Page 100 of Jagged Line Paradise

“Where are you?”

“I’m…I’m home. I’m on the bluff. Why?”

“Five minutes,” he says, and then he ends the call.

I pull my phone away from my ear and look at the screen in utter confusion.

Five minutes?

I call him back. The phone rings and rings, but he doesn’t answer. I try calling again and it goes straight to voicemail. Anger hits me hard. I was in the middle of having a conversation with him and he hung up on me.

He hung up on me?

I can’t believe he did that.

Fuck him.

I turn my phone off and set it beside me on the dirt. Then I think better of it, pick it up, and turn it back on before setting it down again. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to think. The confusion paralyzes me and keeps me in place.

I squeeze my eyes shut and grip my palms over the edge of the dusty bluff. I inhale dry, hot air and wish it was time for the sun to set. I wish that when I open my eyes again, I might see my favorite colors falling behind the mountains.

That’s the thing about sunsets, though. You have to wait for them. You have to wait for the Earth to move and take you from blistering, overwhelming heat to the perfect sizzle and spark of yellow, orange, and raspberry-pink sunset.

Maybe we need to burn before wecan melt together.

I need him to know that I’m not afraid of him. I need him to know that I can handle him, that I want all of him. An idea sparks in my mind and maybe it’s just stupid enough to work.

Or maybe it’s stupid enough to send me spiraling through a post-traumatic episode.

I laugh at myself and my eyes pop open in time to see a black SUV roll along the dirt road down beneath the bluff. It doesn’t turn off to drive toward one of the trailers across the way in Paradise Park—and I wouldn’t expect it to. I instantly recognize it as the rental Andrés has been driving since he came back to town.

My breath catches as he pulls right up to the bottom of the hill. The car stops abruptly, and the dirt kicked up by the tires swirls around before slowly drifting down to settle. I hear his car door slam and seconds later, he appears, jogging around the front of his car and taking off at a run up the hill.

Oh,my God.

I pull my legs back over the edge and quickly stand, brushing my hands down my backside to brush the dirt off my skirt. I turn toward the incline and step forward, my heart pounding as I watch him run toward me.

He’s running to me.

Holywow.

He slows as he reaches the flat top of the bluff and in moments, he’s level with me. His eyebrows are drawn in a harsh, straight line and his dark eyes are narrowed at me, almost angrily so. He stops, just for a second, just to look at me.

And then, he moves.

He marches forward and I take a nervous step back, lifting my palm as if I could stop him or slow him down, as if I could stop his hard body if he were determined to take me.

I gasp as he reaches out for me, “Andrés, I—”

He silences me with a painful kiss. One hand lassoes around my waist, dragging me into him, as the other cups my cheek, fingers combing into my hair. He kisses me more powerfully than I’ve ever been kissed before. He devours me as he parts my lips with his, his tongue roping around mine and wrangling it into surrender.

I surrender.

I’m limp in his hold when he breaks the kiss moments later. He looks down at me, bent over me, holding me up with his arms as my back arches and my hair dangles behind me toward the earth. I’ve never been knocked so effectively speechless.

He holds me there, his chest heaving as he looks down at me with fire in his eyes. “Don’t walk out on me. Don’t youeverwalk out on me again, do you hear me?” He kisses me again, licking my tongue with sensuality that can’t be described with words. “I made a mistake walking away from you the first time, and I’ll be damned if I let you make the same mistake with me.”

Chapter 26

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