Page 8 of Hank

It was just how she felt deep down. He could be her forever…

Oh, no.

That errant thought had to be shut down.

No forevers.

At least not right now. Not until Collin was off to college. She could hold out for another two years.

But could Hank?

Hank isn’t permanent.

And that thought wasn’t depressing at all.

Especially when his mouth took hers in a soul-eating kiss—licking deep inside her mouth—and his hand at her waist crept up to cover her bra. His mouth parted from hers ever so slightly.

"Dammit," he breathed against her lips, then laid his forehead against hers.

"What?"

"Tequila."

He didn’t like tequila? That didn’t bode well for them.

Stop it, Jo.

There was never going to be athem.

"God, Jo, I want to be inside you so badly, but I’m afraid I’m taking advantage of you."

"Taking advan…" She groaned, as her hand on his thigh moved higher. Now she understood. "Hank, I am deadly sober right now. In fact, I have never been quite so sober in my entire life."

And just soheunderstood exactlyhowsober she was, she boldly let her hand do what it had been begging to do by sliding it up his thigh to the front of his jeans. A solid ridge pressed into her palm, then sort of jumped.

"Shit," he hissed, before throwing his head back and swallowing hard. That was a good sign. As big and hard as he felt through the soft fabric of his worn jeans was another good sign—one that had her stomach fluttering and core softening for what that sign promised. His eyes flashed to hers and hand dropped back to her waist, his hungry stare clear in the moonlight filtering into the truck.

Without even realizing it her hand had gone to the top of his fly.

"No," he huffed out, the hand that had been at her waist grabbing her fingers already tugging on the zipper. Could he not tell how desperately she craved to have him in her hand? "Not yet."

"But I need to touch?—"

"I know." He gently moved her hand away from his body, then lifted her fingers to his mouth. "But first," he whispered against them. "Let me take care of you."

Jo hadn’t had anyone take care of her in any kind of way since… Well, what felt like forever. She couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been the caregiver, the one in control, the one to make sure others’ needs came before her own.

She’d had no other choice. But now…

Could she let go?

"Please, Jo." The arm at her back pulled her close, while the hand he still held was pressed against his cheek. "You said you trusted me."

How could he hold her captive so easily?

It made her wonder again why this man she’d just met—one so much younger—could make her want impossible things after less than an hour.

Was it the soft kiss that left her lips wanting more when he pulled away? Or maybe it was a trick of the darkness. Because how could his steady gaze shine with an emotion that was too soon for him to express? Her eyes pricked as those gray depths held an inexplicable patience, almost like he would wait forever—waiting for her to say…

---