Page 102 of All In Good Time
Derek sat on the edge of the hood of his car and smiled at her as she paused her walk.
Her heart thumped from her chest to her ears, and her breath quickened.
He looked radiant. He always looked good, even on his bad days. He was the most beautiful human being that ever existed in her opinion. Right now, though, she thought her knees might give out just from staring.
He wore a black shirt, unbuttoned halfway down to display his chest, even in this cold weather, and his jeans did wonders for his thighs. He wore a leather jacket, the same one as the night before, and Becca’s nerves skyrocketed. She gulped down a lungful of air to calm herself.
“Don’t they call this sort of thing déjà vu?” he asked, pushing off the car to walk toward her.
Her eyes followed him closely. Half of her expected him to lean forward and kiss her lips like he did before, but he didn’t.
In hindsight, that might have just been a wish.
Her face heated at the thought, and his smile curled up just a tiny bit more.
“Derek.” She could barely manage to say his name. “Hi.”
He raised an amused brow. “Hi.” His gaze traveled down, taking in the coat and shoes she wore. “Where are you going?”
She looked down, following his gaze to the packet—bulky from dozens of papers. “The post office. I’m mailing off the last of my applications.”
He nodded. “Let me drive you.”
Sitting in an enclosed space with Derek Stokes—alone? Not a good idea right now.
“Oh, it’s fine. I was—”
“Get in.”
“Yeah, okay.” Curse her heart, betraying her common sense in favor of Derek.
She stepped around him and walked straight to her side of the car, getting in before he was even to his door.
She wouldn’t say the drive was awkward, per se, but she had no idea where to place her hands. She didn’t know the best way to tilt her jaw so she looked pretty from his angle.
There was a very conscious need to look good when Derek looked her way, and he looked her waya lot.
She should have worn her hair down, instead of up. She should have worn that one red shirt that her mom said made her eyes pop.
The back of her hand came up to her face, and she pressed her knuckles to her cheek to test out how hot she was—very hot.
This was a terrible idea. Pretty soon, Derek would notice what a mistake he’d made and—
Warmth overtook her fingers, and the endless stream of thoughts and worries came to a shrieking halt as she looked down to find Derek’s fingers covering hers. He moved them after a few seconds, and Becca stared, empty-headed, as he turned his palm toward hers and intertwined their fingers together.
“How long are you going to be uncomfortable around me?”
His words caught her off guard, and she looked up.
This was Derek.
This wasstillDerek. Her Derek. These were the same calloused hands she had touched dozens of times. It was different now, but this was Derek.
The slow rub of his thumb on her skin reminded her of that.
She exhaled and shook her head. “I’m not sure how to act.” A weight she hadn’t realized was holding her down disappeared as soon as she said it aloud to him.
His fingers squeezed around hers. “Just to be clear, I’m not either.”
