Colt opted to put the top down on his Wrangler because it was that type of night. The wind in his hair felt curative as he sped along U.S. Interstate 695. It looked dazzling in Lindsay’s as she was in the passenger seat beside him, the humid air rushing by and wreaking havoc on her ponytail, the stars feverish above. The air smelled of snickerdoodles and oatmeal raisins, as it always did along this portion of the beltway, thanks to the nearby Muffin Mill. It was cruel and unusual punishment when you smelled cookies but couldn’t eat them, right? They’d been riding in silence for a while. Finally, Lindsay tilted her head back against the seat and turned. Her blue eyes, warm and soft, gazed at Colt.
“Thank you for everything this past week. I’ll thank Pamela again, too, once we get back to Fairfax. Including me in your trip to California and then paying for my airfare and inviting me into your home here in Maryland was so sweet. You didn’t have to do that. And here I was thinking I’d have to stay at that hotel up in Ambridge you like so much during my week-long break. Again, thank you.”
“Not a problem at all, my dear. It was our pleasure.”
“So, you must be a Jeep guy. You have a red Wrangler here in Maryland for your home life, I see, and a gray one back in Nevada. Jeeps are cool. I can tell this one is newer. It has all the fancy digital stuff the other one doesn’t.”
“Yes, this one is seven years newer; it’s a 2018. Believe it or not, I’ve owned six Wranglers throughout my lifetime. My first was an eighty-seven when I was your age. It’s just a vehicle, for whatever reason, that calls to me.”
“Hmmph. They should make you their spokesperson.”
“They couldn’t afford my rates.”
His throat resonated with two notes of a chuckle and Lindsay felt it right in the center of her chest. It was nice to hear Colt laugh, especially considering how they got off on the wrong foot a year ago. I seriously thought he hated me during my first tour. Lindsay had never been browbeaten like that before and, though everything turned out alright, hoped it would never happen again.
She lifted a shoulder. “I’d say my rates are higher.”
“That’s a safe assumption. I love you in the cutoffs, by the way.”
Lindsay’s cheeks colored as she glanced down at her shorts. “Considering what I’m used to, I feel so damn overdressed. Who’d have thought that was possible only wearing a little baby tee and pair of onlypuff cutoffs?”
“Make yourself more comfortable, then. Take them off. Take everything off.”
“Don’t kid around about stuff like that, okay?” Because you know I’ll really do it if you tell me to. I don’t care; I’ll strip right down here on the freeway.
“I wasn’t kidding.” Colt tossed Lindsay a studious glance and witnessed her turn an even darker shade of crimson.
“Seriously? Well, I mean, if you …”
Colt held up a hand as he focused on the road. “Settle down. I was kidding.”
Lindsay blew out her cheeks and squared her posture. “Jeeze Louise, I don’t know what to think about you sometimes.” Her nose crinkled. “It’s like you’re this big, mysterious puzzle, and I can’t solve you. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”
“And how is that different than everything else in your life? You’re quite the whimsical girl.”
“I don’t know. I mean, I’m not supposed to like you. You’re a married man – married to my best friend, even.”
“I’m not supposed to like you, either, but I do. And this best friend you speak of? My wife? You like her too. In fact, you love her. And Pamela loves you. Oh, does she ever. I hear it every day.” He made a tsk, tsk, tsk sound and grinned. “Quite the little homewrecker, aren’t you?”
They again drove without speaking, the radio providing gentle background noise until they made their way onto the Belair Road exit. Finally, Lindsay switched the dial off.
“Truth or dare.”
Colt’s eyes dilated in trepidation as he glanced her way. “Truth.”
Lindsay’s gaze never left the road. Her words were cool and collected even when she asked the question that she’d been wondering about since the possibility of a triad first came to fruition in June. “What do you think about having a baby with me? Not now, but in the future?”
They turned into his subdivision. “Aww, hell. You know what? I don’t want to play.”
“Why do you always do that?” More than a twinge of anger laced Lindsay’s voice. “Gosh darn it, Colt, there are times I feel like I’m walking through a minefield when I’m with you. I mean, you insinuate one thing, and a minute later, it’s something else. You’re so hard to read. One wrong step, it seems, and it could be game over for me.”
“It’s so easy for you to say that, Lindsay. But you don’t know what it’s like to be me, to be in my shoes. I’ve been trying to convince Pamela to have a baby with me for the past five years, yet she keeps deflecting, keeps putting if off. There is literally nothing more I want in this world than to finally be a father, but I want it with Pamela, and Pamela only. Yet here you are throwing out silly little comments – ignorant comments – like they mean nothing. You get these … flights of fancy, and it drives me up the fucking wall.”
“Did you just call me ignorant?” Her hands dropped to her sides to form clenched fists of tension.
“Oh, you’re young, and the thought is so casual, it’s so flimsy. Do you have any idea of the responsibility, the enormity, it takes to have a child? To be a parent? The commitment? How can you? You’re only nineteen. You can’t even balance your weekly budget yet, for Christ’s sake!” In the driveway, Colt jammed the gearshift into park. “And you’re asking if I want to have a baby with you?” His expression grew turbulent. “Good God, woman. You and I haven’t even had our first kiss yet.” With that, Colt exited the vehicle and stampeded up the walkway. “So fucking immature! Why do I even bother?”
“Colt!” Lindsay got out and stood next to the Jeep.
She tried to speak again but huffed out a shaky breath first. “Colt, wait. I said not now, but in the future! I’m sorry if I’m going too fast. See, that’s the thing. I don’t know what I’m doing. I care about Pamela so much, and I care about you too. You have no idea just how much. But I’m scared of hurting one of you, maybe both of you, and ruining any chance we have of being together. I know I’m young, but I’m trying. I really, really am. And we kissed at the baseball game!” She heard her voice squeak and held out her hands as if her heart was breaking. “Didn’t we?”
Colt turned around. “What are you talking about? That wasn’t a kiss; it was a friendly little peck.”
“It was a kiss to me.” Lindsay shook her head. “I’ve already talked to Pamela about this and she said she’d be in favor of it. If things work out and we all get married one day, I mean, wouldn’t you want to have a baby with me? I’d want one with you. A few, even. I don’t think it’s that crazy of a question for me to ask. I wouldn’t deflect you the way Pamela has, either.”
Lindsay studied the pavement before again raising her gaze.
“I know you may not believe me, but I don’t want to be a whore forever. I come from a big family, you know, and I certainly miss them, but I want my own family one day too. I want what was ripped away from me, taken from me. What I was robbed of. I want it more than anything, and I want it with you and Pamela. I assure you, this is no flight of fancy on my part. Look, I’m sorry; I know I need to grow up more. I’m so sorry. …”
Colt stared at her, his eyes wide, full of chaos. But he didn’t say anything, and that was all the response Lindsay needed.
She whipped her smartphone out and began angrily typing. “Okay, then. Thank you for going hiking with me today. Send my regards to Pamela. I guess I’ll queue up an Uber and stay at a hotel tonight. Hopefully, I make it to the airport in the morning on time.”
“Ask me again.”
A tear streaked down Lindsay’s cheek as she glared at him. “What?”
“The game. Ask me again.”
“Truth or dare?”
“Yes.”
Lindsay sniffed. “Fine. Truth or dare, then.”
“Dare.”
Lindsay hesitated for an instant, then patted her hair, pulled the elastic band from it, and shook her ponytail out. The strands were a brilliant, golden blonde and fell to the upper curve of her ass. “Kiss me.”
This time, Colt left zero doubt. He made a beeline and didn’t stop until his lips were on Lindsay’s and his arms fully encircling her torso, reeling her in. Their mouths came together in such a natural, wonderful way; not too fast, not too timid, but easy, relaxing, perfectly fitting. They each borrowed a moment to allow the significance of their intimacy to sink in. Lindsay lifted onto her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. His thumbs caressed her jawline as he kissed her with a gentle authority. Lindsay allowed him to set the pace. No matter how much pent-up desire raged to be set free within him, Colt kept the kiss slow and languid. Exploratory and considerate.
But he could only contain himself for so long, and soon the kiss intensified, and Lindsay relished the warmth of their combined heat. Breaths, shared more often than stolen, became shallow. His arms tightened as her body writhed against his. This was the moment she had been fantasizing about for so, so long, and it lived up to every expectation and then some.
But just as quickly as it had started, the kiss was over. Colt held Lindsay’s face in his hands. His breathing was heavy and he stared unapologetically into her eyes.
“I want things to work out for us too,” he said quietly. “You, me, Pamela, I do. Believe me, I do.” His thumb stroked Lindsay’s cheek and swiped over her lips. “And I want to make all your dreams, sweetheart, all your aspirations come true … but in due time. It would be my honor. Just realize that these things won’t happen right away.” He turned, not allowing her a response.
Struck, mesmerized, and dumbfounded by what had just transpired, Lindsay stood there motionless, rooted firmly to the cement. She watched Colt disappear into the house, and once the kitchen light glowed brightly through the window, she floated ever so slowly back down to Earth.
With two fingers now touching her still swollen lips, Lindsay relived the kiss she would be up all night thinking about. Because that was the type of kiss you didn’t forget. It was the kiss you compared all other kisses to for the rest of your adult life. The kind that left you wanting so much more yet satisfied you immensely at the same damn time.
“Lindsay?”
She jerked her head to the right and found Colt’s dark, sexy silhouette standing behind the open living room window. In the house behind him, Lindsay noticed a frizzy mass of long hair that looked all too familiar whirl by.
“Lindsay, sweetheart, Pamela and I think it’s time you come up to bed with us.”
(End of Chapter 28 – to be continued)
