Curtis Read Online Free PDF Page B

frilly white dress that she’d worn to church that morning hugging her curves.
    He couldn’t even understand how he’d ever thought Helen Jenkins was prettier than her. Lorrie was the prettiest girl he’d ever set eyes on.
    “Not much different than sixteen, I don’t guess.” He found his voice was slightly rougher than usual. He attributed that to his hormones, which seemed to be out of whack when she was around.
    For two solid weeks, he’d been going about his business as he always had, only now he felt as though he had purpose. This girl had waltzed into his life and sidetracked him to the point he hadn’t spent any time with his friends or his family since that day she’d come to his door. And he didn’t even care. The only person he wanted to spend time with was her.
    Granted, Lorrie hadn’t been quite as receptive to him as he was to her, but it did seem as though they’d established somewhat of a friendship during that time. Ever since he had laid it all on the line, letting her know he fully intended to win her over, she hadn’t been quite so … combative. Granted, she still liked to argue with almost everything he said, but he found it cute.
    “I can’t imagine it does,” she said. “Fourteen doesn’t feel any different than thirteen, either, except…”
    “Except what?”
    Lorrie shook her head.
    “Talk to me, girl.”
    Her cheeks turned pink. “Except, you know, I … like you .”
    “Like me, huh?” He couldn’t stop the grin from splitting his face.
    Curtis continued to stare at her, trying to memorize everything. She wasn’t wearing the little button-up sweater she’d had on earlier, and the dress she had on gave him an unobstructed view of the golden skin of her arms and a peek at her toned legs, something he found himself drawn to. He wanted to know if she was as soft as she looked, but he didn’t dare touch her for fear of scaring her off. Which wasn’t an easy feat. For the past couple of weeks, it was all he could think about. Not only did he want to touch her skin, he wanted to know how her lips would feel on his, her tongue moving against his.
    His hormones were completely off-kilter. Sometimes he worried about how much he wanted her, all the things that he wanted to do to her. Truth be told, he’d never felt this way about a girl. Sure, he’d had plenty of fantasies about the girls at school—a few of them, anyway—but not the kind of fantasies he was having about Lorrie. He was sporting an erection damn near all day, every day.
    If she knew what he was thinking when he looked at her, she would probably smack him right upside the head. He certainly wasn’t a saint, nor did he pretend to be.
    “If you could have anything in the world for your birthday,” Lorrie asked, her blue eyes sparkling as she looked over at him, “what would it be?”
    Her smile was so sweet, so shy.
    Curtis considered that for a moment. Then he grinned. “A kiss,” he said boldly.
    “From who?” Lorrie looked confused, but he saw the way her cheeks turned pink again. She knew what he meant, but he liked her innocence.
    “From you, of course.”
    “ Me ? Why me?” She sounded as though that were the most preposterous thing she’d ever heard.
    One thing he’d learned about Lorrie was that she was incredibly sweet, probably a little too naïve. She was smart and pretty, but she didn’t seem to realize that. He wasn’t sure if that was her parents’ doing or what. Whatever the reason, she was extremely reserved and equally innocent. Not as much as a couple of girls he knew, the kind who would slap a boy for looking at her too long. No, Lorrie wasn’t quite that virtuous, but she definitely wasn’t as forward as a lot of the girls. And maybe that was what he liked most about her.
    “Have you ever kissed a boy, Lorrie?”
    Her golden eyebrows darted downward. “No.”
    “Never?”
    “Never,” she confirmed.
    “How come?”
    More color highlighted her cheeks as she shrugged.