Page 52 of Love… It's Wild
I follow his actions and take long, deep breaths. I can feel his breath against my mouth, and I watch as he drinks mine in. I look at his lips and wonder what they taste like. I could kiss him right now. I want to kiss him so damn badly that my body aches. I swallow and look back up to his eyes, which are trained on mine.
“This helps,” I breathe. “How does this thing even stay upright? It feels unnatural.”
“It’s all about force. The push and pull. The key lies in centripetal force, which acts on a rotating object, pushing it toward the center of the rotation.”
“Push and pull, huh? Kind of sounds like our relationship.”
“It certainly does.”
We share a smile, a connection strengthened by the beauty of this fleeting moment. Perhaps because we’re sitting so close or because he’s being so personal, I opt to ask him a question I don’t know if he’ll answer willingly. Still, I ask it anyway.
“Do you miss her?” I start, and he looks at me for clarification. “Christine. Do you miss her?”
“No,” he answers easily. “I miss the family we had. I wasn’t a good husband, and she left because of that. I’m just not cut out to be someone’s forever.”
As we descend back to solid ground, he asks me his own question. “Do you miss Patrick?”
“I miss the girl I was before he left.”
There’s a startle in his eyes, like what I said was the wrong thing. Something unfathomable yet completely relatable. He looks back at me and opens his mouth. Nothing comes out at first. I wait. It kills me to wait, but I feel like what Rob is about to say is important, and I don’t want to miss it.
As he stares at his hand on mine, I hold my breath. My heart starts to thump in my chest as we rise back to the top. When his eyes meet mine again, he looks like he’s changed his mind on what he was about to say.
“Thank you.”
His words might not be what I thought he’d say, but I’m taken aback nonetheless.
A lock of my hair falls across my face. Rob lifts his hand and moves it across my cheek and tucks it behind my ear. His hand doesn’t leave the soft skin though. Instead, he rests his knuckles against my jaw. He stares at his hand on my skin. If he regrets touching me, he doesn’t make a move to change.
I like the way I feel in his arms. There’s something about the way he’s holding me, protectively, that feels… right.
Our eyes lock, and while the ride is moving faster now, time seems to slow as we move closer to each other.
A surge of electricity courses through me. Perhaps it’s the chill that comes from the breeze caused by our movements, but I feel exhilarated. No, it’s not the breeze. It’s him.
His hold.
His stare.
The way he only speaks his truth and if he’s thanking me, it’s for good reason.
Now, it’s my turn to look startled by a comment. “For what?”
“Not backing down from me when I was so hard on you.”
“How could I when you think I’m so desirable?”
He sighs and drops his hand. A smile graces his face, and it’s beautiful. “Why do I tell you things?”
“Because you love me,” I answer with the perfect hint of sarcasm. “I’m very easy to love.”
“I bet.” He sounds like he means it.
The ride comes to an end. Jesse and Molly are waiting for us. I take Molly’s hand, and Rob puts his arm around Jesse. My heart is quivering over the moment spent with Rob. It feels as if there’s something intense brewing, and yet his past words reverberate through my core and echo in my ears.
“You and I can’t happen.”
Those words are powerful, and there’s strength behind them. Desirable I might be, but I’m not the kind of woman Robert Bronson wants. He’s not what I want either.