All the Waters of the Earth (Giving You ... #3) Read Online Free

eyes, and . . .
    I felt a peck on my cheek.
    My belly dropped to my toes, which wasn’t a long journey. I let out a breath. Ugh. I was so disappointed.
    “Thank you,” he said, and turned to go into his unit.
    No. This was not the way he was supposed to act. He was supposed to kiss me and sweep me away. He was not supposed to give me some cheesy, chaste kiss and leave. I needed to fix this.
    “Wait,” I burst out.
    He stopped and looked at me, his brows raised in silent question.  Oh, he was so fine.
    “That’s not the way to kiss me,” I whispered, turning my face toward him.
    Jake smiled, a dazzling smile that made me want to buy his brand of toothpaste. “No, I suppose it isn’t.” He ran his finger under my chin and I went up on my tiptoes and looked him straight in his dark blue eyes. He leaned down and kissed me on the mouth, this time for real.  A lovely kiss, his mouth heated and wet, his tongue velvety, his strong hand behind my neck, holding me to him.
    Now that was the proper kiss that I’d wanted from him ever since I laid eyes on him a week ago. And now that I had it, I knew that I wanted more.
    I invited him into my mouth, loving this, loving kissing my hot neighbor. I wrapped my hands around his neck and felt the back of his soft, thick hair. He smelled clean, like he was just out of the shower. Yum, yum, yummy, yum, yum.
    He took his time with this kiss but it was still too soon when he broke apart.  He ran his finger down my nose and I melted a little more.  The way he looked at me was analytical.  He seemed to be taking me all in, studying my face like he was memorizing it as if there would be a test later and he’d have to recreate it.  It didn’t make me feel uncomfortable.
    It made me feel wanted.
    And, seemingly satisfied with what he saw, his jaw ticked and then he asked, “Can I take you for a drink, Lucy?”
    “Yeah, that would be good,” I answered a little breathlessly, attempting to be nonchalant, but still feeling his lips on mine, his finger on my nose, his taste in my mouth.
    “When? Tonight?”
    I loved that he was eager. It was goddamn awesome.  But I couldn’t do it.
    “No, I can’t. I can go next Saturday night, though,” I said, thinking about Rob’s custody schedule. Carlos would have him next weekend and I was free to go out. I had a new art class to model for, though, so I wouldn’t be done until about three o’clock. That was still plenty of time.
    “Saturday night it is,” he responded. He looked me up and down, in my high heels and my white capris and pretty pink fluttery top. “You like to dress up?”
    “Of course.”
    “Then dress up, honey. I’ll take you someplace nice.” And he smiled his glorious smile again and leaned in, and it looked like he was going to kiss me again.
    “Okay,” I whispered, and as he leaned down, his goddamned cell phone sounded, and he looked at me apologetically, straightening up again.
    “We’ll set it up,” he said, and then answered his phone. “Jake Slausen.”  He walked back into his duplex, giving me a little wave this time as he shut the door.

 
     

     
     
     
    I didn’t see Jake the rest of the weekend. What I did do, however, was clean my house, take my kid to the park, and shop for Christmas presents. Normal mom stuff. I tried not to think too much about my next door neighbor.  I failed.  He was always there, just below my thoughts.
    Hmm.  What was going on?  He was more than just a research project.
    It was easy not to see him, though, because he was gone the entire weekend, probably working.  Right?
    First thing Monday morning, still pissed about Carlos and his legal papers, I called my attorney and made an appointment to see her at the earliest time I could get, which was in a week. Great. One more week to worry and get pissed. After calling, I spent the morning and early afternoon writing.  I liked most of what I wrote. I especially liked the kisses between my characters, for some