Page 61 of Protecting Kelli
Flash walked her to her door and stood back as she used her keys to open the lock. She pulled her suitcase into the small foyer, then turned to face Flash.
To her surprise, he’d stepped into her personal space while she was dealing with her bag. She let out a small, surprised gasp—and then his lips were on hers.
The kiss went from zero to one hundred in milliseconds. Kelli gripped Flash tightly as he bent her backward.She loved when he did that. Loved the feeling of weightlessness as she hung in his arms. She had no fear that he’d drop her. None at all.
They were both breathing hard when he finally lifted his head and brought her upright. But he didn’t move his arms from around her.
“This isn’t the end of us,” he said gruffly.
“Okay.”
“I told you that I wanted to take you out when we got home, and I do. I will.”
“Okay.”
“But I’m thinking you need some time.”
“Time?” Kelli asked, confused.
“What we went through…it was intense. I’m not trying to be a jerk when I say this, but you relied on me to get you through much of it.”
He wasn’t wrong. Kelli didn’t take offense.
“So I want you to be sure that it’smeyou really want to spend time with. Now that we’re back in the real world, your feelings might change. You could realize that you want nothing to do with a military man. I’m gone a lot. Sometimes we have to leave at a moment’s notice. I won’t be here every single night, won’t always be around to do the things most boyfriends do.”
“Are you trying to talk meoutof dating you?” Kelli asked. She was confused.
“No. I’m just being real. I don’t want you putting me up on some pedestal because of our ordeal, and then being disappointed when you find out that I’m just a man. Someone with real flaws who does things that’ll annoy you.”
“I know who you are, Wade Gordon,” Kelli said softly. “I don’t need to wait.”
His fingers tightened on her waist before loosening. “I need you to be sure,” Flash said. “Because the way I feel about you…it would kill me if you decided that I’m not who you want to be with, after all. If our time together in Jamaica colored your version of the real-life man.”
Kelli wasn’t thrilled with his request, but she understood it. “And you might come to realize that I’m not who you thought I was either,” she said with a small nod.
It looked like he wanted to say something, but instead just pressed his lips together.
“One week?” she suggested.
“One week,” he agreed.
“All right.”
“Okay.”
“Can we…talk though?”
“Talk?”
“Yeah. Text. Call. It feels…wrongto just cut off all contact,” Kelli told him.
“I’d like that. There are times I won’t be available because I’m in meetings or something, but if you need anything, I’ll do my best to get back to you as soon as I can.”
“My life isn’t that exciting, Flash. I’m not going to have anything come up where I need you to get back to me that second.”
“Even so, I’m always available to you, Kelli. No matter what.”
He was making it even harder to agree to his stupid weeklong break. She nodded.
