A Promise To Keep

Drew touched her jaw. “Let me help you. Keep Bancroft Auto. I’ll take care of the home equity loan. You can pay me back. We can set up some type of monthly payment plan if it makes you feel better. It’ll be an amount you can swing while you’re in school.”

“When did you add ‘savings and loan’ to your name?” It was a tempting offer but not one she could accept. Since sitting down, she’d kept her eyes straight ahead, focused on the wall. Now she faced him. “Drew, I’ve got this. Don’t worry about it.”

He leaned closer and she saw the gold and black flecks in his eyes. She’d known him a long time, and she’d never noticed them before now.

“Please, Kels,” he said, using the nickname only her family and he had ever used.

She glanced down at his lips. They were so close to hers. She’d spent countless nights dreaming of them against hers. All she had to do was move a little and she could fulfill one of her teenage fantasies. Not only that, if she suddenly kissed him, it’d shock the hell out of him. He’d fly out of the house and not bother her again.

“Let me—”

Before she changed her mind or lost her nerve, she closed the space between them and covered his lips with hers.