Page 26 of Silver Lining Love

He looked up and alarm crossed his chiseled features as he stated, “You’ve been crying.”

He didn’t ask me why and I didn’t offer. I doubted it was a great mystery why I’d be crying under my current circumstances. He scooted forward so that our knees were touching and whispered my name, “Whitney.”

I stared into his coffee-colored gaze and my heart began to beat so hard that I was sure he could hear it. The energy between us was so thick I was choking on it. His hand reached up and cupped my face, the pad of his thumb brushed along my cheek. I felt my head tilt to rest in his palm and I closed my eyes.

For the first time, I didn’t think about what his tender touch meant; I just allowed myself to absorb it.

10

WYATT

“You were born with the ability to change someone’s life, don’t waste it.” ~ Gamma Mary

Why did I keep finding myself in this exact predicament?

I’d come inside determined to talk to Whitney about putting Michael in Little League. But the moment I’d seen her tear-stained cheeks, the only thought in my head was to comfort her.

My hand flexed, and the tips of my fingers grazed her scalp as she rested her cheek in my palm. She let out a soft sigh as her head tilted back, practically offering her full, raspberry-tinted lips to me on a silver platter.

Don’t do it.

Not again.

That’s what my head was telling me. But it seemed other parts of my body had other ideas. It was almost as if an outside force was pulling me to Whitney, and I had no control over it. She was a magnet, and I was metal. I’d never felt so powerless in all my life.

As I sat just inches away from her, my senses became hyperaware. My heartbeat pounded in my chest as I listened to the rhythmic sound of her labored breathing and felt the heat of it fanning over my face. Her breath smelled like peppermint from the tea that she’d been drinking. I watched her lips part in a silent invitation.

I shouldn’t do this, that was the last thought I had before I closed my eyes and closed the distance between us.

The moment our lips pressed together in a sensual connection, my world tilted on its axis. Every cell in my body screamed with primal intensity. I’d never had caveman fantasies, but right now, I wanted to throw her over my shoulder and take her back to my cave. Urgency mixed with desire raced through my bloodstream. It was jarring having such a visceral reaction to something as innocent as a kiss.

Her lips were soft and yielding and fit perfectly against mine like they were the yin to my yang. I pulled her full bottom lip between mine, then moved to her top lip. A soft, mewling whimper escaped from the back of her throat and the sound was like pouring fuel on the wildfire of arousal spreading through me.

Without thinking of the consequences, I snaked my arm around her back and pulled her onto my lap. In the blink of an eye, she was sitting atop me, her legs straddling my thighs. Her arms wrapped around my neck and her full breasts pressed against my chest.

My hands went everywhere, touching her. They roamed down her back, over her firm ass, and up and down her thighs. There was a desperation fueling our kiss. Her tongue met mine, lick for lick, as her hips ground against me.

“Aunt Whitney! The toilet is clogged!” Michael yelled down the hall.

We broke our kiss and stared at each other for a moment in a daze. Then at the same moment, we both burst out laughing. I wasn’t sure if it was the comedy of the moment being spoiled by a clogged toilet or if it was just the release of a lot of pent-up sexual tension. But either way, we couldn’t stop laughing.

“Aunt Whitney! The toilet?—”

“Coming!” She called out as I lifted her off of me and we both stood, trying to pull ourselves together.

“I’ll take care of it.” I adjusted my jeans and was happy that I’d calmed down so I wouldn’t embarrass myself.

Apparently, the cure for a raging boner was a clogged toilet.

“No!” Her eyes widened as she shook her head. “You don’t have to do that.”

I stared down at her, her ocean eyes wide, her lips swollen from our kiss, the sight caused my heart to jump into my throat as the word “mine” filled my head. It wasn’t a conscious thought, it just was. As soon as I thought that word, a vision of Whitney dressed in white, walking down the aisle toward me popped into my head. She was smiling from ear to ear, and Michael was escorting her. My entire family was seated in the pews of the Wishing Well Community Church.

The scene of my wedding suddenly popping into my head should have scared the hell out of me. But it didn’t. Andthatwas terrifying.

“Wyatt?” Whitney reached out and touched my arm, concern brimming from her sky-blue gaze. “Are you okay?”

No.I didn’t think I was.

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