Fire & Ice

Chapter Ten

She recognized her error immediately. "I'm sorry, Vance. I was just kidding, and I spoke without thinking. There's nothing for me to reconsider, either. I'm right where I want to be."

She was worried she'd offended me—I could feel it pouring off her. "No harm, no foul," I said, hoping to soothe her. "So, what're you doing tonight?"

"Homework." She sighed heavily. "Do you want to come rescue me?"

"I'd love to, but I happen to be up to my eyeballs in the same stuff myself. If I have to research anything more about the fall of Rome, I may actually fall myself," I laughed, silently berating myself over my attempt at a lame joke, but she joined me.

"So was there a specific reason you called? Did you need something?"

"Yes. I needed to hear your voice." That was the honest truth. Simply hearing her was both soothing and exciting to me. I could listen to her all day long.

The line went quiet with no response.

"Too sappy?" I asked, suddenly worried I'd said something wrong.

"What? No! I mean . . . I mean, I miss you too." She laughed nervously. "You simply caught me off-guard. That was really sweet and unexpected."

"I'm going to have to work on my game then, if it's unexpected. Apparently, I need to try a little harder letting you know exactly how I feel."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if I didn't think your dad would shoot me, I'd drop everything I was doing right now and come over there. Then I would pound on your door until you opened it and let me kiss you senseless."

She was silent for a moment. "My dad's not home tonight," she responded in a breathy whisper.

"Hey, Portia, can you hang on for a sec? I'll be right back."

"Sure."

I grabbed my jacket and headed toward the garage. There was no way I was missing an opportunity like this. "Be back in a couple of minutes, Marsha," I called as I left.

"Where you going?"

"I need to run something to Portia's really quick. I won't be long."

"Okay," she responded with a smile. "Tell her I said hi."

I started my bike and took off, paying attention to Portia's thoughts. It took a few minutes, but she finally caught on. I chuckled as she hurried to straighten her appearance before rushing to the front door, flinging it open right as I was raising my hand to knock.

"Hey, baby," I said, stepping forward and pulling her outside. Shutting the door behind her, I then pressed her against it.

"Hey," she replied with a breathless grin. Her heart was racing. So was mine.

Dropping my mouth, I kissed her passionately, running my hands into her hair so I could hold her tightly against me.

The same fire raced through—igniting everything inside—making me feel like my nerve endings were sparking. It was incredible how fast she could turn me inside out.

She started shaking, so I slid an arm around her waist, using the full contact of my body to hold her in place.

My skin was hot, humming with desire when she slipped her hands around my neck. I broke away from her quickly, stepping out of her reach. We were on her parent's doorstep for hell's sake. I shouldn't be putting on a show like this with her for the whole neighborhood to see.

"I think that's enough kissing for tonight," I said, wondering how I was still managing to stand. Longing to take her in my arms again flooded through me. This girl made me feel like a fireworks display was constantly going off inside me.