Page 10 of Lady Luck’s Kiss

“Dang, that was better than I dreamed,” he whispered softly in her ear that was near him. Charlie just smiled and nodded against his shoulder. “You are a heckuva kisser.”

“Consider the ice broken now?”

“Baby, you shattered my world just now,” he laughed shakily, pulling away from her. “I think we better get out of here or we might miss the movie. But I am sure as heck kissing you goodnight later.”

“Promises, promises,” she said with a grin and looked at his expressive face – and burst out laughing.

Her red lipstick was smeared all over his mouth.

His grin told her that it was the same for her.

Fishing in her wallet, she grabbed a Wet-Nap packet and tore it open.

Frowning, she realized she only had one.

… As if he could read her mind, he laughed.

“I just kissed you thoroughly and you’re thinking of germs?”

“No, I’m thinking that I can’t kiss you again because I am out of Wet-Naps.”

“That’s a better answer!” he teased. She handed him the Wet-Nap. He got ready to wash his face and suddenly stopped, pulling out his phone.

“I don’t think so, buddy!” she exclaimed, covering her lower face with her hands.

“C’mon, be a sport. This might be a memory we want to look at years from now,” he admitted tenderly.

“Our first kiss looked like a we’ve been eating crayons for hours…

or we just became vampires.” He held up the phone and she saw that he was trying to frame the two of them in the camera.

Her face looked worse than she imagined, causing her to grin widely – and she saw the lipstick on her teeth.

Laughing aloud, he took the photo and hid the phone away.

“Aren’t you going to let me see it?”

“No, you might delete it. Let’s clean up the evidence,” he teased, wagging his eyebrows at her.

“You first, Dracula,” she cried, sticking out her tongue. He scrubbed down his face and turned for her inspection. At her nod, he handed her the Wet-Nap for her own face. Cleaning it off, she fanned herself and yanked the ashtray open, instinctively going for her lipstick.

“You keep it there?”

“It’s a thing of mine,” she shrugged, embarrassed.

“I love red lipstick, so I have it everywhere around my house and garage. I have to check my pockets before washing the clothes. It makes quite a mess if one of them ends up in the dryer.” Dialing up the well-worn stick, she applied it quickly and turned. “Better?”

“Breathtaking.”

Staring at each other for a moment, he grabbed her hand and held it.

“Let’s go. I promised you a movie and dinner.

” They drove silently down the road to the drive-in, where the movie had already started by the time they arrived.

She was happy to see that during the movie he would turn and silently mouth the words to the song at her.

This surprised her with the carefree personality he showed, and she liked it.

After the movie, they stopped for pizza in town. Both found that they liked thin crust supreme pizza with extra olives and Dr. Pepper. She had such an easy time with him and it felt “good” to be around him. The night was coming to a close and she sighed heavily on the way back to his house.

“What’s that for?”

“It’s nothing.”

“That was an awfully big sigh for nothing.”

“I just – well…”

“You don’t want the night to be over either?”

“No, I don’t. I’ve had a great time tonight.”

“I have, too. It doesn’t have to be over,” he whispered softly, bringing her hand to his lips. “I would never push or ask it of you.”

“It’s our first date,” she breathed, tempted by the thought alone. “I don’t want to ruin things or, or…or really, really ruin things!” she repeated emphatically.

“Then how about that goodnight kiss and we’ll leave tonight at this: a fantastic beginning for us. Can I see you again soon? Like tomorrow?” he asked with a warm smile.

“I’d like that very much.”

“Good. Now about that kiss?”

Charlotte leaned over to him and traced his lips slowly with her fingers. They had fascinated her from the moment she saw his smile. He pursed them and kissed her fingertip. She bit her lip as he held her hand still.

“That tickles, little one.” The tender, wanton smile on Jack’s face was almost her undoing.

“Charlie, I think I need to get out of the truck. If you kiss me right now, I promise you that I’ll be kissing you goodnight and good morning, too.

” He then took the hand he held, pulled it to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

“I will see you tomorrow. Goodnight.”

Nodding in agreement, Charlie stared as he got out of the truck. Her face was alight with surprise, disbelief and enchantment for the man Jack turned out to be. He was a gentleman.

A hot, stunning, sexy, down-to-earth gentleman .

Clenching the steering wheel, she ground her teeth at the fierce longing she felt right now watching him walk up the driveway to the cabin. Throwing the truck into reverse, she began to back out against her will.

Was it possible to fall in love that fast?