He watched her pupils dilate just before her eyes flickered to his mouth and back again. A battle waged within Hardy—to kiss her or not to kiss her. He wanted to. Badly. But did he want their first kiss to be when she’d just discovered that his bitchy ex-girlfriend had likely sabotaged her vehicle? No. No, he didn’t.
So it was with great determination and a heartfelt sigh that Hardy righted Miracle and then released her to step back. Shoving both hands in his pockets to keep himself from reaching for her again, Hardy cleared his throat.
“Well, the good news is that there’s a nail in both tires and a hole like that should be easy to patch, which means you won’t need new tires.”
Miracle exhaled, putting a hand to her chest. “Oh, thank God.” A few seconds later, much calmer, she turned questioning eyes to Hardy. “Um, so what now? I mean…”
“I’ve got a pump in my trunk. Why don’t we see if they’ll hold air long enough to get us to Tire World, okay?”
Miracle shrugged and smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”
Hardy got the pump and, much to his relief, the tires held the air he put in.
“Why don’t you give me your keys and I’ll drive your car there. You can follow me in mine. That way, if anything happens, it’ll happen to me and not you.”
Hardy thought his suggestion made perfect sense. Not for one second did he ever consider letting Miracle drive a vehicle with tires that could blow out at a moment’s notice. If something happened to her, he’d never forgive himself. In fact, the possibility made him shudder.
Miracle’s brilliant smile told Hardy that his offer both surprised and pleased her. “Thank you, Hardy. I would really appreciate that.”
For the third time since meeting her, Hardy felt blood warm his cheeks. What was she doing to him?
“It’s, uh, it’s no trouble,” he stammered uncomfortably. The way she was looking at him made him feel like some sort of hero, when all he’d done was offer to drive her car.
They exchanged keys and Miracle followed Hardy into town to Tire World. She parked and went in with him and, even though it was her car, he did all the talking.
When he’d made arrangements to have the tires patched and for them to text his cell phone when they were finished, Hardy put his hand on Miracle’s lower back and guided her toward the door. When she handed him his car keys, she was frowning.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“You really didn’t have to do that.”
“Do what?”
“Take care of all that for me.”
“It was no problem. Really,” Hardy replied casually, opening the passenger side door for her.
Once he’d slid behind the wheel, Miracle continued. “I can take care of myself you know.”
She wasn’t sharp or nasty when she said it; she sounded more wounded than anything.
“I know you can. Why would I think you couldn’t?”
Miracle shrugged, a frown pinching the skin between her eyes. “Because I’ve been sick.”
Pieces started clicking together and Hardy could’ve kicked himself. Why hadn’t he seen it sooner?
“Miracle, I have no doubt you can take care of yourself. None whatsoever. I only did that because I wanted to take care of it for you. Not because you couldn’t. You deserve to have someone do things like that for you. And…” Hardy trailed off, suddenly feeling embarrassed.
When Hardy had been silent for nearly a minute, Miracle prompted him. “And what?” Hardy couldn’t meet her eyes. He was afraid she’d see too much. “And what?” she asked again.
“And I want to be the one to do them for you.”
There was a long pause, during which Hardy dared not look at Miracle. But then she was grabbing his face and pressing her lips to his, and his world exploded.
CHAPTER SIX
Miracle’s lips on his felt like fire of the best kind. They were soft and plump and he felt the pressure of them all the way down to his stomach.
He was so stunned that, at first, he did nothing. He just sat there. But then she started to pull away and his desire to have her near kicked in.
Boy, did it kick in.
Before she could completely break the contact, Hardy raised one big hand and slid it into the hair at the back of her head, holding her mouth to his. Angling his head, Hardy parted his lips until he felt Miracle’s warm breath enter his mouth. Unable to stop himself, Hardy slipped his tongue past her lips, desperate to savor her, to savor every second of their kiss.
She tasted like sugar and sunshine, like she took in the best of everything around her and made it her own. It was like sipping nectar and Hardy was certain he could never get enough.
When her tongue touched his, Hardy felt his body become rock hard. She was tentative at first, her tongue tangling with his, running slowly along its length. She was tasting him as he was tasting her and the knowledge made him ache—ache to feel her weight on him as she explored his body, ache to roll her onto her back and lick every inch of her satin skin, ache to make her his and never share her with another.
When Hardy felt her fingers slide into his hair, he was lost. He moved his hands down her back to her tiny waist and he lifted until she was practically sitting in his lap. His hands roamed up and down her leg, caressing her thigh and the curve of her hip. In all his years, as hormonal as teenage boys could be, he had never wanted someone so much. He was sure of it. And he wanted her in every way, not just physically. He wanted to hold her and protect her, to make her smile and to dry her tears. He wanted to comfort her and please her, to make her feel safe and loved. And, of course, he wanted to make love to her for hours, to know her body as well as he knew his own.
But not like this. Not in the front seat of a car.
Reluctantly moving his hands up to either side of her face, Hardy held Miracle still while he leaned back, breaking the contact. He felt the loss immediately, poignantly, and he nearly started kissing her again. But he didn’t. Instead, he leaned his forehead against hers while they both caught their breath.
Hardy’s head was reeling. His first coherent thought was of how soft Miracle’s skin was. He was absently rubbing his thumbs back and forth over her cheekbones. When he leaned back to look into her eyes, he didn’t care that he might be wearing his heart on his sleeve. He wasn’t sure he cared about anything in the world as much as he cared about the girl in his lap.
Miracle looked up into his eyes, the green like drops of liquid emerald that begged for him to get lost in their depths, and then she smiled. It was a slow, tentative curve of her lips that ended in a brilliant display of happiness. It shined from her face like a thousand watt bulb. And it took his breath away.