being alone out there with him. She feels like she can trust him, which might make him even more dangerous than she could have imagined.
They sit in companionable silence for a few minutes until Elyse starts to shiver and wishes she hadn’t left her coat in her car back at the body shop.
“You’re cold. We should get inside.” Dane moves as if to get up and she puts her hand on his arm stopping him.
“No, I like it here. It’s peaceful. It feels like we’re so far away from the city.” She wraps her arms around herself to stop from shivering.
Dane shrugs out of his leather jacket. “At least put this on.” He doesn’t really give her a choice, draping it around her shoulders.
“You’re going to freeze.” She looks at him in his long-sleeved t-shirt and wonders how icicles haven’t formed on his face yet.
“I’m good. The heating in my house was always off when I was growing up. We never had any money to pay the bill. You get used to the cold. I don’t feel all that much anymore.” He shrugs as if it was no big deal and Elyse feels her heart thump against her chest at the idea of Dane as a little boy desperately trying to get warm.
“That’s horrible. I’m sorry.” She reaches out and squeezes his hand. It’s an automatic response from Elyse. She’s always been a tactile person, but she’s unprepared for the current that passes through her when she touches him.
Dane looks down at her hand, intertwining it with his and, from the expression on his face, Elyse can tell she’s not the only one who feels the sexual tension between them.
“It’s not your fault.” He says the words softly, his gaze holding hers and Elyse knows immediately that she is on rocky ground.
She licks her lips and notices his gaze move down to her mouth. He looks at her hungrily and he must see the answering want in her eyes. He reaches up to cup her face and pulls her towards him, his mouth hot and soft. He teases her lips apart and tastes her, eliciting a low moan from her throat.
A cool wind blows up and bring Elyse back to reality. She pulls away from him slightly, breathing hard and feeling like her heart is beating far too fast. She looks up at him feeling dazed, like she’s been knocked off balance. It was just a kiss, but what a helluva kiss. She wanted more. Dane smiles as he watches the uncertainty in her eyes change to need and he strokes his thumbs along the curves of her cheeks, pulling her towards him again, kissing her long and hard. Her hands go into his hair, her nails grazing his scalp, making him groan, the sound warming her through. By the time they pull apart, desperate for air, she’s almost in his lap.
They lock eyes again and the intensity of his gaze makes her shiver, in anticipation rather than from the cold. “Come here, get warm.” He wraps his arms around her waist and leans her back against him, so they’re both facing out to the lake. The feel of his strong hard body against hers makes it difficult to think about anything else, but something has been bugging her and she has to get it out.
“Can I ask you something?” She bites her lip, already knowing she shouldn’t be asking the question, that one kiss doesn’t give her any right to delve into Dane’s old relationships.
“No, I don’t usually bring girls here.” He says the words patiently and she chuckles lightly.
“Good to know, but that wasn’t what I was going to ask.” She pauses, gathering her confidence. “What’s the deal between you and Suzi? You said you guys were just friends but there seems to be more to that story.”
She waits for Dane to tell her that it’s none of her business. He sighs heavily as if it’s something that he’s not all that fond of talking about. “We dated for a while when I was just out of high school. Suzi was a couple of years ahead of me and had the whole older woman thing going for her. Pretty soon we realized