Aw, crap. I was crushing. And I really didn’t have the luxury of doing that. I looked at her skirt again and the legs that led up to those full cute hips. Damn.

“You ready?” I croaked, sounding like a pubescent teen.

“Sure.” She smiled warmly and grabbed a strappy thing I can only assume was a purse, either that or a weapon. I held out my arm and escorted her out the door.

“Got your whistle?” I asked.

“Check.”

“Cell phone?”

“Check.”

“List?”

She stopped walking and looked up into my eyes. “You know you really don’t have to help me with that. I mean, I’m sure I can—”

“Stop.” I pressed a finger to her lips. “We’re going to tackle the list, but remember, I said I could only help with a few. That whole falling in love thing will have to be saved for someone who’s worthy of that heart of yours.”

She laughed. “How do you know my heart’s good?”

I stopped and pressed my palm flat against her chest, relishing the way her healthy heart slammed against my skin. I could almost feel it beating for my heart, making it stronger. I pulled back, noticing the flush in her cheeks.

“It’s a good heart. Strong beat, though I’m pretty sure it skipped one when I touched you.”

“Very funny.” She looked away.

“I can tell you have a good heart…” I sighed, opening the door to the outside. “…because the minute I met you, I wanted to fight for it.”

She was silent.

“That’s how you can tell when someone has a good heart.”

“When you want to start a war?” She laughed, clearly trying to lighten my mood.

“Nah.” I sighed. “When you want to be the one to make it beat.”

I seriously needed to stop coming on so strong. I was going to send her screaming down the street, and I really didn’t want to see her sprain her ankle in those kick ass heels.

“This is me.” I pointed to the black Porsche Cayenne and opened her door for her. It was the only car I owned that wasn’t so exotic people wanted to stab me in the eye. I’d wanted a truck for my sixteenth birthday. My dad had gotten me a Mercedes that politicians drove, complete with bullet-proof glass. The Cayenne was my purchase, the first day I was able to access my trust fund.

Kiersten was quiet. I quickly ran over to my side and jumped into the SUV.

Kiersten’s hands ran down the leather seats, her eyes taking in every single detail of the interior. Funny how years ago I would have never done that, but now? Now I got it. Because you never knew when a moment would be your last. So why not soak up every last memory? Like now, the sun was just starting to go down, which meant part of it was shining into the car directly across her red hair making it appear like it was glowing.

I sighed.

She turned to look at me. “What are you doing?”

“Staring,” I answered honestly. “I think you owe me that, especially since you felt me up the first time we met.”

She hid her face in her hands. “I did not!” Her cute voice was muffled by her hands still covering her face.

“Um, you did.” I started the car. “I’ll take it to my grave, don’t worry.” Shit, I really needed to stop with those comments.

I checked my watch, hopefully I-5 wasn’t a complete mess. I really didn’t want to miss our first stop.

“So?” She fidgeted with her seatbelt. “Where are we going?”

“Bungee jumping,” I answered with a deadpan expression. “It is on your list isn’t it?”

Her eyes widened as she looked down at her skirt then back up at me.

“I won’t look. Promise.”

She swatted me across the stomach.

“Fine, fine.” I laughed. “Just don’t hit me. We’re going on a date.”

“I know that.”

“Then…” I took the first exit. “That’s really all you need to know, isn’t it?”

It had been years since I’d actually taken a girl out. With football practice and the fact that Lorelei refused to go anywhere in public unless it was some sort of celebrity event, it had been a while.

“Almost there.” I took the next left and drove down the private road. I knew she probably didn’t have any idea where we were, which kind of excited me. I didn’t want her to freak though. “Still got your whistle?”

“Why?” Her eyes darted to mine. “Am I going to need it?”

“No.” I laughed. “Just checking.”

“Are you taking me into the woods to kill me?”

“Um, no.”

She exhaled.

“If I was going to kill you, I probably wouldn’t make it known that we were out on a date at all. Pretty sure Gabe would come running around the corner, guns blazing the minute you didn’t text them to say you were okay.”

Kiersten laughed. “That’s true, I guess.”

I loved her laugh. I was turning into a lunatic — a craving, needing, drug-addicted insane person. I put the car in park and turned it off.

“What are we—”

“Get out of the car,” I said nicely. “And I’ll show you.”

We were at Lake Washington, in a private, secluded spot owned by my family. No interruptions and nothing crazy. Just us. Thank God. I even told James and David that if they showed up I’d find a way to get them fired.

Pissed, they’d finally given up when I told them they could at least track my movements and my vitals through the freaky doctor technology given to us by my dad’s so-called experts.

“So, now what?” Kiersten crossed her arms and looked out at the lake. She seemed nervous. Her eyes kept darting from the water down to the rocky ground as if she wasn’t really sure where to look. Apparently, anywhere but at me.

“One,” I said.

“What?” Her head snapped up.

“One.” I reached for her hands and pulled her against my chest. “We can cross off number one on the list.”

Her brow furrowed and then realization kicked in, and her eyes widened. “Oh no! I mean, we already kissed, we did that. I—”

“Shh.” I bit down on my lip, telling myself to take my time tasting her. This wasn’t to prove a point. This was me showing her what it was like to be truly kissed. “If I remember correctly, your list said ‘kiss a hot guy’.”

“Yeah, but—”

“I’m changing it. You see, all guys want to be kissed by a girl. But you? You deserve to be the one receiving the kiss, not giving. That’s not how this works. So I’m deeming myself the hot guy, and I’m going to kiss you. I’m going to kiss you so hard that you forget everything but my lips pressed against yours.” I brushed some of her lush red hair away from her face and tapped my fingertips against her jaw as they ran up the side of her cheek and lightly tugged her head forward. “I’m going to taste you like you deserve to be tasted.”

Her lower lip trembled.

“I’m going to make it so hard for you to forget this first kiss that you don’t want anyone else kissing you ever again. When the guy you fall in love with kisses you — it better put this kiss to shame — if it doesn’t, then he isn’t the right guy. Because I’m going to do a damn good job, and I want the guy that earns you, that takes that heart of yours and holds it in the palm of his hands… I want that guy to be able to make you feel things I’ll just be tapping into. Do you understand, Kiersten?”

My voice was hoarse. I hadn’t meant to say all that. I hadn’t meant to turn it into a goodbye kiss before we’d really said hello. But that was what it felt like, because I realized in that moment. I probably wasn’t going to be that guy. I’d be cold, dead, in the ground, and she’d be warm and alive. I swallowed and touched my fingertips to her lips. “I want the earth to shift.”

My hands moved to the side of her neck, and I caressed her smooth skin and tugged her even closer to my lips until our mouths were a breath apart. “So this is me…” I kissed her softly across the mouth massaging her lower lip with mine, forming it, not pushing it, so that when she responded she knew the exact pressure it would take for the kiss to be sealed. “A hot boy…” I smiled against her mouth “…trying to kiss, a very pretty, very beautiful, very deserving girl.” My hand slipped to her chest, not to feel her up, but to touch what I so craved. Her heart beat wildly against my hand. “This is me, taking the very first thing off your list. And now I’m going to stop talking…”