Page 47 of Amnesia

“We could have been in an accident!” I demanded, even though I really didn’t think he’d been driving that erratically. Especially in a town where we’d literally passed one car along the way.

Eddie shook his head adamantly. “No way. Never. I would never do anything to hurt you like that.”

My head tilted at his deep sincerity.

He held up his finger and made an X over his heart. “Cross my heart.”

“Hope to die,” I echoed.

His whole face changed. It was almost as if I’d said something sacred. “What did you say?” he whispered.

“Nothing,” I sputtered. “I mean, I don’t know. It just came out.”

The panic I felt must have shown on my face because he turned his body toward mine. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s just a silly saying.”

“What is it?”

“Cross my heart; hope to die,” he repeated. “We used to say that stuff when we were kids.”

“We?” I asked, my heart stalling.

“Me and my friends,” he explained. “Everyone at school really.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling a little crestfallen.

He smiled. “Whenever we’d say something that was like, you know, sacred, we’d say cross my heart; hope to die; stick a needle in my eye.”

I laughed at the last part. “That’s serious business.”

“Yeah,” he said, relaxing his side into the back of the seat. His eyes caressed my face, and it made me tingle, made me long to have his fingers touch me the way his stare did.

Eddie tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” I answered.

An ornery look glinted on his face, his lips curving up sardonically. “I guess I did want you to have to hold on.” He winked.

I was charmed.

“Next time, just ask,” I whispered, reaching for his hand.

The look fell from his face, pure desire smoothing out his features. Inside the cab, the air around us changed, became alive.

Eddie stared down to where our hands were linked and resting on the seat between us. He was silent for a while, and I was content. Who needed words when the atmosphere was buzzing?

When his low voice cut through the energy, my blood spiked. “I want to kiss you,”

“No one’s ever kissed me before,” I whispered.

His head jerked up, his fingers tightening around mine.

“You’d be my first.” Oh, wow, my stomach was flopping around and making me feel totally unbalanced. I didn’t know what possessed me to say that, to basically entice him to put his lips on mine. I didn’t even know how to kiss, but oh man, I really wanted to.

“First kisses shouldn’t be had in the middle of the street, inside a running truck,” he murmured, stroking the side of my face with his free hand.

“Seems likethe whereshouldn’t matter as long asthe whois right.”

He made a groaning sound, sliding closer, so close our knees bumped. “Well then,” he mumbled, leaning close, tilting his head sideways as if he were lining up our lips. “This must be the absolute perfect place.”

---