Page 92 of The Naughty List

I smile. “Well, you didn’t give me much of a choice, now did you?” I smirk in her direction.

She laughs and shrugs one shoulder. “You could’ve said no.”

“I did say no; you just argued until you got your way.”

Her smile widens but her feet stop moving. “Hey, I didn’t say I’d give up. You just give up too easy.”

I laugh. “Well, it’s kind of hard when you beg and bat your lashes at me like that.”

She wets her lips and the action draws my eyes to them. I quickly look back up and meet her intense gaze. The green only seems to be lighting up the darkness. “You know, I’m not a child anymore. I can take care of myself, right?”

I shake my head slightly. “No, you’re not a little girl anymore, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll ever stop protecting you.”

“Why do you feel the need to protect me? I know what I want and I’m prepared for the consequences.”

“You know what you want?” I ask, all amusement gone. She’s never been one to make up her mind. She’s always back and forth.

She nods. “I do know what I want, Carson, and I always have.” After that sentence leaves her lips, she presses them against mine.

At first, I’m shocked and I don’t know what to do. I mean, this is Felicity after all. The girl I’ve sworn to protect, even from myself. All I’ll do is take her down with me. But then again, this is Felicity, the girl who has been running around my mind more and more these last few years. The girl who’s somehow grown into a woman, a sexy-as-fuck woman who’s teased me without even knowing it. I have to stop this, but there’s no rule that says when I have to stop it. I can enjoy it a little while, savor it. I mean, if nothing else, I’ll blame it on the drinking.

Her tongue pushes past my lips and I open for her. Her tongue touches mine and it’s like being struck by lightning. Suddenly, every nerve ending is on fire, every muscle hard and prepared to take her away, someplace close by so I can finally have my way with her.

My hands move up to cup her cheeks as I deepen the kiss. Her hands fist into my shirt, pulling me closer as our kiss grows deeper and more urgent. All I can think about is that party I went to back home, the one where I found her stripping on the table. I thought for sure I was going to prison or the morgue that night. Either because I was going to kill myself trying to get to her or because I was going to take every fucking guy on that looked at her.

There’s a lamp post nearby and I walk her backward a few steps and press her back to it. My hand falls down to her hip and I pick up one of her legs and hitch it up over my hip. I press my hips into her, and she lets out a soft moan into my mouth. My body is alive and feels as though it’s been set on fire. It’s like I’m burning up from the inside out. I reach between us and unzip my coat, suddenly too hot but not hot enough to pull me out of this moment or make me stop. No, the street is mostly dead. It’s dark. I could fuck her right here on the sidewalk right now and I bet nobody would notice or be around to see it. So, what’s stopping me? She’s perfect. I’ve wanted her for years. She seems to want me too. Or maybe she’s just drunk. That’s enough right there. This thing between me and her, it’s too much. It’s too much to think about when we’re sober. So that means neither of us can wrap our heads around it right now. Plus, she’s only eighteen. Has she even had sex yet? I can’t be the one to take it, can I? If I stop and ask these questions, I know it will kill the moment between us.

And that’s what we need. We need an out. A way to undo these last few minutes and keep moving on the way we should. I pull back and break the kiss. I allow her leg to slide back down until her foot is on the ground.

“We can’t do this, Felicity.”

Her eyes lock on mine.

“We’ve been drinking. This never should have happened. I’m sorry,” I say, pulling away completely.

Felicity is different from the rest. Of all the women I’ve been with, none of them have been like her. None of them knew the perfect words to say when I needed them. None of them could stop me from doing something stupid with one look. None of them could get under my skin, like her. She’s been the only one in my life who’s had any power over me. Before I didn’t know how to stop things from changing between us. Now, I don’t want to stop them. All I know is that I’ve been hoping and praying that nothing has changed.

3

FELICITY

“I’m so proud of you honey,” Mom says on our drive home from the airport. The ceremony was at noon today. It was just a small one since I graduated in the off semester. My school is one of the only colleges that does two ceremonies a year. From there, we packed up my stuff and took it to a shipping company to have it shipped back to the house. Then we hopped a flight from South Carolina to St. Louis, Missouri. From St Louis, we have to drive. But it’s only about an hour-and-a-half drive home.

“I know, Mom,” I reply, glancing over at her before looking down at the phone in my hands, wishing that Carson would call or text or something. But I guess since he’s coming home too, he’s probably busy with driving from Chicago to Benton, Illinois, our hometown.

“I know I’ve said it a dozen times since this morning, but I just want to make sure you understand how proud of you I am. I mean, you’re my only child, to get to see you graduate, it is…” She lets out a sigh. “It’s the proudest moment of my life. I can only hope that I’ll be around to see you get married and have children.”

I laugh. “God, Mom. You make it sound like you’re dying.”

She laughs. “Oh, you know what I mean.”

“Well, I’m in no hurry to settle down anytime soon. I have to stay focused and keep momentum. I have to get a job and figure out my life.”

“Oh, you have all of the time in the world. There’s no rush for any of that.”

“I can’t be the adult daughter who lives with her mother forever.”

“What’s your plans for tonight? You got plans to meet up with any of your old friends?”

---