Page 4 of Hooking Her Up

“I know who you are, Liam,” she interrupts.

We both talk over each other for several sentences and end up laughing before settling into reminiscing about various teachers we both shared. I want to really take her in, but have to keep my eyes on the road with the rain lashing down harder than before. I make do with stolen glances as she tries to get a signal on her phone. She’s not the same at all, really. She’s a grown woman now, and the three years between us don’t mean anything anymore. The chasm of our social status hasn’t filled in at all, though. Still, I can’t keep my eyes off her. She’s hotter than hell now.

The wet clothes cling to her body, and her curves, in her form fitting jeans and top, make me much too warm, so I turn the heater off altogether. With another glance I see drops fall from her hair onto her nose, then onto her lush lower lip, giving me an almost uncontrollable urge to lean over and lick it off.

How about getting us back to the shop alive, instead?

At my garage, I pull in out of the rain and hustle her into the shop as a crack of thunder snaps off the lights. Kayla jumps, peering at me through the gloomy office area.

“I was going to offer to let you use the phone if you still can’t get any signal, but we’ll have to wait for the power to come back.” We can’t see anything past the sheets of water streaming down the office window. “It’s not safe to head back out in this but I’ll drive you wherever you need to go when it lets up.”

She shivers again and I have to strain not to rub some warmth into her smooth, slender arms. “It’s fine,” she says in a resigned voice. “Not like I was in a hurry anyway.” Two more thunderclaps have her jumping closer to me.

“I live right behind and have candles. And chairs that aren’t covered in motor oil.”

In my house, I flip all the switches automatically. They’re still dead, so I find the emergency candles and light them, then pull her over to peer into the nearly empty fridge. She turns to me with a smirk.

“Oh boy, I’ve never been great at making decisions when there’s so much to choose from.”

I smirk right back and hand her a bottle of water. “I eat at the place up the street most of the time. This was supposed to be pizza night.”

Her stomach rumbles and she claps her hand to her middle before laughing. “That sounds amazing. I’m sure my mother has a three-course meal prepared for my homecoming.”

“And pizza still sounds amazing?”

She nods. “You’re talking about Ronny’s, right? God, I loved their pepperoni and pineapple.”

“Yeah, with banana peppers,” I say.

The lights go back on and I almost groan that our time might be up, but end up laughing at her as she blinks at the overheads flickering. I keep laughing until she puts her hands on her hips.

“What?” she demands.

I reach out and pull some pine needles out of her hair, holding them up. “Here, maybe you can make a snack out of them later.”

Her cheeks blaze. “You remember what a weirdo I was?”

“You weren’t a weirdo, you had an imagination.” And yes, I remember everything about her.

She can’t seem to decide what to say, and self-consciously tries to smooth her tangled hair. I grab her hand and shake my head. “It looks great.”

With a snort, she points out the window at the storm. “Is it still too dangerous to drive?”

“Depends on how much of a death wish you have. But you can probably get a call out now.”

I can’t let her know how badly I need to keep her here, at least a little while longer. Now that she’s dropped back into my life, I don’t want to lose her again. Despite everything, she’s going to be mine this time around.

She shakes her head slowly. “I was just thinking about that pizza.” Her smile squeezes my heart. “Look, we’re already soaked, and Ronny’s is what—half a block from here?”

“I like your thinking,” I tell her, grabbing an umbrella from the closet.

On the porch, I open it and hold it over our heads. We look at the wall of water and then at each other. I hold out my hand and she takes it, and we run out into the rain.

Chapter 3

Kayla

We burst through the pizzeria doors, nearly doubled over with laughter. The umbrella blew inside out the second we stepped into the torrent and we’re soaked again. As the workers are shocked to see any customers on an evening like this, Liam grabs a bunch of napkins and begins dabbing at my face. He laughs as he pulls another pine needle from my hair.

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