CHAPTER TWO

I don’t realize that tears are falling until they sting my cheeks and chin. Kel wipes them away, her amber eyes filled with worry. I miss him so much.

“It’s okay," I whisper, struggling to rein in my emotions.

Kel wraps her arm around me and leads me to her car, knowing that I have to move, to do something other than relive those terrible moments.

We walk across the parking lot and I spot a canary yellow sports car with a black pinstripe detailed on each side.

I can tell from the make that it is a fairly new Jaguar. I don't know all that much about cars, but this has to be the coolest car I've ever laid eyes on.

Every inch is sleek, painted in the lightest shade of yellow, and the designs up one side with thin lines of navy blue and black are a stark contrast to the bright yellow.

The hood is up and I catch the sight of a lean pair of hips pressed against one tire while working under the hood.

I lose my breath when a pair of piercing blue-gray eyes lock on mine and I swear my heart stops beating.

It feels as if the air around me is charged with something as I look ahead of me. My breath falters as I take in the man standing no more than twenty feet away.

With brown tousled hair that makes me want to run my fingers through it and a look in his eyes that makes me stop where I stand, I’m mesmerized.

His eyes captivate mine, two clouds of brilliant blue and gray. His lean cheekbones and nose complement his face perfectly.

His mouth is sculpted and tilted into a half-smile. Somehow, it makes my blood heat in anticipation. Gradually, my eyes sweep down his body.

The man is wearing a white dress shirt that hugs his chest in the best ways and is unbuttoned at the top, along with black Wrangler jeans and black dress shoes to match.

When my eyes return to his, he cocks his head to one side as if to ask are you checking me out? And I can’t help the butterflies that take flight in my stomach.

He's...beautiful. My brain seems to catch up with whatever my eyes are taking in and I immediately ask myself, what the hell am I doing? It's not as if I've never seen a good- looking man before.

It just feels like my eyes are somehow drawn to him. I watch as he pulls a wrench out from under the hood of his car, straightens up, and closes the hood with a loud thud.

As he turns, the way he carries himself is like sex on legs.

It dawns on me that he doesn't seem cocky or full of himself like most guys could be with his looks, but he does have a sense of self-awareness and power in the way he moves.

I draw my eyes back to his and he steps forward. The smile he gives me makes me weak in the knees. God, what is happening to me? Sophia, calm down. He's just a man.

"Like the view?" he asks, his voice gravelly with a southern charm that I hadn’t expected.

The sound seeps through me, through the space between us, through my overheated skin.

I open my mouth to speak, but I end up just taking in a breath and attempting to gather my thoughts.He watches me quietly, his eyes trained only on my face.

I try to reason with myself to get in the car and drive away from him, but I can't truly think of anything that would cause me to run.

Okay, he is just a man, who is sinfully beautiful and has eyes that draw you in like a moth to a flame...

"Oh...um, yes. Is this yours?"

He nods and takes a step forward, startling me a tad when he takes my hand gently in his. The simple touch is like a spark between our bodies, sending tingles over my skin.

"She is,” he says, that half-smile lighting up the dips and shallows of his face.

I can see at least one day's worth of brown stubble across his jaw, my fingers itch to lift and touch him, feel the roughness I know I'll find along his jaw.

I unknowingly bite my lip as he admires me with those eyes of his. God, his eyes are so deep, so full of mischief.

"She?" I cock my head to the side in confusion.

"Yes, that surprises you?" he teases me, his eyes narrowing a bit.

My mouth stretches into a shy smile, and I feel my heart flutter as he gazes down at me. "Let me guess, you named her, too?"

“I did. Jasmine, after the girl that broke my heart years ago.

I’m hoping history won’t repeat itself. I can’t imagine she'll run off with a French exchange student. You think?"

It makes me giggle, his having a name for his car, but it also saddens me knowing he’s felt heartbreak.

I can definitely relate. Heartbreak is something I know intimately, but doesn't everyone get their heart broken at one point?

“I hope not.” I don't try to take my hand from his.The skin contact is just too intense for me to want to.

Beside me, Kel tugs on my arm and smiles knowingly as she looks at our joined hands. Oh goodness, what does she have in mind?

Leaning closer to me, she whispers in my ear, "Shall I invite him tonight?"

I narrow my eyes at her and hastily shake my head, though I do want to see him again. My sister insisted on having a party to celebrate my graduation and its tonight.

Kel steps in front of me, probably to block me from his view when she gets a look at him. I watch her lean in to whisper in his ear and I vaguely wonder what he must smell like.

“Of course I’ll be there. Thank you." I meet his eyes intentionally, wondering what he must be thinking of her taking a quick liking to him.

His eyes sparkle with what I can only guess is mischief, and they don’t leave mine while he talks with my sister.

My heart is on overdrive for the first time in my life and it’s due to this man.

I have to remind myself to focus on something other than his beauty or the speed of my heartbeat in my chest. He is just a man. I keep telling myself that.

“You don’t have to come, Kel is just being nice," I half-whisper as he moves a step closer to me. I swear the heat in his gaze could burn me in two.

Shaking his head slightly, he gives me a smile that just about melts my heart. I wonder, could he possibly want to see me again? Do I want that?

"I’d really like to see you again. You’re beautiful and mysterious and you intrigue me." Beautiful and mysterious? God, what am I doing…?