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—Banks—
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Simone’s scream echoed across the hush of dawn, scattering birds and prompting the neighborhood dogs to bark, including Pepin.
“Shh, Pep,” I admonished, then turned my full attention to Simone. Within that second, the world froze, and her beauty amplified ten times over.
The scent lingering on her hair had me drawing her closer and noting how perfectly her body nested against the front of mine. Her chest expanding and contracting within my hold had me wanting to smooth my hands across places I hadn’t been given permission to touch.
My heart kicked hard within its ribbed confines and unintentional arousal began to take hold. One hand shifted from her midriff to rest high on her chest. Her spine straightened, forcing me upright while anchoring her against me.
Visions of my fingers smoothing up her slender neck had my voice turning gruff. “Christ, Simone. You’ve got me torn and hurting.”
Her entire body vibrated under my touch, but I couldn’t discern if it was a good or bad reaction.
“You’re hurting me,” she whispered back.
Turning her so her chest pressed to mine, we locked gazes, and I stared until I got lost in her blue depths.
Distant recognition gnawed at me. Or perhaps I wanted our meeting to be fate. Either way, I ached to lift her into my arms and feel her arms loop around my neck. Stealing the kiss yesterday was a dick move, but the longer I stared into her cerulean irises, the more I contemplated repeating the mistake.
Anchored within Simone’s orbit and unable to break away, I splayed one hand wide on her lower back before smoothing the other up her spine. “You could hurt me a thousand times over, and I’d still come back for more,” I murmured, focusing on her plump, parted lips.
Gravity drew us closer. Slowly. Hesitantly. Until she seemed to come to her senses and abruptly arch away. “Stop. You need to st—”
“By the double-barrelled jumping jiminetty, what’s all the racket about?” an old man’s voice boomed from across the street.
Simone used the distraction to jump out of my hold. Shooting her a regret-filled glance, I turned to Mr. Shoeman standing on his porch with his hands planted on his waist.
“Sorry, Mr. Shoeman. She pushed me off my bike.”
He snorted and snapped, “How old are you, boy? Eight? Just kiss her and get it the hell over with so we can all go back to sleep. Better yet, take it indoors so we don’t have to witness you fawning over your girlfriend in the street.”
“She’s not—”
“I’m not his girlfriend,” Simone cut me off.
Mr. Shoeman barked a laugh. “Take it from someone who’s been married fifty-one years darlin’, a man don’t hold a woman like that unless she’s somethin’ special.” He lifted one gnarled finger and warned, “Think about that,” before shuffling into his house and firmly closing the door behind him.
I puffed out a flabbergasted laugh and flicked my eyes to Simone.
She shook her head and stepped away. “Don’t make this more awkward than it is.”
“I—”
Another step was put between us. “No. Just...” She pumped her raised hands. “...Just leave me alone.”
“Simone, c’mon. It was just a little fun.”
“It’s not fun, Banks. It may be for you, but it’s not for me. I’m not a toy to play with whenever you get bored.” She glared at my BMX before adding, “Which seems like often.”
That got my back up, and I snapped up my hand as if that would stop her from walking away. “Hey, now hold up, Simone. You don’t get to judge me for what you seem to see on the outside. I may have a short attention span and be many other things, but I sure as fuck ain’t a player, and I certainly don’t view you as a toy!”
“It really doesn’t matter what you are, because either way, I’m not interested.”
I advanced again, this time reaching out and snagging her inner elbow before she ran. “I said hold up.”
Simone ripped free from my grasp. “And I said fuck off!” she yelled.
Acutely aware of how far her exclamation carried on the still air, I darted a quick glance up and down the street, then softened my tone.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have grabbed you, but I want the chance to explain and for us to get to know each other. The breakfast offer still stands...” I trailed off and busied my hand petting Pepin to save myself from reaching for Simone again.
Her arms crossed protectively over her chest, enveloping her within the oversized hoodie she wore. “You can’t take a hint, can you? I said no before, and you grabbing me isn’t going to change my mind.”
“Just—”
“No!” She savagely jabbed the air with her finger. “Don’t follow me. Don’t talk to me. And don’t ever ask me to breakfast again.”
Despite the rejection slicing through my ego, a smirk tugged at my mouth. I ducked my head to hide it, then looked up from under my eyelashes. “What about dinner?”
Simone brandished her middle finger and bared her teeth. “Get fucked.”
With that, she whirled and stormed toward Lavender Cottage, fists clenched at her sides and her long dark-blonde ponytail swaying from side to side with each angered stride. Without rhyme or reason, Simone Jamison owned my new heart whether I wanted her to or not.
As I stood frozen to the spot watching her march away from me, I vowed to fix what I broke.
I just didn’t know how.
