A Perfect Mistake (7 page)

Boone’s eyes
suffused with pleasure and a genuine smile lit up his face. Okay, now
I was trapped in what everyone at high school used to call it when
Boone dropped one of those patented Outlaw smiles on a girl—The
Boone Swoon. I was swooning and my heart leapt.

When I realized I
was gazing into his eyes with a totally loopy look on my face, I
thrust the bottle at him. He took it but didn’t drink.

“Well, Boone,”
my daddy boomed happily, “these plans are magnificent. I
approve everything. Are you sure I can’t pay you something for
your trouble and expense?”

Wait. Did my daddy
just say that Boone was donating all this? What? I thought…I
kinda was ashamed for jumping to the conclusion that he had roped my
daddy into this. What else didn’t I know about Boone? What else
had I gotten wrong?

“No, sir. I
wanted to make a contribution to the community, and I’m happy
to handle everything. I do have one more suggestion. I noticed last
Sunday that you are stuck using rickety tables that you have to spend
all this time setting up each week and then breaking down. I would
suggest picnic tables instead. The kind that would be permanent and
not need any extra maintenance. They have this cool product that is
impervious to weather and insects. I think that would be the best
choice here.”

“An excellent
solution! That will save us a lot of time.”

“Also, the
last suggestion I have for you is the built-in barbeque.”

“Oh, you won’t
have to push too hard for that,” I said. “My daddy loves
to barbeque. He’s got this cool apron, plus the utensils and
the determination.”

My daddy chuckled.
“I shore do. Okay, well, I’ve got to get going. Verity,
you stay here and work all this out with Boone.”

“But…Daddy….”

“I need you to
help out, honey. Summer isn’t just for playing. Work has to be
done.”

“But I have to
help out….” I bit out. There went my damned escape
route. He frowned. My daddy didn’t take any sass from me, even
if it was in explanation. It was frustrating.

“That can wait
for a little bit. Boone can’t spend months here on charity
work. He’s a businessman, so let’s get him situated and
help him on his way.”

Okay, so every cloud
did have a silver lining. The faster Boone completed this project,
the faster he’d be gone. “Yes, sir.”

Daddy left and I was
stuck there with Boone and his amazing plans.

He twisted the cap
off the bottle and tipped it to his lips. He drank it down in one
long swallow, his strong throat working. He looked like he was dying
of thirst.

He winced and rubbed
at his temple again.

“You know.
It’s probably a good idea not to party on a week night when you
have to work the next day. Coming to work stoned isn’t a good
idea.”

His eyes hardened.
“I didn’t party last night and I’m not stoned. What
I do at night is really my fucking business.”

“I was making
an observation.”

He snorted. “Right.
Based on my reputation in high school. Nothing really does change in
this town.”

Was I wrong about
this too? His eyes did look glassy, though, and I figured he wouldn’t
admit he was using drugs, anyway. I let it go.

“Look, I’m
supposed to be helping at the day-care center today, so could we move
this along?”

He gathered up his
boards.

When he rubbed at
his temple again, I sighed. “Do you have a headache?”

“Yes,”
he said

“Did you take
anything for it?”

“No. Forgot.”

Typical dumb male.

“Wait here,”
I huffed as I went into the bathroom and searched in the medicine
chest for something for his headache. As I closed the cabinet, I saw
Boone’s tight face reflected in the glass. My heart jumped and
I whirled around. There was definitely not enough space in this small
bathroom to handle all of Boone Outlaw.

I didn’t think
there was an auditorium big enough.

His eyes looked even
glassier, and they had lost that smirky mischief sparkle.

“Now I know
why you’re mad at me, Verity, and I’m glad it’s in
the open so we can talk about it.”

My stomach jumped
this time, and I stood there like an idiot holding the medicine
bottle.

He crowded me
against the sink, and for the second time in two days, I found myself
cornered by the one man in this parish who tied me up into knots.

“Boone…”

“Go out with
me.”

I blinked, my heart
and mind simply suspended. After what I accused him of, how could he
even want to be around me? “You’re asking me out?”

“Yes, how else
will you get to know who I am if you don’t spend time with me?
I’m not that person any…”

I covered his mouth
with my fingers. “Stop. I don’t know what to believe, but
you shouldn’t have to defend yourself against me. After what I
said, how could you even consider it?”

He leaned in, and I
couldn’t seem to make myself back away from him. He held my
eyes in a gaze that just wouldn’t let me go. Intense, hot, and
I felt the sizzle shimmer over me like the blast of a heated June
wind.

He set his hands on
the sink, his body way too close to mine. Memories that I wanted to
forget made my body soften and my heart pound.

I looked at his
mouth, and my fingers moved of their own violation, finding his lips
so soft. I didn’t mean to, but I couldn’t seem to help
myself. I knew what it was like to kiss Boone. One of the problems
was that I couldn’t forget.

I remembered how
soft his lips were. I remembered how my whole body had gone up in
flames. His gentle touch, his masterful kiss that took me down a path
fraught with so much danger. I didn’t understand then what I
was doing. Why I was so out of control. It was so not like me, and
yet it had been freeing, had felt fantastic. The first and last man I
had kissed ever in my life.

He took a quick
breath, his eyes going hotter, an incandescent blue. I hated myself
for remembering and for yearning for his mouth again. After
everything he’d put me through. But I was having doubts about
my opinion of Boone Outlaw. I was ashamed of the neat and villainous
box I had put him in without even talking to him. That was immature
and I was nineteen years old. My innocence had been lost and the
struggle to accept reality had almost done me in. I hated to admit
that the rumors had influenced my opinion of him. I had been naïve
in high school. I had been a complete fool, in fact. I had paid the
price.

He closed his eyes,
like he was trying to gather his composure, and the angles and planes
of his face were as fascinating to me as the patterns and lines of my
designs.

Oh, God, his mouth
was killing me, and because I had lost my innocence, I was quite
aware that he had wanted to kiss me yesterday. Without even realizing
I was going to do it, I replaced my fingers with just a brief touch
of my mouth.

His eyes flashed
open and I held his gaze for what felt like forever. I could feel the
power of his character in that gaze, even while I could read nothing
of his thoughts. I gasped and started to draw back, but he cupped the
back of my neck and pulled my mouth against his with a soft groan,
while bringing his body into contact with mine.

I had dreamed about
this when the problems of the past year had been too unbearable.
Dreamed of the time when I had been free to kiss Boone Outlaw. The
man’s mouth made me want and want, and instead of the relief I
expected to feel, my hunger increased. His bottom lip was so sensual,
so full, that I couldn’t help using the tip of my tongue to
savor the taste and feel of him. His parted lips were irresistible as
he groaned again at the slide of my tongue.

His chest heaved
against mine, the thin t-shirt no barrier against the heat of his
broad chest. He pressed against my breasts, and they ached something
fierce, my nipples tight, tingling knots. Both of us were panting,
and I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him again. His fingers
were so gentle on the back of my neck. When I opened my mouth to
taste him, the kiss just got deeper and I lost myself more.

Not rough, not
forceful, but hot. Burning hot. Warm, moist lips meeting mine, still
open and inviting, offering. He slipped his tongue inside, tracing
slowly around the inner edge of my lips, then, probing, exploring. I
tried to catch my breath, but he kept stealing it every time his
mouth moved over mine.

The heat flowed down
over me, followed by Boone’s hands. He ran them over my back,
chasing shivers, setting off new ones, sliding lower. Desire swelled
inside me, pushing aside sanity, blazing a trail for more instinctive
responses. I arched against him, losing myself in this forbidden
kiss, in this forbidden moment.

I gave in, I had to.
The compulsion was a burning need that I couldn’t resist. His
skin was hot when I touched him, slid my palm over his skin. I
trailed my hand up his arm, over the thick ridge of his biceps,
smooth and hard. Boone had certainly filled out. He’d been well
built in high school, but now he was so much thicker through the
chest, his arms hard, unyielding muscle covered in satin.

When his arm slipped
around my lower back and he pulled me roughly against him, I grabbed
on to the solid support of his shoulder. He deepened the kiss, taking
me under as I finally reached his neck and trailed my fingers over
the smooth, then rough, scratchy part where his beard met his neck.
Into his hair, the midnight silk sliding between my fingers as I
tried to breathe around the tactile stimulation of all the textures
Boone had to offer.

I molded my palms
over the curve of his head and slanted my mouth across his as needs
took over with a burning edge. I had been so alone. So heartsick. His
knuckles skimmed over the taut muscles of my back, skating along the
side of my rib cage.

“Verity.”
My name was a whisper of sound, full of pleasure vibrating against my
lips. I felt as if I was tumbling through space, dizzy, hanging on
tight to my only anchor.

“Verity?”

Even though it was
my momma calling me, it took a moment for it to register.

I broke away from
Boone, and he stepped back just in time. I gripped the bottle so hard
my knuckles whitened. My momma appeared in the doorway.

“Boone?”

“He has a
headache,” I said, as casually as if Boone hadn’t been
sucking me into a sensual vortex only seconds before. I obviously had
perfected my lying skills.

“Oh, that’s
too bad. Well get him a couple of those tablets and some water,”
she said. “Are those your sketches on the table in the dining
room?” she asked.

Boone nodded.

“Oooh, can I
take a peek?”

“Of course.”

“He’s
going to build a gazebo,” I said, and watched my momma’s
face brighten.

“Oh, that
sounds wonderful. Think about how beautiful it will be at Christmas.”

I nodded as she
turned and left.

Boone leaned back
against the wall. He really didn’t look good. Then he turned
his head to stare at me. “You are about to kill me, Verity
Fairchild. What the fuck was that kiss about?”

I walked past him
and said softly, “Research.” The more information I could
gather about Boone, the more I would know what to do about him and
the secrets I carried.

His quick intake of
breath gave me a lot of satisfaction. This time I’d been the
one to surprise the hell out of him. That hopefully tarnished up my
preacher girl façade.

I walked to the
kitchen, thoroughly confused. Boone was getting me turned around all
over again, but I also couldn’t ignore the layers of hurt, then
pain, then agony, then frustration. I was second-guessing myself all
over the place.

At the fridge I
pulled the door open and reached inside. “Two, please,”
he said. He took one and downed it again all at once. I shook out a
couple of tablets, and his hot fingers brushed against my palm to
take them.

He downed both the
pills and the second bottle of water.

He looked over his
shoulder to see where my momma was. She was engrossed in pouring over
Boone’s boards. Then stepped closer to me, his voice low and
raspy. “Then what was that slap for?”

“You were
being a jerk.”

“I called you
a liar. I think that was the truth.”

“Maybe, but
you were still being a jerk.”

He hissed and rubbed
at his head, closing his eyes in exasperation.

“I was being a
jerk because you were being evasive. Why can’t you just….”

“Boone? These
are amazing,” my momma said from the dining room.

I took that
opportunity to slip out of the kitchen. Maybe it really was time to
clarify once and for all what had happened between us. Maybe I had
been wrong to think I could get away from this all unscathed. I had
scars on my scars. What were a few more? If I was being completely
honest with myself, I owed Boone that much. He was blissfully unaware
of everything. That really wasn’t fair to him or to me.

Hell. I’d
already kissed him again, and that was what got me in trouble in the
first place. I don’t know why, but I suddenly knew that we
needed to clear this up.

I’d been so
angry for so long and, seriously, I was so over it.

I could see why my
daddy preached about forgiveness.

It was a relief to
even think about unburdening myself.

Boone

Fuck. My dick was so
hard. Fucking wood in front of Verity’s mother. A freaking
preacher’s wife, for chrissake. I’d followed Verity out
of the kitchen into the dining room where her ma was pouring over my
boards.

I could only pray
that Mrs. Fairchild didn’t notice. I was so hot. The three
bottles of water I had downed didn’t even touch the heat that
seemed to radiate off me like I was the burning core of the sun.