ring pressing through the pocket to my skin.
Fuck.
What was I thinking all these years? That she would just show up and it would be normal? Be what it was? That she would go ten years without me to do what: become a doctor and not find love and not find what she wanted in life, just to wait around for me?
I had dueling stories in my mind and my mouth was damn dry for a shot of whiskey to ease my nerves.
Then I saw a shadow climb over me.
Lacey was standing behind me.
Watching that shadow over me drove me damn crazy, too. I wanted it to be her body over me.
"I'll have you out of here in a few minutes," I said. "You didn't get stuck all that bad."
I climbed to my feet and turned to face Lacey.
She jumped right at me like she wanted to attack me. I caught her by the waist as her hands touched my face. She was on her toes but still unable to actually kiss me. I lowered myself down in a hurry and lifted her, bringing her lips to mine. My hands slipped up her body as we kissed. I was just inches from touching her breasts.
Her lips were as sweet as I remembered. A delicate honey flavor that I had been missing for way too damn long in my life. I sucked in a breath through my nose, knowing right what I wanted to do. Turn her around, put her on the hood of the car, and take her. Pick up where we left off, right on the hood of a car.
I broke the kiss like a fool and let the tip of my nose touch hers.
"I shouldn't have said what I said," she whispered.
Her breath tasted delicious. I wanted all of her. The good. The bad. The everything in between.
"You should have said it," I said. "And keep saying it. I should have gone after you. I should have never let you slip away like that, Lacey. I just wanted you to have the best life possible. Running wild with me wasn't going to give you that. Trust me. But if I ever had the chance to go back … "
"You can't," Lacey said. "Right? We're here now, River."
"Yeah, we are."
My hands gripped at her sides tightly. I still had her on her toes. I laced her lips with one more soft kiss and let her go.
She had me on fire. My heart, my mind, my soul.
I opened the door to her car and put it in neutral, then made her climb into my truck with me. I looked behind and saw a big enough space between two trees to back up my truck.
"What if it breaks?" she asked.
"No offense, but the only thing that could break here is your car," I said. "But I won't let that happen. What were you thinking driving a car up here?"
"I was thinking I needed to see you," she said.
I grinned and put my truck into reverse. The resistance from the weight of the car was instant. I slowly pressed the pedal. My truck groaned and bounced a little. The car started to move. It eased to the right, starting to face me.
"Fuck," I whispered.
If I pulled forward, even a couple feet, the car would go right into the ditch.
"River … "
"I got it," I said.
I floored the truck for a second and the car started to pull out of the ditch. I couldn't give it too much, though, or else I ran the risk of the axle cracking.