Page 109 of Jael

He took a deep breath and shifted in his seat, anchoring his arm on the headrest of her seat. Everything had changed for them. It was hard to shift gears after resisting for so long, and he was still worried about moving in a direction God didn’t have for either of them.

“I have to go back,” he said. “But…”

“But?”

“Like I said, I’ve got loose ends to tie up.” The corner of his mouth lifted.

“FBI reports and…”

“I wanted to take in some sights,” he said, his eyes remaining engaged with hers. “Definitely taking in some sights.”

She laughed. “Danny Fletcher, are you flirting with me?”

“Maybe.”

“Does that mean you’re going to ask me out and then take me somewhere unexpected?”

“You were paying attention. And then?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. You never told me.”

His eyes dropped to her lips, and he couldn’t help but touch the edge of the puffiness there. “Does it hurt?”

Her tongue ran across the injured flesh. “A little.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Why?”

“Because I was going to skip ahead a few steps and kiss you.”

“A few steps?” She inhaled softly. “Come to think of it, it doesn’t hurt at all.”

“No? Well then.” He leaned forward and kissed the uninjured side of her mouth, but when she responded, deepening the kiss, she let out a small gasp of pain and pulled away. “I lied. It still hurts,” she pouted.

“It’s probably for the best,” he whispered.

“That makes no sense at all.”

“After a night like we’ve had, emotions are high. My self-control isn’t what it should be.”

“I’m okay with that.”

He lifted his head and groaned. “Don’t say things like that to me. I want you bad enough as it is, but I want to do this right. We’ve both messed up enough in life. Now that I get my chance with Jael Heber, I won’t screw it up.”

She reached for his hand and wound her fingers through his. “That’s what I want too. But it will take some getting used to this new life. I hope making hard decisions like tonight gets easier.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Great. So, if this is going to go anywhere, we’re in for some tough times together.”

“I’m hoping for a lot of them.”

“Me too.” She reached for him, ran her hand through his hair above his ear, and pulled him in for another small kiss that held a promise for something more into the future.

Epilogue

Jael’s legsand arms pumped as she pushed herself harder, but it wasn’t enough. She couldn’t get the ball, and Ekele ran it in for a goal.

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