THE STARLIGHT HILL COMPLETE COLLECTION: 1-8

by Bell, Heatherly

  Interesting, since the last time he’d looked in her fridge he’d seen nothing but water bottles and milk.

  He untwisted the cap and took only a sip of it, letting his gaze slowly slide down her body. Recently she’d stopped wearing the unimaginative jeans and peasant tops, and had reverted back to her tight jeans and tank tops. He didn’t know why but wasn’t about to complain.

  “What are you looking at?” she said.

  “You.”

  She blushed. “I had to stop wearing the mom jeans. Mandy made me.”

  “Yeah?”

  “She considers them a blight on the planet.”

  He hoped he’d at least been some influence on her decision to stop covering it all up. If he hadn’t already shown her how much he loved what she had under there, he didn’t know what else he could do.

  He set the bottle down. “We haven’t been jogging for a while.”

  “Yes, and thank you for that.”

  “It was your idea.”

  “I would have given up on it after day one if not for my partner.”

  Partner. Why did he like the sound of that word coming out of her lips? But he had to call bullshit. Partners shared the worst with each other, and he hadn’t done anything even close to that with her. He wondered which one of them had the bigger trust issues.

  “Got any plans today?” He had an idea brewing, though he wasn’t sure how she’d like it.

  “I was going to have some dinner, and then … and then…” She chewed her lower lip, hesitating.

  “And…?”

  “I was going to call you, but you showed up.”

  “That was pretty awesome of me.”

  She nudged his shoulder. “Okay, buddy.”

  He grabbed her and pulled her close, about to show her how much of a buddy he wasn’t. Her hands immediately slid up his back and settled around his neck. The move had begun to feel familiar and comfortable. Like her.

  “Would you go somewhere with me? Tonight?”

  Her eyes locked with his and unless he was fooling himself, and there was every possibility of that, he thought he caught a nugget of trust in them. He’d take it.

  “Where to?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  * * *

  Diana didn’t much care for surprises, but one glance in Scott’s dark green eyes and she couldn’t say no. A few minutes later, they were on their way in Scott’s truck. He drove to the outskirts of town on county land, and she found that she wondered with every mile where in the hell he was taking her. It wasn’t until he turned on to the dirt road that she realized exactly where they were headed.

  The lake. “This isn’t funny. Why here of all places?”

  He didn’t answer, only took her hand and squeezed it once. He pulled further in on the dirt road and parked. “We’re finally here together.”

  “Yeah. Twelve years too late.”

  He hopped out of the truck and then came around to her passenger side door. “Maybe I wanted a re-do.”

  She didn’t move. This pretty little piece of Starlight Hill, the clean and pristine lake, was nothing but an unpleasant memory. A little grove where teenagers congregated to have fun and drink. And a place that reminded her of a time when she didn’t belong.

  He braced one arm on the frame of the door and the other on the hood. “Come with me.”

  She wasn’t sure why he wanted her to face an unpleasant memory or remind her of his own untrustworthiness. He’d more than showed her that he’d changed, so why now? A re-do? They weren’t sixteen anymore.

  “Why now?” This, now, coming back to a place that held more importance than it probably should didn’t make much sense.

  He put out his hand to her. “I want a second chance.”

  Those words made her heart turn over. Because she found that she had a difficult time refusing him much of anything lately, she took his outstretched hand. “All right. You get your re-do.”

  She walked hand in hand with him along the edge of the lake. Even though it was a small lake, it too had suffered from the drought, tree roots exposed along the edge where once water had covered them. The old pier looked ancient now, weathered from the years. Dusk had fallen and the air seemed unnaturally quiet.

  “No longer a teen hangout like it used to be?”

  “I don’t know. Haven’t been here in years.”

  “Do you still have trouble finding your way here?” It was a dig to the fact that he’d never shown up, and dammit she wasn’t sorry to remind him of it.

  “Yeah. I was having a little trouble getting arrested that night.”

  “What?”

  “I wanted to see how fast that Mustang could go and as it turned out, pretty damned fast. My first ticket, exhibition of speed.”

  She stopped walking. “It was that night?”

  “You don’t think anything else would have kept me away, do you?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I should have. Honestly, it wasn’t my proudest moment, and it became easier to let you believe I’d blown you off. Even though it wasn’t intentional, that’s exactly what I wound up doing anyway. Because I was into fast cars, and that Mustang was pretty sweet.”

  “But…arrested for exhibition of speed?”

  Scott avoided her eyes. “It was a little more complicated than that. My friend and I sort of borrowed the car without permission. So…we were arrested for that. But later the owner refused to press charges. After Wallace talked to him, of course.”

  She covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. Scott looked mortified to tell her, and she felt a sudden rush of affection for him. “I didn’t realize I was dating a criminal.”

  “You think you’re funny?” He pulled her closer.

  The thought that if not for a stupid teenage indiscretion, he might have met her here twelve years ago did something to her. Something a little wild. “What would you have done if you’d met me here back then?”

  He chuckled. “I didn’t have much experience when I was sixteen, but I think I would have held your hand like this.”

  His fingers threaded through hers.

  “Nice move.”

  “Really. How far would that have taken me with your sixteen-year-old self?”

  “Not far, but don’t blame the move. Mandy was the bad girl. I was a good girl.”

  He squeezed her hand. “You still are a good girl. Very good.”

  He stopped beside a tree at the edge, its gnarled roots reaching out of the ground on a desperate quest for water. Poor tree. Scott pulled her in close and one hand on her chin, he raised her face to his. “And I would have kissed you like this.”

  His lips brushed softly against hers, a chaste kiss. So incredibly sweet and touching, and she got caught up in the moment and in him. She’d never had the boy all those years ago, but in front of her now stood the man. He was a good man, too, whether he realized it yet or not. Living a little bit on the edge sometimes, rescuing too many people who might not even need rescuing, but now she saw a little bit of the boy who felt like he had some making up to do. Some debts to settle.

  Just not with her. “I’m not looking for an apology. It was a long time ago, and we were kids.”

  His thumb swept across her jawline. “True. Only I can’t help but think you might trust me more if not for that one day.”

  A tingle went up her spine. It wasn’t him, but relationships in general that she didn’t fully trust. All the expectations. She trusted him as a friend, but didn’t want to burden him with her family’s troubles. He already had plenty of his own to worry over. “I trust you now. Isn’t that all that matters?”

  “Do you?”

  “I trust you’re always going to try and do the right thing.” I’m just not sure if I know what that is either.

  “I hope you trust I’m not playing with you.” This time when he kissed her, he deepened the kiss, taking it slow and tender, making her feel and long for every inch of his tongue.

  She
ached for more of every part of him. Her hands came up to his t-shirt and she clutched at the soft cotton, falling deeper under his spell. Her legs turned to liquid underneath her and could hardly hold her up by the time they both pulled away, breathless. How had this happened, exactly? They’d moved seamlessly from friends to something entirely different. Lovers. Not friends with benefits, which was a joke. Maybe some people could do it successfully but not her.

  Even with Scott’s words ringing in her ears she didn’t know if she could trust this—him—all of it. He might be hers for now, but no one could count on forever. Least of all her. But she could enjoy this, and him, for as long as it lasted. No holds barred. She needed to live big and wide like he already had, and do it without holding back.

  “Wanna get wet?” He nudged his chin toward the lake.

  “We didn’t bring anything.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I have some towels and a blanket in my truck.”

  “You didn’t by chance bring a swimsuit for me, size te—I mean, eight?”

  “Swimsuits are a luxury we don’t need.” He pulled off his shirt and next went his boots.

  Diana stood mesmerized, watching the man undress down to his boxers. She checked to make sure she wasn’t drooling and pressed her lips together, shutting her slackened jaw. He was so beautiful, so perfect and comfortable in his own skin. “Skinny dipping?”

  “I’ll let you keep your underwear on.” He waded out to the middle of the lake where the water came up to his neck.

  She’d never done anything so crazy in her entire life. Back in high school, a few of the kids had gone skinny dipping at an end of the year senior party for the yearbook club. Diana had not taken off a stitch of clothes because that year she’d gained a lot of weight. At a size sixteen, she’d decided to spare everyone else from the sight of her fat ass. Instead she’d watched as the kids with good bodies swam with the other kids who had rocking bods.

  But she didn’t have a fat ass anymore. Not for a long while. Despite the mean spirited comments on the Internet videos, she hadn’t been fat since her second year at college, after the freshman fifteen had become the freshman twenty-five and she’d taken up swimming. With a one piece swimsuit, of course.

  More than anyone else, Scott had helped her see herself for the first time in a long time. She saw herself in his eyes. Beautiful. Curvy. Desirable. His.

  “Don’t make me come out and get you.”

  She hesitated only a moment longer, but it was only when he waded towards her that she pulled off her top first, kicked off her sandals and pants and stepped in the lake wearing her (thankfully) matching red satin demi bra and panties. She allowed herself a moment to enjoy Scott’s lusty expression before her body was covered by the cold water.

  She gasped. “It’s cold.”

  They met in the middle. “Remind me to take you swimming in your underwear again sometime.”

  She wrapped her legs around his waist and held tight onto his shoulders. “Fire engine red. For you.”

  “Yeah?” He nuzzled her neck.

  She trembled in his arms and not just from the frigid water.

  “You cold? Let me warm you up.”

  He proceeded to do just that, his warm tongue trailing down the column of her neck to her shoulder where he used his teeth to tease the bra strap down. It was the perfect combination of heat mixed with the icy water and rapidly descending temperatures as night fell. He pulled the bra cup down, exposing her wet nipple to the cold night air. It had peaked before he’d even touched her. He grinned and caught her gaze.

  “I’m cold!” she protested.

  He laughed and covered her hard nipple with his mouth and talented tongue. She moaned and tightened her legs around him, rocking and gyrating against his erection. He, apparently, didn’t seem to be physically shrinking from the cold. To keep it that way, her hand dove under the water, inside his boxers, and stroked him the way he liked.

  He groaned. “Oh, fuck.”

  “Okay, yes. What a great idea.”

  Only Scott managed to make her feel like a desirable woman, and he’d done it again in this little lake under nothing else but the moonlight and a smattering of stars. Not to be outdone by her, his fingers were already sliding into her panties and inside her, causing her to feel erotic sensations she didn’t think were possible in the water. She opened her legs wider for him, knowing exactly what she wanted and that only he would be the one to give it to her.

  Suddenly Scott pulled back. “Wait.”

  So not what she wanted to hear.

  “Wait, what?” She doggie paddled when he let her go and swam away from her, back towards their clothes. She closed her eyes and pictured one single positive thought. Please have a condom. Please have a condom. Diana squeaked and nearly went into cardiac arrest when she felt some…thing lightly touch her foot.

  But a second later, Scott emerged from the water right behind her, grinning.

  “How— how did you do that?” Yes, her eyes were closed but she hadn’t even heard him get back in the water.

  “I’m quiet when I want to be. Remember that.” He held up a condom packet.

  She blew out a relieved breath. “And always prepared.”

  He swam away from her, towards the opposite end of the lake near a grove of trees. She followed him, amazed at how dark it had become since they’d first arrived. The half-moon gave off an iridescent light in the black velvet night sky and an erotic thrill made her spine tingle. They were going to make love in a place where they might only be able to find each other by touch. A good thing she’d nearly memorized his body even in such a short time.

  You’re moving too fast, Heart said.

  She wanted to ignore this. Wanted Stupid Heart to shut up and sit down and let her enjoy this moment because nothing in her world had ever been so right and perfect. This time she heard him getting out of the water, but couldn’t see his form any longer.

  “Come here,” he called out to her.

  Oh, she was coming. Probably a couple of times, if she knew Scott. But first she would have to find him in the darkness. She followed the sound of his voice until she couldn’t hear him any longer.

  “Keep talking,” she said loudly as she moved in the water. But no more words came from him, and for one terrible moment she wondered if he’d left her here in the dark.

  No. Not Scott.

  Her memory was of the boy she thought he’d been. The one she’d never really had a chance to know. The one who’d asked her to meet him here and hadn’t shown up. Scott the man was someone she could trust. He’d never given her any reason to think otherwise.

  “Scott?” she called into the night.

  In the next moment she felt strong arms around her pulling her straight out of the water. Either she had been stalked by a murderous night crawler-type, or Scott had her.

  “What the hell?” She screamed.

  She’d realized it was Scott the moment she felt his hard chest pressed against her. “Did I scare you?”

  Diana wound up in his lap, and she slapped his shoulder. “What do you think, Sherlock?”

  “I’m sorry, babe. I guess I wanted to have a little fun.” She felt his mouth graze her jawline and kiss her neck.

  Still a boy in some ways. “Yeah, right.” Already forgiving him, she slid her hands up his back and wound them around his neck.

  Instinctively and with a little help from a sliver of moonlight, she found his lips and kissed him. He kissed her back, deepening the kiss and also getting a bit rough with it.

  He broke the kiss, leaving them both gasping for air. “Come here.”

  “I am here.”

  “And now you’re going to come.”

  She heard the smile in his voice even if she couldn’t see it. In another second she was flat on her back, feeling his big warm body covering hers. He slid down the length of her and in seconds had her panties off and his hands under her ass to hold her in place, he nudged her thighs open. His tong
ue did its magic while Diana’s fingers threaded in his wet hair and she tried not to scream out into the night.

  * * *

  She trusted him.

  If she didn’t trust him, she wouldn’t have driven out here with no idea of where he’d planned to bring her. She wouldn’t have taken his hand and climbed out of the truck when she saw where he’d taken her. Wouldn’t have given him another chance at that night so many years ago when he’d blown it so badly in more ways than one.

  The knowledge of that turned him on nearly as much as Diana’s soft little whimpers and moans, which on their own were music to his ears. They increased in intensity until he took her right over the edge, and she cried out his name and shuddered. He worked fast after that because he needed to—couldn’t wait another second until he was deep inside her where he wanted to be. One more second and he felt certain he’d be dead. He reached for the condom where he’d set it down on the ground next to them.

  No fucking way. It was gone. It couldn’t be. Dammit, he hoped some wildlife hadn’t walked off with it. Maybe some squirrel wanted to get down tonight. His hands swept the ground, the lack of any serious moonlight not helping the situation.

  Diana wasn’t helping him either, wrapping her legs around his back. “Hurry.”

  He groaned, his hand still desperately sweeping the area. “The condom. I can’t find it.”

  “Where’d you put it?”

  “Right next to me on the ground.”

  “It didn’t walk off on its own.”

  “No kidding.”

  He could feel her searching the area too. Good thing they were alone and in the dark, because they both probably looked like a couple of fools who’d lost the keys to the kingdom.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll find it.”

  Suddenly, Diana stopped trying. He heard her soft voice. “Scott?”

  “Still looking.”

  “I’m on the pill.”

  “Yeah.” His hands were methodically measuring the distance searched in an ever increasing diameter. The damned thing was here somewhere, and he’d die trying to find it. And the way things appeared, his death was likely imminent.