Page 33 of Courageous Yearnings

The way Lance was looking at her made her feel special.

“What do you want?”

“I want us,” he whispered intimately. “I want you – all of you.”

“A r-relationship?” she stammered and saw his tender smile as he nodded.

“You can label it whatever you want, Boop. You and me, we are a couple, and you aren’t going to shake me.”

“I want a relationship,” she repeated, not backing down. “If we are doing this, then you aren’t seeing or talking to anyone else.”

“Agreed,” he whispered, nodding. “You neither.”

“No, of course not,” she sputtered, not expecting him to agree so easily. “That means that we do all the couple things, like talking, texting, going out…”

“Moving into your place, holding hands, kissing…” he invited.

“Um, well… yes,” she whispered, her eyes dropping to his lips as they stood there together. “Couples… do that.”

“They laugh together, tease each other, and plan special moments…”

“Oh, that sounds nice,” she whispered faintly, realizing he was leaning closer toward her.

“Should we practice being a couple?”

“Practice…?”

“Talking, holding hands,” he invited softly, closing the gap between them. “And kissing?”

Only to feel his lips brush against hers ever so softly. He hadn’t kissed her before during the photo shoot and had come close once or twice, but this was everything. She heard his slight intake of breath as he paused for a second before pressing his lips to hers again.

Her hand slid up his arm and curled around his shoulder as she reacted to this. This was a kiss she had wished and dreamed about from the moment Lance had walked into her office to sign the papers for his truck. She wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip through her fingers if he suddenly changed his mind… again. Nope, she was going to make sure she got her emotional fill of this – and give this kiss her all, to guarantee that he didn’t backpedal again.

Blythe practically threw herself at him, curling her arms around his shoulders and slanting her mouth against his. She was the aggressor between them and taking over… and his mouth opened in a shocked reaction as he melted, tasting her at the same time she sighed with her entire soul.

That miraculous spark between them ignited with a flash… and Smokey the Bear was NO WHERE NEAR HERE. A blazing forest fire was going to be cooler than this kiss, even the surface of the sun, or… hellooooo - nuclear fission! In her mind, she could see the old reels of what nuclear fallout looked like: the trees ripped from the ground, windows shattered, and debris wiped from the face of the earth.

Lance’s hand moved from cupping her cheek and touching her lower back to suddenly both of his arms were wrapped around her, meeting her kiss after kiss. She could not get enough of him and it was like all the walls between them were pulverized into dust, cascading around them… and heaven help her.

He was just as intense of a participant. Only for him to break the kiss, pressing his forehead to hers as they stood there together in an embrace, both breathing heavily.

“I can’t think…”

“Oh heavens…”

“Yup. Heavens…”

“That kiss…”

“Oh man, you tasted…”

“So good…” he finished her sentence, both still breathless and neither moving as they stood there – only to feel him tense slightly, and she braced herself for the oncoming let down. “We’re dating.”

“I thought we established that.”

“No, I mean we are dating dating… exclusive. You’re mine, and we’re in a relationship,” he whispered huskily, his voice trembling as his breath touched her lips. “We’re a thing.”

“A thing?” she whispered softly, smiling at how rattled he was – and how incredibly feminine it made her feel to know she actually had an effect on him.

---