Laugh Like You've Never Cried (Summer Lake 5) (9 page)

“Come sit by me?” She slid across the bench seat until their sides were touching. He wrapped his arm around her with a grin. He loved this old car! And driving like this was giving him a great idea. “Did you ever do this in high school?”

“Do what?”

“Go out for a drive with your boyfriend because you couldn't do what you wanted to at home?”

There was a sad little frown on her face. “I never had a boyfriend in high school. I told you, I never really had much fun. I would never have been allowed to go out with a boy in his car.”

He grinned. That was what he'd thought. “So how about we make up for your lost youth?”

She looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I want to take you out in the country, find some place to park.”

Her eyes were huge as she looked up at him. “Do you mean....?”

He grinned down at her. “I do, little one. I can't concentrate on driving with you looking like that. And it bothers me that you missed out on so much fun as a kid. Fun is my specialty and I reckon we can more than make up for what you missed.”

There was that naughty, guilty little smile he loved so much. She didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. That smile said it all.

It had been a long time since he'd driven the back roads around Summer Lake, but he knew exactly where he was going. He turned the car through a gateway and followed a rutted dirt track down to the river. No one ever used to come down here, and he doubted that had changed over the years. The fields rolled away on one side and on the other the river opened up, flowing slowly past a long narrow beach. He cut the engine and smiled down at her. “What do you reckon?”

The smile was gone. She looked nervous now. “I...I...I don't know.”

What was he thinking? She was ten years too old for this shit! And he had five years on that. He should be wining and dining her, not driving her out here and making her stutter! Gabe would never   do something like this. Gabe had class, while
he
was just proving what a no-class joker he was. He pulled her closer against his side. “I'm sorry, darl'. This was a bad idea. Do you want to go for a walk?”

“Okay.”

She looked as if she wanted to say something else, but she pulled away from him and slid back across the seat to let herself out the passenger door. He got out himself and came around to take her hand.

She smiled up at him. “Thank you, Michael. I don't know why you said this was a bad idea. This is wonderful for me. I always wondered what it would be like to be the girl who got to drive away with the hot guy in his car. Today I get to do it, with you.”

She was absolutely genuine. He hadn't thought women like her really existed. Yet here she was, sweet as could be, hotter than hell, and totally into him! “Not just today, Meggie. You get to do this whenever you want. Well, whenever we can. This weekend has been different with Ethan gone, but he stays with my folks sometimes, and at Missy's with Scot. I'd like to keep seeing you when we can. If you want to?”

She stopped walking and looked up at him. That sad little frown was back. He felt himself go cold. She wasn't about to say no, was she?

“I would love to, but I don't understand.”

“What don't you understand?”

“Why
you
would want to see
me.
I'm just boring old Megan. I'm not good around people, I'm too shy. I'm no fun. I'm not even very good at talking. Even when I can make words come out, they're not very interesting ones. You, on the other hand, are funny and popular and charming and...” She looked away and kicked the tip of one of her cute little cowboy boots into the gravel.

“Don't forget hot,” he added for her.

She shook her head and smiled up at him. “And confident too! Why would a guy like you want to spend time with me?”

“Because, little one, from the very first moment I saw you, I saw a little lady I wanted to get to know. You're beautiful, but you try to hide it. You
are
fun, and you
are
funny, but you try to hide that too. You're shy, but there's nothing weak about you. It sounds like you've been through a lot so you don't laugh much, but when you do laugh you just, I don't know, Meggie. All I know is that in the space of this weekend you've grabbed a hold of me in a way no woman ever has—and I don't want you to let go. I want to have fun with this, see where we can take it.”

She might try to hide her body and her beauty, but she made no attempt to hide how much his words meant to her. He was a little surprised how much they meant to him.

“I don't understand why you like me, but I'm very glad you do.”

He tugged her hand so she came closer. Her huge smile was answering the question, but he needed to ask it anyway.

“And you like me too, don't you, Meggie?”

She nodded. “I do. I don't think I'll be very good at liking you because I haven't had much practice. But I would love to keep seeing you, and maybe you can teach me how it all works?”

He clamped his jaw shut to stop himself from making a crude joke. She didn't need that, she was so earnest. He could just bite it back, and silently look forward to teaching her all kinds of things.

“We can figure it out together. You can teach me what you like, what makes you feel uncomfortable and what makes you relax.”

He was starting to feel pretty uncomfortable himself, at least the throbbing ache in his pants was, thinking of all the ways he knew he could make her relax. He drew her closer and closed his arms around her. She felt so good, pressed up close against his chest, her little arms wrapped around his waist. He could feel her start to laugh.

He grinned. “What's tickling you?”

“Just thinking that I can't help but relax when you hug me. It feels good, but I certainly don't know what to say when I'm face to face with your chest like this.”

He winked down at her. “I don't think I'd have much to say either, if the roles were reversed. It's not fair that
you
get to bury your face in
my
boobs.”

Her cheeks were pink, but she was still laughing. “You have a big, hard, man chest, you don't have boobs.”

“Yeah, but
you
do.” And he couldn't wait to bury his face in them. “Which is why we need to start walking.” He let her go but grabbed her hand and led her down the path to the river. For now, he wanted to enjoy her company, get to know her better as a person. Getting to know her body would come, but he was surprised to realize how far down his priority list that was. It was more important to keep her laughing, get her talking, just spend time with her. 

She smiled up at him as they walked, but didn't say anything.

“So, you want to tell me anything more about the mystery that is Meggie, or is that too uncomfortable?”

“It's not so much that it's uncomfortable as I don't see why you would want to know. There's not much to tell, and what there is isn't very interesting.”

Why was she so down on herself? He didn't get it. “How about you tell me, and let me be the judge of how interesting it is?”

“Okay, what do you want to know?”

“I want to know everything there is to know.”

She shook her head. “No, you have to ask questions. I wouldn't know where to start.”

He thought about it for a minute as they followed the path under the trees that overhung the water. “It might not be anywhere you want to go, but why do you hide?”

“I don't hide. I just don't go out much.”

He laughed. “You must have been hiding if you've been here the whole time I've been back and I never saw you till Friday, but that's not what I meant. You're beautiful, but you hide yourself away inside big sweatshirts....”

“Do you like this dress? I didn't want to hide from you today.”

“I'm glad. I
love
your dress. You look great in it, and I know you'll look even better out of it.”

There went that little smile again.

“But Meggie, when was the last time you wore it?”

She pursed her lips and looked away. He kept walking and waited to see if she would answer.

Eventually she looked up at him. “Not since I bought it. I've never worn it, because you're right, I do hide. I don't like people to notice me. I don't feel safe when people can see me, so I wear what I wear and it makes me invisible. For some reason, you already noticed me, and with you I do feel safe, and so I wanted you to see me. For some even stranger reason you seem to like me, and I want to live up to that because I like you too.”

Wow! That was the most she'd ever said to him in one go. “It's not strange that I should notice you or that I would like you. You're a beautiful woman. And there's nothing to 'live up to.' I do love this dress, the way you look in it, but if you're happier in your jeans and sweatshirts, you wear them, little one. It's not about what you're wearing, it's about who you are.”

She smiled up at him and he couldn't resist adding, “And besides, no matter what you wear, we both know I'm going to be taking it off you before too long.”

She laughed. “I suppose we do, don't we. I'm looking forward to that.”

She straight up meant it, too. She wasn't teasing or playing with him, she was just telling the truth. “Not as much as I am. But I still want to know, why do you hide? Why don't you want anyone to notice you? And why don't you feel safe?” That part bothered him.

The sad little frown was back. Maybe he was asking for too much too soon, but he wanted to know. He couldn't understand why such a bright and beautiful woman wouldn't want to be noticed. She mulled it over as they walked. He was learning that he had to give her time to think things through before she answered.

“Well, you answered your first question with your second. I hide because I don't want to be noticed. I don't want to be noticed for a number of reasons, all of which have to do with not feeling safe. On the basic level, when people notice you they talk to you, and then you have to talk back.” She shrugged. “You already know how hard that is for me. It's safer not to do that, so I don't have to embarrass myself. Then there's the really scary stuff.” She looked up at him. “I never talk about this, but apparently I really do feel safe with you, so I'll tell you. Just don't say a word until I've finished, okay?”

Michael nodded. He had no idea where she was going with this, but it was obvious she was about to share something that was important to her. He was determined to keep his trap shut until she was done. “I promise.”

“I don't feel safe because the only people who ever noticed me weren't very nice. Growing up I was the quiet bookworm, you know, the nerdy girl? No one noticed me and everything was fine. When these things....” She looked down at her impressive breasts. “...started growing, boys started to notice me, even though they never had before. It made the popular girls hate me and I got bullied. A lot. I was used to being able to hide behind Kenzie.
She
really is beautiful. Her boyfriend liked these things and he tried to....Well, you can imagine. I got away from him, and I told her. But it hurt her. So I learned to hide. Does that make sense to you?” She looked up at him now, met his gaze pleadingly, seemingly begging for understanding.

“It does. It makes all kinds of sense. It makes me sad for you, but I get it.”

Her face relaxed, and she surprised him by stopping and tugging on his hand. When he stopped she reached her arms up around his neck and, pressing every inch of herself against him, she kissed him. He didn't waste a second in clamping her sweet little body against his own. He caught a fistful of hair and pulled her head back, taking charge of the kiss, exploring her mouth as he pinned her to him. Everything about her begged him for more, her hands in his hair, her hungry kiss, her hips rubbing against his. It was a long time before he lifted his head, and by the time he did he understood something.

“You're tired of hiding aren't you, little one?”

She rested her head against his chest and said nothing for a while. He waited. He was learning her ways.

“I didn't think so, and I don't know if it's just with you, but yes, I am. I thought coming to Summer Lake was hiding, hiding from the real world. But I'm starting to love this place and starting to believe that maybe here I don't need to hide. That maybe this is the place where I can do what I want to.”

“What is it you want to do?”

“I want to laugh. I want to have fun. I want to be happy, Michael.”

He grinned as he held her closer. “Then you came to the right place...And you found the right guy.”

B
y the time they got back to the car Megan knew there was something else she wanted, but she wasn't sure if she was brave enough to say so. She let go of Michael's hand and opened the door herself—the back door. She slid into the back seat and smiled up at him.

“What are you doing, Meggie?”

“I'm trusting that you really are a man of your word.”

He raised an eyebrow and she could tell that he was holding back a smile. “What do you mean?”

“You said we could make up for my lost youth.”

He grinned. “Yeah, but it doesn't have to be today.”

She hesitated now. What had she been thinking? He had to get back for Ethan! Just because she wanted him to kiss her again, wanted to feel his hands on her, wanted to experience making out with a ‘boy’ in the back of his car, didn't mean it was going to happen. She'd let herself get carried away. He wasn't a ‘boy,’ he was a grown man and they were both too old for this. “I...I...I'm. You're right. I'm sorry. I...”

He slid in beside her. “I said it doesn't have to. I didn't say I don't want to!”

There was no time to reply. No time to think even, as his mouth came down on hers. He pulled her towards him, pressing her body against him while he kissed her. She kissed him back, giving herself up to the way he made her feel. Her body was on fire as he pulled her into his lap. She gave a little moan as she straddled him and he thrust his hips up. He was so big, so hard. She felt as though she started and ended at the place where the huge bulge in his jeans was pushing against her panties. Then his hands closed around her breasts and she moaned into his mouth. He rolled the top of her dress down and teased her nipples with his fingers, making her throw her head back. Curling one arm around her, he lowered his head to take her breast in his mouth. She braced her arms against the seat behind him and squirmed on his lap as the feel of his tongue circling her nipple echoed all the way down into her panties, making her wet. She gyrated her hips, desperate now to know how he would feel, what it would be like to.... She reached down and fumbled with his zipper, wanting to touch him, to see him, to feel him inside her.