Page 5 of Falling for the Delta
“There’s a sweatshirt in my backseat,” he called out. “My girl’s cold, can someone please get it for me?”
He hadn’t hesitated to call Holly his girl and hoped she didn’t mind. She definitely wasn’t a girl, but the phrase had simply popped out of his mouth without him thinking about it.
“I’m okay,” she said softly next to him. “You’re very warm.”
“You’re shivering,” he said, reaching for the sweatshirt one of the officers brought over to him. “Step back a second,” he ordered.
Holly smiled and took a step away from him. Dash hated to let her go for the few seconds it took to help get the huge Army sweatshirt over her head. It was overly large on her slight frame, but Dash had never seen anything as sexy as Holly in his clothes. Visions of her wearing one of his t-shirts—and only his shirt, her long, shapely legs sticking out from under it—flashed through his brain.
“Do I want to know what that thought was?” Holly asked with a grin as she curled into him once more. One arm went around his back and the other around his stomach. They stood in each other’s embrace as if they’d done it every day of their lives. It felt comfortable…right.
“I don’t want to say anything that would make you not want to see me again,” Dash admitted.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Holly muttered.
Dash grinned. He leaned down and rested his chin on the top of her head. Once again he marveled at how well they fit together. He opened his mouth to ask if she was feeling warmer when the original officer who’d knocked on his window strolled up.
“Looks like you’re good to go.”
Dash wanted to roll his eyes, but he merely nodded.
“I suggest if you want to have a chat with your date, that you do so somewhere other than your car in a parking lot.”
“Yes, sir,” he said respectfully. As annoyed as he was by someone calling the cops on them and having his car searched, he supposed he was glad someone was paying attention, since this was where Holly lived.
“You two have a good night,” the officer said before turning and heading back toward his cruiser.
“Well, that was interesting,” Holly said, not letting go of him now that the police had left. “You sure do know how to show a girl a good time.”
“This? This was nothing. How about if I pick you up tomorrow and take you on a real date?” The words popped out of his mouth without Dash even thinking about what he was going to say. He held his breath waiting for Holly’s response.
She tilted her head up and met his gaze. “You’re asking me out? On a date?”
He hated the disbelief in her tone. Did she not know how amazing she was? How the hell she hadn’t been snatched up before now was beyond Dash. But other men had officially lost their chance. Their loss was his gain. Now that he’d found Holly, he was going to do whatever he had to in order to keep her. He’d treat her like gold…if only she gave him the chance.
“Yeah, I’m asking you out,” he told her.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Neither moved. Dash could feel her breathing increase as they stared at each other. He slowly brought a hand up to her face and brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek. Her skin was smooth, if not a little chilled. She was cold, and as much as he hated to say goodbye, he needed to get her inside. But not before he had a taste of the lips he’d been thinking about since they’d been interrupted earlier.
“I’d like to kiss you,” he said. It was a statement and a question all in one.
“Yes, please,” she said politely.
Dash’s lips quirked upward even as his head was tipping toward her. He felt her go up on her tiptoes as she tilted her head back.
Tingles shot through his body as their lips met, making him feel energized and jumpy. It was as if the universe were sending him a sign that this was the woman made just for him, and making sure he knew it.
Their kiss was chaste at first. Each tasting the other, feeling each other out. Then Holly moaned, and Dash couldn’t hold back anymore. He turned her so her chest was crushed against his and brought a hand up to the back of her neck. Her mouth opened and he accepted the invitation. His tongue plunged inside, and he groaned at the rightness of the moment.
She tasted faintly of the mint she’d eaten earlier, while they’d been talking in his car. Dash knew from now on, any time he smelled or tasted peppermint, he’d remember this moment. The first time he’d tasted his woman.
How long they made out, Dash had no idea, but when he heard a cat-call from someone nearby, he abruptly realized where they were. And as much as he wanted to continue to kiss Holly, this wasn’t exactly the best place to do it. He eased back, smiling when she frowned and pressed harder against him. Her hands had moved around his shoulders and her fingers grasped his hair, as if she wanted to haul his lips back down to hers.
“Easy, Hol,” he murmured.
Her gaze flew up to his then, and she froze in his arms.
