Crossing Abby Road (15 page)

“Yeah, okay.” She didn’t go on right away, but began dumping sand over my legs. Whatever got the girl talking. “So, when I was sixteen, my dad agreed to help me buy my first car. He said he’d match whatever amount I had, which was eight hundred dollars. The only thing I could afford was this junked-out, ancient Chevy Nova. It had a decent engine and it ran fine, but practically everything else was broken. The Beatles’ greatest hits was stuck in the tape deck when I bought it.” She shrugged. “That’s it, really. I was a goner. After that, nearly every cent I earned went toward building my Beatles collection. I’m an absolute junkie.”

She was wrong. That was an awesome story. I narrowed my eyes at her and ran a fist under my chin. “Hmm, and more pieces of the Abby puzzle are fitting together.”

“Your turn,” she said, tugging at the bottom of her shirt. “Tell me something really embarrassing about you now. No dignity, right?”

“I don’t remember that being the agreement.”

“Come on.” She smiled. “Don’t leave me hangin’.”

“I don’t know. I don’t really get embarrassed, I guess. And I lost all dignity hours ago, Abby. Tempting you with ambrosia from the sea, showering you with gifts to keep you around.” I gestured at the floppy straw hat that started this whole day. “Let’s not forget how I’ve shamelessly mauled you more than once in the last two hours.” I eyed her and was rewarded with one of her best blushes yet.

“Okay, then.” She scooted around so we were face-to-face. “Tell me something about you that you don’t share freely.”

The first thing that popped into my head made me chuckle.

Abby’s spine went ramrod straight. “Ah-ha!” She pointed at me. “You’ve got something in mind.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Uh-uh, no backing down.” Her eyes sparkled as she tilted her head. “You have to tell me.”

“Um, okay.” I pushed a hand through my hair. “This is about me, and I very rarely share it, but…well, it isn’t something that
I
know for a fact, but I have it on very good authority. Several authorities. I think that makes it as good as factual.”

Her eyes went wide with curiosity as she nodded. “That’s acceptable.”

“I
know
,” I said, leaning in close enough that I could lower my voice. What I was about to say made my gaze automatically sweep over her mouth, her lips, settling on her eyes. “I know,” I repeated, a bit softer, “that I’m the world’s best kisser.”

Someone had started the rumor about me in college. As far as rumors went, it wasn’t bad, so I’d gone with it. I waited for Abby to reply with something smart alecky, or maybe, ya know, ask for a demonstration.

But she didn’t say anything. She wasn’t even moving, really. The only sign that she was alive was that her mouth was slowly falling open, like her jaw muscles had gone slack. Then her breathing picked up, but it was ragged and sharp. Was she hyperventilating?

“Blink if you can hear me,” I said, waving a hand in front of her face.

She did blink, then she coughed into the inside of her elbow, or was she laughing? Laughing at my terrible line. I guess I deserved it.

“
What
the
hell
was
that
?” she said between gasps.

I frowned. “What was—”

“That was completely unfair! And how do you do that with your eyes?” She pointed up the beach in the general direction of the town square. “You did the same thing this morning when I was leaving your store. All that ‘what did Frank Sinatra say,’ you were staring at my face, like all hypnotically. You did the same thing with Chandler. You shot a single look at him, and he was completely at your mercy. Not to mention those kids on the street. And just now,
I
was at your mercy. How do you do that?”

“It’s a gift,” I said, leaning back. “I’ve always been able to isolate and tame in times of peril. But I swear to you, I only use my power for good. It’s in the superhero oath.”

“You’re so bad.” She snorted and swatted my arm. “And you better be careful with that.” She waved a hand in front of my face. “Some girls would
not
take a tempting gaze like that lying down.”

“I’ll consider that fair warning, Abby.” I was playing it all Joe Cool, even though she was making the temperature under my shirt go sky-high. “Honestly, though, when you were leaving my store, I could’ve been less obvious about it, but I was trying to get a better look at you.” I leaned forward, wanting to relive that moment. Even in the dim twilight, I caught their unique hue. “I always thought you had blue eyes.”

“Those are contacts. Fake.” Her gaze instantly dropped to the patch of sand between us. “Mine are just gray.”

“Don’t,” I said, scooting forward. “Please don’t do that.” After a moment, she lifted her chin. The open expression, the optimism and interest, made me feel all of those same things. Her face had a dozen points of interest.

“And they’re not
just
gray.” I tilted my head, like I was examining her for the first time, instead of for the one hundred and first time. “They’re sky and smoke, a whirlpool of clouds. You’re like John Lennon’s girl with kaleidoscope eyes.”

Abby stared at me, her lips peeling apart, jaw about to go slack again. Another just-right thing to say to her that had literally fallen out of my mouth without a thought. I didn’t know my quoting of the Beatles would cause a spark between us, but I felt the heat, the gravitational energy coming off the front of her body, grabbing at mine like literal hands.

“I want to stay all summer, Todd,” she said quietly.

I swallowed and my mind went blank with hope, so I let her keep talking.

“I think it would be good for me—healthy—for a lot of reasons,” she continued. “But like I was saying before, there’re a ton of moving parts, and there are people back in L.A. who I care about, who are really important to me. But you…” She paused and pressed her lips together. “You said before that you hoped I’d stay. Hanging out with me, even just as friends, is complicated—I’m complicated. So, have you changed your mind?”

I’d heard every word she’d said today, and I understood what complications she meant now. Her real life wasn’t like mine. We were different. And even if we had the entire summer, she would be gone. Which seriously sucked, but not nearly as badly as never seeing her again after today.

“I haven’t changed my mind in the slightest,” I said.

The smile this brought to Abby’s face made the oxygen whoosh out of my lungs.

I needed to kiss her before I exploded, but I also needed to not mess with her head, or my head. She was sending the right signals, at least I thought she was—but what guy could really claim to be an expert at reading signs?

I still didn’t know her…situation, if I was allowed to act on what I wanted to do. There was Hal and Max and that dude with the boy band hair. What was Abby to them? Were any of those guys the important people back home she was talking about? Before I could make a real move, I needed to know.

But if she was staying for the summer, I’d have time to figure it out. Hell, the second I got home, I was getting on the internet. There was no rush, though my pounding heart, burning throat, and impatient hands did not agree.

“It’s late and getting dark. We should probably go,” I said, staring at my watch, though I couldn’t focus on the time. All I pictured was her mouth. “Don’t want your posse out hunting for you.”

Posse? Who did I think she was? Kanye?

“You’re probably right,” she said, though her voice told a different story.

I was glad it was dark. Hopefully Abby couldn’t see how disappointed I was—disappointed with myself. And frustrated out of my damn skull.

She scooted back and stood, brushing sand off the backs of her thighs. One more very impressive point of interest on her body.

“I know a quick way back to the square,” I said, standing up so I wouldn’t be eye level with her incredible ass—which was the next stop on my point of interest tour. “I’ll walk you to your bike, or maybe throw it in the back of my truck, if you’re too tuckered out to ride home.”

She rolled her eyes. “Har-har.”

Back at the foot of the boardwalk, I put on my flip-flops while Abby picked up her shoes but didn’t put them on. She started up the stairs ahead of me, stopping halfway to give me a look over her shoulder.

Heat flooded my chest, and my mouth went dry, mind all blank and stupid. The same effect she’d had on me at the very start of our day.

Oh yeah, there was definitely a rush now.

The second she continued up the stairs, I pulled out my phone and tapped a text to Chandler that I knew I would regret when I saw him in the morning.

Is she single? Don’t ask questions, I just need an answer.

Chapter Twelve

“The Best is Yet to Come”

The guy was never two feet from his cellwhy the hell hadn’t he replied? What if there was a fire or an emergency? This
was
an emergency. Chandler needed to text me back. I needed an answer—now.

“On second thought,” I said to Abby, meeting her at the top of the stairs, “there’s bound to be a crowd at the square on a night like this, since there wasn’t much swimming at the beach. We should take a different way.” I rubbed my jaw and gestured down a different footpath. “It’s not exactly a shortcut, though. Is that cool?”

“Sure.” She shrugged and flipped the hair off her shoulder. Every little move was killing me. If I didn’t hear from Chandler soon, I’d go ahead and…

No. I’d never cheated on a girlfriend, and I’d never been with someone who wasn’t completely available—never knowingly been involved with someone else cheating. I could have come right out and asked Abby about it. It was a relevant question, seeing as how she’d looked like she’d wanted to kiss me, too.

But what if that had all been in my head, and she thought I was crazy and stormed off? Talk about a mortifying moment to share at a party.

She didn’t behave like she had a significant other, though. Relying on Chandler’s knowledge or whatever he found on the internet was all I had. I knew he’d find the answer, I just wished he’d put a fire under it.

“Also,” I said, prepared to take the very long way to Modica’s, “there’s one more thing I want to show you.”

“One more thing?” she said with a curious smile. “Sounds good.” My house was right there. I could take her inside, we’d sit on the couch, put our feet up, and finally settle a thing or two. But she gave me another look, and being alone in my house was not the best idea. What would I do? Challenge her to a game of Madden? That would last about three seconds.

“Um, this way.” I started off down a footpath, one that led away from my house and through various neighborhoods. Abby stayed barefoot, those sexy sandals in her hand dangling by their long laces.

“This is a pretty house.” She stopped in front of an A-frame, glancing at me over her shoulder.

I swallowed. “You’re just saying that because it’s pink.” Abby laughed and playfully shoved my arm. “Bet you love those flowers, too.” I pointed at a bush with pink redbuds.

She laughed harder, and this time when she shoved me, her hands lingered, making the hair at the back of my neck stand at attention. “I wouldn’t have told you that story if I knew you were going to
torture
me about it.” At the word “torture,” she grabbed my forearms and squeezed, looking up into my eyes.

I swallowed again. “I have a whole story about that tree up ahead.”

“Yeah? What makes you think I’d care if it’s not pink?”

How many times had she made me smile today? “It looks pink in the daylight. That’s part of the local folklore.”

“Oooh.” Her eyes brightened. “I love a good legend. Tell me—” She grimaced as her footing stumbled on the tree roots cracking through the pavement.

“Here.” I offered my arm, which was only a gesture because she obviously didn’t need to hold onto me in order to walk. She could’ve put on her shoes or she could’ve stepped around the cracks in the sidewalk.

But no, she smiled, slid her arm inside mine, and rested her hand over my biceps, causing instant heat to rock my body. The touch of her skin—so smooth and warm, even a little dewy from humidity—made me want to pull her closer, feel more skin.

I could smell her again. It had been hours since she’d been in the water, and the natural scent of Abby was back…sweet and feminine and heady, making my mouth salivate then go dry over and over.

We continued slowly down the deserted residential street. This row of homes was mostly rentals. The clubhouse was about a block away, and if I were a bookie, I’d bet most everyone on this street was either at the community pool getting in a moonlight swim while the air was still warm, or they were chilling out at the square.

There wasn’t a soul in sight and very few porch lights had turned on. This atmosphere made the moon look even brighter. Abby noticed that, too, because she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to gaze up.

“Look at that,” she said, her voice low, her fingers pressing around my arm, making my veins jolt from the shot of heat. “So bright and silvery. It’s stunning.”

I watched her watching the moon.
Stunning
. I’d used the same word to describe her a few hours ago. That glowing celestial body hanging in the sky had nothing on Abby.

She exhaled a little sigh and tilted her head to look at me, giving me another hot jolt. “Hmm.” She pressed her lips together. “You’re vibrating, Todd.”

“How can you tell from…” I glanced at the two inches of space between our bodies.

She laughed quietly, then her free hand unlooped from my arm and slid down, settling over the front pocket of my shorts. I froze, spellbound by her touch, the way her eyes locked on mine. My brain was white-hot and screaming. She grinned and pulled out my cell.

“This thing’s been going off for five minutes,” she said, examining its face. “Wow, you’re a popular guy. You’ve got missed calls, a bunch of emails and, oh, a text is just coming in. Looks like it’s Chandler.” She glanced at me. “Want me to read it to you?”

“No,” I said, shaking awake. What exactly had I written to him? It was, “Is she single?” Or had I included her name? With the screen locked, when a reply came through, did the original text also show? I couldn’t remember, her hands on me made my mind go all bag-of-wet-mice sloppy slow.

I went to grab my cell, but she held it out of reach, narrowing her eyes, first at me—probably intrigued by how much I didn’t want her to read the text—then her gaze moved to my phone. Well, she’d wanted some embarrassing dirt. Let ‘er rip.

She blinked at it and frowned. “Oh,” she said, sounding disappointed. “All he sent you was one word.”

One word in answer to my “Is she single?” question. “What word?” I asked, my voice going hoarse, pulse speeding up, which was so unlike me.

“You have new voicemails, too. And another text. Who’s Jessica?”

“My sister.”

“Oh, your sister. Why does she call you Hawk?”

“Long, stupid story, for which I’m going to kill her. What one word?”

She smiled and lifted her chin. “Finish the story about this tree. Does it have a name?”

“Locals call it the Kissing Willow. What word did Chandler text?”

She glanced at the tree. “But it’s a sycamore.”

“What word, Abby?”

She examined my phone again and shrugged. “It just says yes.”

I took her by the shoulders, bent down, and touched my lips to hers. It lasted five seconds, could barely be classified as a kiss, but it was something I had to do right then before one more tick of the clock.

Abby didn’t move, didn’t run away screaming, but didn’t call me a sex god and tear off my clothes, either.

I pulled back to find her blinking up at me, looking
un
surprised by my action, but also about as
un
satisfied as I felt. So much for mind-blowing kisses that made me the stuff of college legends.

“There’s no way that counted,” I said.

Abby nodded eagerly. “Ready when you are.”

With renewed determination, I slid a hand behind her head, kissing her again, deeper, holding her in place until we locked. Her lips parted against mine and she made a little sound inside her throat. Relief, maybe. I felt it, too, and it about killed me, especially when she leaned in and fisted the front of my shirt, tugging at my chest hair. An exquisite shock of pain.

I pulled back for an instant to gaze down at her. Her tongue peeked out, touching the corner of her irresistible mouth. My insides flamed…
comfortable nervousness, butterflies, Christmas Eve at a kid.
The perfect kind of bliss from a first kiss, leaving me absolutely breathless.

I shut my eyes and kissed her harder, salt from the air on both our lips. She moaned again, then dropped her shoes and threw both arms around me, knocking me back a step until I crashed into something solid.

“Yes was a good word, I take it,” she whispered over my mouth, stroking the hair at the back of my neck.

“A very good word.”

“Tell me more about this Kissing Willow.” But she didn’t give me a chance to answer as her lips covered mine, sucking the breath out of me.

“Willow?” I panted, not knowing what she was talking about.

She laughed and pulled her mouth away from mine. I missed it already. “This tree we’re standing under,” she said, then leaned her weight against me until I felt the bark of the tree scrape my back, holding me up, keeping me standing.

“It’s a legend.” I touched my nose to her cheek, feeling her exhales, both of us catching our breath.

“What about?” Her elbow hooked around the back of my neck, pulling my head down.

“Every maiden must get kissed under its branches,” I answered, using what was left of my brain power, “or she’ll be an old maid. Which was why I had to do it. It was my duty to kiss you.”

“In that case, thank you.” She smiled. “And thank you for saving me today. All day.” She ran her hands up my arms. “You really are the best muscle.”

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t go to my head.”

Abby laughed and tipped her chin to look up at the branches above our heads, exposing her long neck. My mouth was there before I registered the command.

She exhaled a gaspy giggle and clutched the back of my head, securing me against her neck, like I’d ever want to leave there, anyway. Her skin was warm and my lips touched every inch, hovering on the spot above her racing pulse like it was my lifeline. She leaned into me, her fingers combing through my hair. We might’ve stayed there forever if my footing hadn’t slipped on one of the tree roots.

Abby caught me, steadied me, saved me in her own way. And it hadn’t been the first time today. She pulled back and put both hands on my face, her thumbs sliding across my mouth.

“These lips,” she whispered, then kissed me so hard I hit the back of my head on the trunk. There were faint hints of key lime pie on her tongue from all those hours ago, tangy and sweet. But mostly, I tasted Abby, the best thing to ever fill my mouth.

I ran my fingers through her thick, warm hair, settling at the back of her neck. “I’ve wanted to do this all day,” I admitted.

“Me, too.” Her breath was soft and ragged. “We waited way too long.”

I laughed. “We’re so stupid.”

She laughed, too. “
So
stupid. And this damn tree is in my way.” She wrapped her arms around my ribs and pulled me forward, leading me a few steps down the dark driveway of a house. “Ah, better,” she said as she repositioned her arms around me, her palms against my back, her head resting on my chest.

She held me so tightly, so perfectly, I didn’t want to move or disturb her. Kissing her was beyond dreams—her mouth, her tongue, her taste. Abby was great at it, amazing. In fact,
she
was the world’s best kisser, and I was gutter trash compared to what she could do.

But the way she held me… I felt her seeping into my every pore, filling me up, tethering me in place. Her metaphoric strings tangled around my limbs. The notion of being tied to this woman didn’t bother me in the least.

If I didn’t know any better, she was making me fall in love with her.

When I’d been kissing her neck, I’d thought then that I never wanted to move. But this…this was where we belonged: Abby in my arms, holding each other, her body resting against me, breathing together. The scent coming off the top of her head was like something addictive, making me almost too plastered to stand.

Would being with her improve my quality of life? What wouldn’t I risk or give up or change to keep her with me just like this?

Would I choose to stay in Seaside? Would I follow her wherever she went? Would she follow me? Would she stay?

We were at the start of something, I knew it. “Something real”—a phrase we’d both used today. Though I didn’t know what that something was yet. Maybe today had been nothing more complicated than our chapter one: Boy Meets Girl.

I mentally added another item to my list of future life decisions. Nothing that needed to be decided tonight, but the seed had been planted.

Abby nuzzled against me, exhaling that sound that was as addictive as her kisses. It was musical, making me wish I knew one of her Mustang Sally songs by heart so it could lull me. I slid my hands to the sides of her narrow waist, below her ribcage. She pulled her head off my chest and tipped her chin to me.

Right then, a car drove past us, its headlights briefly illuminating Abby’s face. And for just that second, I saw it.

Behind the full, swollen lips and big gray eyes focused on me…I saw the superstar, the face on the magazines and album covers and billboards. I made sure to really look at her, imagine what I’d be getting into if we took this further than today.

What I saw was breathtaking. And I wanted it all.

She lifted up on her toes, about to kiss me, but stopped. “What?” she asked, lowering back down.

I fingered a lock of her hair blowing around her neck. “Nothing. I was just thinking about Hal.”

She flinched in surprised, a notch forming between her eyes. “Hal? Why?”

“I promised him I’d show you a good time today.”

“Really?” One of her eyebrows arched. “Well, I’ll be sure to report back that I’ve had a
very
good time with you today.” She got up on her tiptoes and rested her soft lips on the corner of my mouth. “And also that I’m expecting tomorrow to be even better.”