Page 43 of Crazy for You

Well, when he put it that way…

He shifted her to a more ladylike position in his lap, then kissed her again. “But I couldn’t go another moment without kissing you.”

Something about the way he said it sent a warm tingle up her spine. He sounded possessive. Of her.

“Did you get a good look at the view?” he asked.

“I like the view.” She smiled, staring straight into his eyes. She’d spent the better part of her life fantasizing about him looking at her the way he was right now, and yet the reality was still better than she’d imagined.

He dipped his head and kissed her again. “I mean the view around us. It’s always better when you’ve scaled the rock to get here.”

She turned her head, seeing the forest around her for the first time from her new vantage point, and yeah, it was pretty awesome. She slid out of his lap and crawled to the edge. Lying on her stomach, she looked down at where she’d started. “Wow. It looks even higher from up here.”

“Not bad, huh?” He came to lay beside her. “I climb up here when I need to clear my head.”

“I can see how this would do it.” She lay there for several minutes, just staring out at the vista in front of her. “Thanks for pushing me to try again.”

“Any time.”

She listened to the birds chattering in the trees, then rolled to her back to watch the sunlight filtering through the canopy of leaves overhead. “I could stay here all day.”

“Fine by me,” Ryan said. “Hey, how’s the memorial coming?”

And just like that, her peaceful mood was ruined. “I met with the Town Planning Committee this morning, actually. They rejected my design.”

“What? Why?”

“They thought it was too trendy.” Emma stared up at the trees overhead, avoiding Ryan’s concerned gaze. Lucas and Mary had warned her this might happen, but it still hadn’t prepared her for the enormous sting of the Planning Committee’s rejection.

“I’m sorry, Em. That’s lousy.” He lay beside her, taking her hand in his. “But it’s just a bump in the road. You’ll come up with something else, something even better.”

“I sure hope so.” She turned her head to look at him. “What’s next, Ryan?”

His brown eyes were alive with the dappled light of the forest around them. “I assume you don’t mean right here, right now.”

“No, apart from the fact that we’re lying here on this rock we just climbed…what comes next with all the kissing and stuff?”

“Not quite sure myself.” His lips curved in a wicked smile. “But if you have any wild fantasies in mind, I thought our trip to Charlotte this weekend might be a good time to fulfill them.”

She gulped audibly, her throat gone dry as sandpaper. “Oh.” Yes. Their trip to Charlotte to get her tattoo.

“So let me hear it, baby. What naughty fantasy do you want to indulge first?” His voice was delightfully rough, his eyes having taken on a slightly wicked gleam.

“Um.” Gah. He’d rendered her speechless. “Surprise me.”

“Oh, baby, that is a definite ‘can do.’”

Ryan rolled the Harley into Emma’s driveway just past noon on Saturday. He’d told her to pack a backpack with a change of clothes and something nice to wear later. Hopefully she knew how to travel light because taking the bike was going to set the mood for their whole trip.

She came out her front door wearing pale pink jeans that fit her like a second skin, knee-high black leather boots, and a fitted black jacket, her hair hanging in golden waves down her back, and fuck, he was hard as steel just looking at her. She carried a backpack slung over one arm, sunglasses in hand, her blue eyes bright with excitement.

He stood and pulled her into his arms. “You look…you’re fucking stunning, Emma.”

“Really?” She looked up at him with an amused smile. “I’m just wearing jeans.”

“A woman dressed to ride is my weakness.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, leaning in to kiss him.

---