Page 73 of Texas Kissing

“It’s okay,” she said quickly. “Everything’s going to be okay.” And she smiled.

I stared at her, utterly confused. Was she breakingup with me? She seemed to be in the weirdest mood, worried one minute, grinning the next. What the hell was going on?

“I just need some time to think,” she said. “Can you give me that? Please? Just tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow, I promise.”

I could feel the frustration building up inside me. All the times she’d run away from me...and now, just when everything was going so well, she was doing it again. I opened my mouth to yell—

And stopped. She was looking up at me with huge, pleading eyes, begging me to give her one last chance.

With a superhuman effort, I reigned in my anger. “Okay,” I said. “If that’s really what you need. But I swear I don’t know what’s going on with you.”

“I know.” She suddenly hugged me tight and the feel of her against me made me forgive her everything. A week ago, it would have just been the press of her breasts that I couldn’t get enough of. But now it was more than that. It was the feel of her warmth, the closeness of her—

Goddamn it, she’d turned me into a damn sissy.

She unwrapped herself from me and ran to her car.

Her little Toyota’s engine coughed once before it started and then she was roaring away in a cloud of dust. “Tomorrow!” she yelled out of the window. “I’ll call you first thing!”

“You better,” I muttered under my breath.

61

Lily

I was almost dancing inside, drunk on excitement. I had been ever since I’d heard Bull say it—or nearly say it.He loves me!

I couldn’t let him say it. Not then. As soon as I’d realized what he was going to say, I’d known it in my heart.

I loved him, too.

But I couldn’t let him say it. Not when I was lying to him about everything in my past—who I was, what I was scared of. It wasn’t right.

I realized now that I’d been stalling all along. Now I had to make a decision. I owed him that. I had to end this thing now...or tell him everything and risk the consequences.

Back at the bus, I went down to the bathroom, ran a deep, hot bath, and slowly sank into it.

Bull was the best thing that had ever happened to me. He’d pursued me even when I’d pushed him away. He’d battled through even when I washard work,as he’d put it. And the things he did to my bodyreduced me to a hot ball of goo every single time. He was exactly what I needed: solid as a rock, when my whole life was a paper-thin mess of lies and fakery.

He’d given so much of himself. Now it was time to give something back in return.

I lay back, submerging everything except my nose.

If I really wanted him, if I wanted this thing to berealthe way he was real, I had to be totally honest with him.

I thought about it for a long time. And then, underwater, I gave a nervous smile.

I was going to tell him the truth.

I sat up and climbed out of the bath. The hell with tomorrow. Now that I’d made my decision, I was bursting with excitement. I’d get dressed, dry my hair, and call Bull. And, if he was in, I’d head over there and tell him right now.

62

Bull

Back at my place, I used the door frame of my trailer to lever the cap off a beer and then drank it sitting on the step. There was a pretty good sunset, but I couldn’t appreciate it...becauseshewasn’t with me.

What the hell’s going on with her?

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