Holding You

Opening my truck door, I helped Lauren in. Reaching across I pulled the seat belt around and buckled her in. “If I didn’t think your daddy might be watching I’d totally slip my hand up those shorts of yours.”



Licking her lips, Lauren squirmed in her seat. “Baby, are you horny?” I asked as I winked.



Glancing up at her house, Lauren looked back at me. Her eyes pierced mine and I could see just how much she wanted me when her blue eyes turned dark. “Just tell me we’ll be together tonight, Colt. I miss being with you.”



We’d only managed to make love twice since we had been home from college, mostly because I was splitting up my time between my father’s cattle ranch, and Scott’s breeding business. I wouldn’t change any of it though. I loved the work. It just kept me away from Lauren. Which really sucked. Tonight I planned on being with Lauren come hell or high water.



We drove along in silence for a bit before Lauren spoke. “We’re heading into town?”



“Yep.”



“Where to?”



Grinning, I kept looking ahead. I knew what she was doing. “You’ll see when we get there.”



Letting out a frustrated breath, she asked, “Have I been there before?”



Turning to her, I didn’t know the answer. It had never occurred to me that another guy might have thought of the same thing and taken her up there. I had almost taken Rachel once, but decided against it. I knew it was because I had always wanted to take Lauren. “I’m ah . . . I’m not sure. If you have, it wasn’t with me.”



Lauren’s eyebrows pinched together, as if the idea of being somewhere without me bothered her.



“Oh,” she said as she turned and stared out the front window. I could almost feel the anxiety practically pouring off of her.



“Have you been to this place with anyone else?”



“Nope.”



Peeking over to her, she was smiling.



We remained silent until I parked near the cities main water tower. Putting the truck into park, I reached into the backseat and grabbed the bag that contained everything I needed to complete this evening.



Glancing out the window, Lauren turned back to me. “W-what are we doing here? I thought we were going on an adventure.”



Giving her my best panty-melting smile, I nodded my head. “We are. There is a reason I told you to dress in sneakers, sweetheart.”



Jumping out of my truck, I jogged around it and stopped when I saw Lauren looking straight up. I wasn’t sure if it had clicked yet or not.



“Wow, look at the stars tonight. Even with the lights from town, you can still see the stars so good.”



Nope. She had no clue. Taking her hand, I walked over to the ladder. Pulling on my arm, Lauren attempted to get me to stop walking. “Colt. Oh my gosh no! We’ll get in trouble if we climb the water tower!”



Giving her a slight pull, I laughed. “No we won’t. Blake is working tonight and I gave him a heads up my truck would be parked here and that I was taking my girl on an adventure.” Blake was one of Luke’s best friends from high school. He was one of the sheriffs working for Mason County. And he owed me a favor. I saved his ass one night when his truck broke down and he wanted to take Colleen Mitchell out on a date. He begged to borrow my truck and I let him.



Stopping at the ladder, I held my hand out. “Ladies first.” I could see the excitement dancing in her eyes. Lauren started up the ladder as I followed. Once we got to the top, Lauren let out a gasp. “Wow, look at the stars from up here! It’s beautiful.”



Smiling, I dropped my head back. The light breeze blowing kept it cool, but not too cool. “Thank goodness you’re not afraid of heights,” I said with a chuckle.



Lauren nodded her head and said, “Yeah, you lucked out on that one.”



Reaching into the bag, I pulled out the quilt and spread it down. The lower deck of the tower was wide enough for us to practically lie down up here. Once I got it spread out, Lauren sat down and looked all around. “Colt, this is perfect. I feel like it’s just the two of us.”



Reaching down, I lifted her hand and placed the back of it softly against my lips. Using my tongue I drew a pattern onto the back of her hand. Lauren’s lips parted open as her tongue darted out to lick her lips.



Keeping my eyes on her, I kept up the motion. Lauren clearly enjoyed it. The moon was casting light onto her beautiful face as her eyes watched my tongue move across her skin. “Colt,” she whispered.



Slowly and gently, I placed soft kisses up her arm. Pulling her closer to me, Lauren straddled me as she wrapped her legs around me. “Don’t . . . let me . . . fall,” she said as her eyes met mine.