The moment Gunner’s hand came up to my face I thought I was going to faint. His touch was so much better than any dream or fantasy could ever be. But his kiss . . .

Oh. My. God. His kiss was my undoing. I’d never felt so much emotion in just a single kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and prayed to God he would never let me go. When he picked me up, I thought I was going to explode. I could not stifle the small moan that escaped from my mouth. I wanted to stay in this moment for the rest of my life.

Then I felt his erection. I could no longer doubt that this boy did indeed want me. Shit, I was going to owe Ari that purse. I had felt Ryan’s erection plenty of times but it never had this kind of an effect on me. The throbbing ache in between my legs was driving me crazy. I needed relief and was not sure how to get it.

Gunner slowly started to slide me down his body. Holy hell . . . I just wanted to crawl inside his body and never leave. My God, he was huge from what I could tell. I mean, I don’t have much experience, but from what I could feel he was definitely not on the small side. My stomach was doing flips. I was going to have to tell Ari about this and get her thoughts on the matter.

We pulled away from the kiss at the same time. I could hardly catch my breath. My chest must have been heaving up and down because he looked down at it and quickly looked into my eyes. We stood there and looked into each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever. I never, ever wanted to forget this moment. I needed to lock it away so that I could pull it out anytime I needed it.

I was scared to death to say anything. That had been one of the most amazing moments of my life. I had never felt more alive than in these last twenty-four hours with Gunner. The way he made me feel with that kiss was beyond anything I’d ever felt before. He made me feel . . . wanted.

The warm sensation that was still traveling through my body caused me to smile. I needed him to know how he had just made me feel. As soon as I smiled up at him, he smiled that damn crooked smile back at me. I never in my life felt the desire I was feeling right now. If we had been alone somewhere, I might not have been able to stop. I know I would not have been able to stop. I would have wanted more of him. I felt the blush creep up into my cheeks. Gunner reached up and ran the back of his hand down the side of my face.

“I love to see you blush, Ellie. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on,” Gunner said with such a soft, sweet voice.

Oh, wow! Ohhh . . . I mean . . . wow . . . That was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me. Okay, breathe, Ellie.

I let out a small laugh and looked down. “Um, thank you, Gunner. That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

He put his finger under my chin and lifted my face up toward him. “Well, that is a damn shame because I’ve wanted to tell you that all day.” He reached down and kissed me softly once more on my lips and then he said, “Shall we head over to Ari’s house now? I’m sure Jeff is waiting for you.”

Wait. Jefferson was at Ari’s house?

“Jefferson is at Ari’s house? Well, that should be interesting, the two of them together . . . alone. They’ll kill each other!” I said with a laugh. Gunner laughed along with me and grabbed my hand. We started to walk back to his truck, and I thought about what he had said earlier to the valet guy about me being his girl. My stomach was filled with butterflies, and I couldn’t help but smile. Could Gunner really be interested in me that way? Or was this attraction just because I was something that was always “off limits” to him before?

Was I some kind of challenge for him?

No, I really didn’t think so but . . . I was going to keep my guard up, that was for sure. I wouldn’t allow myself to be hurt again. I’d been hurt enough to last me a lifetime.

I literally felt like I was walking on cloud nine all the way back to the truck. I kept looking up at Gunner, who was walking with the cutest damn smile on his face. I wonder if our kiss had affected him as much as it had me. Gunner held my door open and helped me up into the truck.

He picked up my right hand. It was not nearly as swollen as it had been. He gently brought it up to his mouth and kissed it. I smiled at him and wondered what type of a family he came from. His mother sure did raise this boy right. I loved that he had kissed my body three different times in the last few minutes. I loved how his lips felt against my skin. I would forever long for his kisses now.

“How does your hand feel, sweetheart? Do you need to take a pain pill?” Gunner asked, as he pushed a piece of hair behind my ear. Kisses and Gunner playing with my hair . . .

Oh yes, a girl could get very used to this if she let her guard down, which I was not going to do.

“I’d forgotten all about it until just now!”

Gunner just smiled at me. “Good, Ellie, sweetheart. I want to take away all your pain. I’m sorry I reminded you about it. We’ll stop at the store and pick up a few waters on our way.” I smiled at him as he shut the door and walked around his truck.

God, with what just happened between Gunner and me, and Jefferson alone with Ari, my mother was a million miles away, and I was happy. I was so happy for the first time in a very long time.

Gunner started his truck and Ne-Yo’s “Let Me Love You” started from his iPod. Gunner looked over at me and gave me that panty-melting smile.

“What a perfect song,” he said as he reached over and took my hand. He gave my hand a squeeze as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Here I thought just thirty seconds ago was the happiest I’d ever been . . . now I was really floating on cloud nine! I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. He was singing along to the song, and my heart just dropped into my stomach. This guy was too good to be true. If I was not careful I might start falling in love with him . . . or maybe it was too late.