This Kiss

Lemon put down the 'phone and gave a sidelong glance at her companion. Wade was driving, staring out at the road ahead with the same sullen expression he'd been wearing all day. It didn't take a genius to know what he was thinking about.

'What?' Wade turned around, too quickly for her to look the out of the window.

'Nothing'

'Didn't look like nothin'. What's goin' on, Lemon? Somethin's up.'

'Nothing's 'up'.'

She stared through the windscreen, watching the long, straight road ahead of them, the fields of cotton rising towards a low, wooded ridge. He wasn't going to like this: Zoe and her flirty cousin Jonah, stuck in the middle of nowhere, on their way to New York. And she didn't really want to have to sit with an even more sulky Wade Kinsella, in a boiling hot muscle car with no air con.

'This better not be another one of your crazy schemes, Lemon Breeland,' he said, showing more perspicacity than he realized. Well, Birmingham and Gloriana had been one of her 'crazy schemes', but this, at least, wasn't her fault.

'I don't know what you mean, Wade,' she replied primly, hoping to delay the inevitable.

'You know precisely what I mean, Lemon.' He turned back to the road. Shifting in his seat, he hooked one long, tanned arm onto the open window. He looked, she thought, thoroughly fed up.

'There's definitely somethin' I don't know about here,' he muttered to no-one in particular.

'There's nothing…'

He cast her a speaking look and she shut up. There wasn't much point in protesting, since she was going to have to tell him in a minute anyway. She wondered how long she could wait? Maybe they could just come upon them, by chance?

Lemon looked back at the flatlands, stretching her hand into the cool air out the window. How had she ended up here, in this mess? Of all people, a year ago, she might've thought she would be going on a road trip with, Wade Kinsella was probably the last. And yet, here she was owning a bar with him. A bar. It didn't sound like the woman she thought she would become. A year ago, she had thought she'd be married, maybe pregnant. Memory Matron and Southern Belle. Mrs George Tucker, making pink lemonade and fancies. She stared at the Blackland Prairie and the endless miles of unbroken road. She wasn't sure Lemon 2.0 was really the woman she wanted to be. Life seemed so much more complicated now. Everything was different; so uncertain. She glanced back at Wade. People, too, were difficult to deal with now they weren't so black and white. Look at Wade: High School drop-out and serial womanizer, seemingly hell-bent on adding up to nothing. Then he had lifted his hand from that boat in the hard-body contest and... She considered him for a moment. Why had he done that? It still troubled and puzzled her. She knew he cared much more than he ever let on, but for her? It surprised her. Had it been pity? Sympathy? Respect for her trying to get on with her life? Trying to find a life without George Tucker? She sort of understood, but couldn't articulate it. She knew it wasn't romance – Wade had never been like that with her, thank goodness - but it amounted to a lot of money, and it made her think. He'd told her the Rammer Jammer had been his dream, and he'd sacrificed it to share with her. Had he, she wondered suddenly, wanted to share it with someone else? She turned around again and looked at him, still staring sullenly out of the window, and felt a little surge of affection at the sight of his childish, mulish, handsome face. He would never admit it, but had he been scared of winning? Had he wanted her – someone, anyone – to share this with? She gave a little laugh, scarcely audible against the growling engine. Had Wade Kinsella ever shared anything with anyone? In a flash of realization, she knew he had not. Somehow, Wade had always been on the outside. His mother had died. His father had become an alcoholic. His brother had left as soon as humanly possible for better things. His friends had always had fewer cares and more money… She had known all this and she had never realized. He had just been Wade, that serial screw-up...the friend she hadn't understood why George had wanted to keep.

'What's up, Lemon?'

She looked up to find he was looking at her, an expression of exasperation and irritation in his eyes. She hesitated. She should tell him. They weren't that far from Birmingham now…

'Y'know what, I don't really care,' he turned away to look back out of the window. Lemon watched him. He looked like he cared a good deal. It was a shame that it was Zoe Hart, of all people, that had made Wade feel like this. Otherwise, she would have been pleased. He was thirty. It was about time he admitted he actually cared about something. They'd been enough women queuing up at the bar of the Rammer Jammer over the years. She hadn't understood before because Wade was, well, Wade. But now…her situation, her confusion, the way her own life had gone... She knew just what he was thinking: How might things be different if I hadn't done it? Just like how things might've been different now had she married George. If she had never let herself get involved with Mayor Lavon Hayes…

'So, who was it on the 'phone?' Wade, clearly bored with staring at the flatlands scenery, interrupted her 'Sliding Doors' reverie.

She fanned the hot air slightly, and turned to face him. Okay, here went nothing.

'Lavon.'

'Lavon?!'

'He wanted us to stop and pick something up.'

'What?' Wade looked around at the expanse of prairie, as if Lavon might have, somehow, left a package in a field. 'In Birmingham?' he questioned.

'Just outside.' She sat for a moment, wondering how to phrase it, then said simply. 'He wanted us to pick up Zoe Hart.'

'Zoe?!' Wade looked around at her. For a moment, she recognized a fleeting glimpse of anxiety, then the shutters came down and his expression became blank. 'I thought Zoe was in New York,' he said, sounding like a truculent teenager.

'It seems there was some medical drama. You know Zoe Hart.'

'Some medical drama?' He slammed on the brakes. A car behind, which she – and, she suspected, he – had no idea was there, screeched past, blaring his horn.

'Are you trying to kill us, Wade?!'

'What? No.' He dismissed the car as an irrelevance. 'What's this about the Doc., Lemon? What are you talkin' about?'

Lemon sighed.

'She's fine, Wade. It wasn't her medical drama, it was some other guy. Lavon said she'd been some kind of heroine. Naturally. You know, nothing's ever just normal with her.'

'Lemon…'

'Okay,' she backed down and shrugged into the leather seat. 'Lavon didn't say much. Just that some guy had been ill, and Zoe and Jonah had saved him…'

'Zoe and Jonah?'

'Yes.'

'Your cousin was there?' Wade was watching her as if she'd somehow been hiding this from him.

'He was on his way to New York.'

'Together?'

'I don't know, Wade.' She met his look, annoyed at the implied accusation. 'Not being Zoe Hart's personal private secretary, I find it kinda hard to keep up with her ever-changing list of beaux.'

As soon as she said it, she regretted it. Zoe Hart might not be her favourite person in Bluebell but Wade…well, they were friends, of a kind.

'I think he was goin' up to his new surgery position,' she said, more gently.

'Of course. Another hot-shot surgeon.'

'I don't think they were together, Wade'

'Doesn't make any difference, does it?' he said. He put the car in gear and pulled out into the road. 'So how come they need pickin' up?'

'The plane made an emergency landing in Birmingham.'

'So they're at the airport? Well, she can hire a car like anyone else.'

'They did. According to Lavon,' she added hurriedly, as he cast another accusatory glance in her direction. 'Don't shoot the messenger, Wade. Apparently their rental broke down and now they are 20 miles out of Birmingham, about to miss their flight.'

'And we're just supposed to drop everythin' and play roadside rescue?'

'Lavon said she's on the way to a wedding and she'll be late.'

'Of course.' He glared out of the windscreen. She gave a little smile in spite of herself. He could protest all he liked, but she knew he'd stop.

'Are we supposed to take them to the airport or something?'

'No! They're on their way to Atlanta. We have to pick up Gloriana, if you recall?'

'So what are we supposed to do?'

'Apparently it's just a flat. Lavon thought you could fix it.'

'Can't Jonah fix a flat?'

'He's a surgeon, Wade, he can't risk his hands…'

'Right, but I'm a bartender, so that doesn't matter, right?'

She saw his hands clench on the steering wheel. She realized that he hadn't said bar-owner.

'So I'm supposed to stop what I'm doing and fix it, because whatever I'm doing can't be that important. Is that it?'

'Yes.'

'Good to know.'

'Come on, Wade.' She shrugged, wondering why she was trying so hard. 'We just stop and see if you can fix it. If it's more than a flat tyre, we can at least give them a lift back to Birmingham.'

Wade said nothing.

'We have time…'

Wade still said nothing.

'Do you really want to leave my handsome, flirty, manipulative cousin Jonah Breeland sitting with the girl you don't love any more by the side of the road?' She looked at him as he resolutely continued to glare out of the windscreen. 'If no one comes to help soon, they might have to stay overnight in some motel…'

Wade looked across at her wordlessly and Lemon shrugged, provocatively casual.

'You know I don't give a damn about Dr Zoe 'High Heels' Hart. But tell me, Wade Kinsella, is that really what you want?'

Again, he said nothing, but, Lemon noticed with satisfaction, this time the car definitely speeded up.

"So, tell me again, what is it with you and Golden Boy?' Jonah Breeland smiled, enjoying himself immensely as Zoe got increasingly fed up. Getting a rise out of Zoe Hart was ridiculously easy. It was like taking candy from a child.

'There's nothing with me and 'Golden Boy'. If, by 'Golden Boy', you mean George Tucker.'

'Of course I mean George Tucker. Is there another Golden Boy in Bluebell? I mean, now I've left.'

Zoe cast him a speaking look and scuffed her boots into the gravel. The $450 Christian Louboutin's were now covered in dust.

'Not so much gold as iron pyrites.' Zoe muttered, irritated. 'I can't believe you can't fix this. I thought you Southern men were all supposed to be handy, practical types.'

'Oh, we are. All regular back-woodsmen. I never said I can't fix it. I could fix it, if there was a better wheel wrench. And I didn't have surgery on Monday morning, first thing. I can't afford to damage my ligaments trying to pry off those wheel nuts.' He stretched out his long-fingered hands as if it were some kind of explanation. 'But you're an emancipated, New York City Doctor. I won't feel emasculated if you want to give it a try.'

'Why does everything conspire to keep me from getting back to New York?' Zoe said bitterly.

Jonah laughed as she muttered, kicking up the dirt at the roadside like a five year old.

'There you go again, Little Miss Centre-of-the-Universe! Now it's the whole forces of divine providence conspiring to keep you south of the Mason-Dixon line. Look on the bright side. At least you have me for company.'

'You say that like I'd prefer not to be alone.'

'Oh, come on, Dr Hart, we both know you're fighting this. Having me around is like having the guy around you love to hate.' He smiled at her look of immense irritation. 'We both know how this antagonism ends. Anyway,' he shrugged. 'Surely sitting at the side of the road in ninety degree heat waiting for some hairy-arsed roadside repairman is better with me around than without?'

Zoe scuffed at the gravel again and shifted to keep within the car's shadow. It was getting impossibly hot. When would this guy get here? Just how much longer could it possibly take him? Did nothing 'south of the Mason-Dixon line' ever get done right? She sighed and squinted into the sunlight. Nothing had passed for ages. Where was everyone?

'I can't believe you suggested this was some kind of short cut. If we had been on the highway, we would never have had a flat.'

'Well, the radio said there was a pile up just outside Lincoln. We both thought we'd be better off the highway, if I recall.' He walked around the car and squatted on the road beside her, throwing a bit of gravel at a stray tin can. 'So, tell me again, what's this Golden Boy thing.'

'What 'Golden Boy thing'?' Zoe snapped.

'Well, my cousin seems to think you stole her fiancé.'

'I did not.'

'She seems to think you had a thing for G. Tuck.'

Zoe was silent.

'She seems to think that, even before the whole 'Lavon thing', George was looking for a way out…'

'We never did anything.'

'You just wanted to.'

Zoe didn't reply, drawing circles in the dirt.

'But then, when he jilted Lemon at the altar, you didn't want him any more.' Jonah looked at her for a moment. 'What's up with that, Dr Hart?'

He watched her turn pink, but she refused to look up from the roadside.

'One night with Wade Kinsella and George Tucker was toast.' Jonah whistled. 'That sure must have stung!'

'What do you mean?' Zoe looked up to find he had leant back against the bumper. He gave her a knowing look.

'I mean, I don't think Wade has ever taken anything from George.'

'What do you mean? From George. I'm not a toy. George didn't have me. We…we had feelings for one another. That's all. George was nothing to do with Wade.'

Jonah glanced at her for a moment then squinted towards the horizon.

'Wonder if Wade thought that.' He put his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. 'I always liked Wade, though God knows, I don't think he likes me much.' He stretched out his legs and crossed his boots at the ankles. 'Plays a mean game of poker. Knows all the good fishing spots.'

'Yeah, and he's a womanizer, a liar and a cheat.'

Jonah opened one eye and looked at her knowingly.

'Methinks the lady doth protest too much.'

Zoe glared at him.

'A little bird tells me that one night, not so long ago, all was forgiven.'

'Nothing was forgiven. I…I just made a mistake.'

'Another one?! My, Dr Zoe Hart, your life seems to be a comedy of errors. How was it, may I ask, that you stumbled back into Wade's bed?'

'How do you know about that?'

'A little bird.' He winked and closed his eyes again.

'That has nothing to do with you,' Zoe said, blushing hot.

'Nope, you're right. It is none of my business. But since we're sitting here, bored, by the roadside, we might as well fill the time. At least this hang up over Wade Kinsella explains why it was you didn't want to sleep with me. I had been wondering if I was losing my touch…'

He waited for her to say something, but she didn't answer, so he opened his eyes and watched her. He grinned. She was still feeling sorry for herself. Lemon might not like her, but at least she was entertaining. Too entertaining to end up with George Tucker, in any case.

'So, after running around Bluebell, trying to find anyone else to play Romeo, you end up playing Juliette with someone else.' He whistled again and leant back. 'Poor old George. And now he doesn't even have Tansy for comfort. If he weren't George Tucker, I might actually feel sorry for him myself.'

'What exactly do you mean by that, Jonah? Or are you just making trouble? Another chip off the arrogant Breeland block?'

'Oh, I don't have to make trouble when you make so much for yourself, Zoe.' He sat up suddenly. 'I mean: you profess to have feelings for the guy, whilst all the time, you're busy falling for the guy next door. Who you profess to hate. I mean, Zoe Hart, that you needed no help from 'an arrogant Breeland' to get you into this.' He smiled, annoyingly smug. 'You know, Lemon told me you were trouble, but all I saw was 'hot doctor' when we met at the Dixie Stop. Now I see what she was talkin' about. You're trouble all right. Albeit trouble with a great pair of legs.' He looked out into the distance and saw a cloud of dust rising on the horizon. He smiled.

'Oh look, it seems like our knight of the road has arrived.'

Zoe scrambled up from the gravel and stared into the distance. A plume of dust was indeed rising from the road. Thank God! She began waving furiously, apropos of nothing. Jonah, meanwhile, had stood to stand by her side.

'So, here we go,' he said, raising his eyebrows and smiling at her. 'Not long now and we'll be back on the road.'

'No thanks to you,' Zoe said, still waving at the on-coming vehicle. She stopped suddenly. It didn't look like a tow-truck.

'Wha..?' She looked round at Jonah. 'That's not auto-rescue.'

'Nope?' Jonah put his hand to his brow and pretended to look. 'Why, no it is not. Don't I recognize that vehicle?' He squinted into the distance. 'If I didn't know better, I'd think that was Wade Kinsella's car...?' He began to walk forward as the Ford Mustang came to a halt in front of them. 'Well, hello there, Lemon. Wade.' He held the door open for his cousin. 'Aren't you a sight for sore eyes.'

'Jonah.'

Jonah looked over the top of the car and nodded to Wade Kinsella. If looks could kill…

'Wade. Thanks for dropping by, man.'

'Lavon asked us to come.'

'Lavon?' Jonah looked at Lemon then gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. 'Yeah. He said he would.'

'He said you had a flat,' Wade said, putting on his sunglasses.

'Yep.'

He watched Wade nod towards Zoe.

'Dr Hart,' was all he managed to say.

Jonah looked at her, grinned and patted his hand on his chest, mocking a heart-beat. Zoe turned on her heel and stomped off to sit on a rock.

'So how long have you been waiting?' Zoe looked up and found Lemon standing, looking cool and prim as always. She was in a neat cream blouse and a pale gold, A-line skirt. 'Lavon said you were on your way to New York?'

'Yeah.' She looked back at Wade and Jonah, now squatting next to the left hand front wheel.

'What was it?'

'A wedding.'

'I'm sorry.'

'You are?' Zoe said doubtfully. She glanced at Lemon then back at the men. 'Why did Lavon call you? Where were you going anyway?'

'Bar business.' Lemon shrugged, following her gaze. Wade was loosening the wheel nuts, his sleeves already rolled up to his elbows. Jonah was kneeling on his haunches, elbows on his knees, watching him work. Lemon glanced at Zoe. Zoe wasn't watching Jonah.

'So what were you and my cousin doing, going to New York?' Lemon smoothed her skirt around her knees and sat down next to her. Zoe was still staring at Wade.

'There should be an alloy-head. Look in the glove compartment.' Wade was nodding Jonah towards the passenger door. Jonah rose then Wade stood, dusted his hands against his jeans, and began unbuttoning his shirt. Lemon looked sideways and suppressed a small smile. Well, at least Zoe was trying to pretend not to look.

'We weren't travelling together. We just happened to be on the same plane,' Zoe snapped, turning away from the not unpleasant spectacle of Wade Kinsella stripping off his shirt.

'Lavon said there was some kind of problem?"

'Some guy had a heart attack.'

'And Dr Zoe Hart saves the day. Praise the Lord!' Lemon smiled tightly but Zoe didn't answer. Lemon followed her gaze again. Wade's plaid shirt was now on the car roof.

'So how did you come to be here in the middle of nowhere?'

'Didn't Lavon tell you?' Zoe looked around at her sharply. 'Your cousin had the hair-brained idea of coming by the back-roads. He said there was some pile up.'

'I see.'

'And this crappy rental got a flat tyre, and your precious cousin wouldn't get his hands dirty.'

'Good job we were coming this way, I guess.'

'I guess.' Zoe looked at her and away again. Wade was now on his back, long legs stretched out and torso under the car. Jonah had fished the jack from the trunk and was standing holding the wheel wrench.

'He's been like a bear with a sore head all morning,' Lemon said, conversationally. She watched Zoe's gaze fall, but noticed she couldn't resist looking back up at them. 'If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was….' She smiled down at Zoe, then rose. 'Well, you know.' She gave a tight little smile and began to walk over to her cousin, then turned to look back at Zoe, still seated on her rock. 'It wouldn't hurt to be a little civil,' she said, 'we have all gone to a lot of trouble to help you. Just sayin' ' she added, then turned and walked back to the car.

Zoe watched her and looked away. She knew she was acting like a baby. She knew she should be grateful that Wade and Lemon had come to help. Whatever they were doing…she looked briefly across at Lemon Breeland…Whatever they were up to, they hadn't had to stop and help. She looked at Wade, who was standing, talking to Jonah, dusting off his hands and stripped to the waist. He had his sunglasses back on, and he was laughing about something. Jesus, she shouldn't still want him this much. She tried to look away but she just couldn't. There was something about him. It wasn't just sex. It was... She looked down at the ground. She tried to dust the sand off her boots. Why had he come round last night? Like everything was suddenly okay between them? Carrying that six-pack like they could just hang out? She looked up and found he and Jonah were looking in her direction. In spite of the sunglasses, she understood his expression. Just at the minute, he felt like she had when she'd put his boots in the fire. She had said things to Wade on her porch last evening that she would always regret.

'Zoe?' Jonah Breeland stood before her, smiling, annoyingly. 'Lemon and I are heading out.'

'What?' Zoe stared up at him, wondering what on earth had happened.

'Wade reckons the spare is pretty knackered. We won't make it to Atlanta tonight.'

'So what am I supposed to do? Sit here and wait for the tow-truck?'

'No. Once Wade's finished fitting the spare, you can try and limp back to Birmingham.'

'What?!'

'Wade reckons it'll be okay if he goes real steady. Meanwhile, I'll go ahead and sort out another car.' He grinned and shook his head. 'Look, Zoe, much as I'd love to rile you up some more, we need to get a new hire car sorted before they shut for the night. Lemon has to go and pick up this band, Gloriana and get back to the Rammer Jammer, and Wade's has to finish fixing the spare.'

'Why can't I come with you?'

'And leave Wade here sorting out your problem? You can't leave Wade dealing with this. This way, I can speak to the car hire and organize a replacement. Lemon can leave Wade's car in Birmingham, and head back with the band. You guys will either make it back to Birmingham, or get as far as you can on that wheel, and I'll pick you up and take Wade to his car. There's no sense in us all sitting here by the road-side.'

'This doesn't make sense, Jonah,' Zoe said, rising angrily. 'I have to get to this wedding. Why can't you stay here with Wade?' She heard her voice rise and looked instinctively across at Wade. He was standing, looking at her. She realized he had heard.

'Why can't I go with Lemon?' she hissed.

'Because Lemon doesn't want to go with you?' Jonah shrugged, pretending to be sympathetic to her plight. 'Look, Zoe. The spare won't take ten minutes more, and this way, we can all get home – or back on the way – tonight.' He slipped his sunglasses back on and gave an irritating smirk. 'We'll give you a call from the car hire and let you know what gives.'

Zoe watched him walk away and then back towards the Prius. Wade was standing on one leg, sunglasses in his hand on the car roof, other foot working the jack. Lemon was sliding into the driver's seat of the Ford and Jonah was raising a hand in acknowledgement as he walked around to open the passenger door.

'There is something screwy about this, Wade.' She stomped over to meet him. 'What the hell is going on? Why do the Breelands always get what they want?'

He looked at her for a moment as the Ford disappeared.

'Coz they're Breelands?' He shrugged and watched the trail of dust then knelt down to check the jack. 'It's not such a bad idea, Doc. This spare is knackered. This way at least you'll get to Atlanta tonight.'

'My wedding…the wedding is tomorrow.'

'Then maybe you should try changing your flight?' He pushed the car on the jack to test it and looked back up at her. 'But before you do that, you might want to hand me the wheel wrench?' He was looking at her with an expression somewhere between exasperation and weariness. The sweat was glistening on the muscles of his back.

Zoe looked around, suddenly flustered. The wheel wrench was in the dust by the side of the road. She picked it up and walked back to him, avoiding looking at his torso. Being careful not to touch him, she slapped the metal into his outstretched hand.

'Thanks.' He fitted the wrench onto the wheel, already loose from his earlier fiddling, and began spinning off the nut. His hands were deft, practiced and she had to look away at the sudden, inappropriate memory. His shoulders were dusty from where he'd lain on the road. She swallowed hard and stared resolutely at the hickory scrub. She was not going to look at his chest.

'Will you hold these?' he stretched his arm behind him and dropped two lug nuts into her palm. She noticed he didn't touch her. Her fingers moved unconsciously towards his.

'Here.' Another lug nut dropped into her hand and she stared at it blankly. Had he noticed she was finding it difficult to breathe? Another nut, and this time his fingertips grazed hers as he reached behind him. She thought she felt them hesitate, and stared at his hands. Just how many lug nuts were there on a car wheel, anyway? She closed her eyes briefly then opened them again to watch him fit the wrench onto the wheel. Everything suddenly seemed to be moving inexorably slowly as the wheel wrench spun and the final nut dropped into his grasp. This time he unbent, half turned around and stood up in front of her. He held the nut out and dropped it to join the others in her palm. It made a dull clinking sound. She looked at it, then back up at Wade. His bare chest was rising and falling and she could hear his breathing. There was a fine layer of dust at the base of his throat.

'Zoe…'

Her name had scarcely escaped his lips before she was pulling him towards her. She felt his mouth hit hers at the same time as the wheel nuts hit the ground. She had fallen back onto the car and the metal was hard beneath her shoulder blades. Wade's hand was pushing through her hair, tilting her face into his. She felt her hands, reaching forward and across the taut muscles of his abdomen. She felt him tense as she made contact, snaking her hands up his chest and around his neck. Sweet Lord, Wade, she thought, slipping her fingers into his hair to pull him closer. When am I going to stop feeling like this?

She felt him tense and retreat, and opened her eyes, letting her hands fall.

'What?'

'What did you say?'

She blinked at him blankly. His mouth had gone but was still just millimetres from hers. She stared at his lips.

'What did you say, Zoe?'

His hand left her face and pushed against the door-frame. She felt the pressure of his body lift away from hers. Instinctively, she reached out. Again, she felt the stomach muscles quiver and he stopped moving, no longer hard against her, but no longer moving out of reach. She moved her hand slowly around his hip.

'Zoe…' His eyelashes fluttered closed and his head dropped towards hers. The sun was glancing through his hair and onto his face. He looked…she stopped moving her fingers and held her palm steadily against him. He looked like he was in physical pain.

'Wade?' She bent beneath his gaze and frowned, hair tumbling around her face.

'I can't keep doin' this.'

'Doing what?'

'Having sex, and then waking up in the morning and findin' you gone.'

'Wade...'

'I don't want you not to want me, Zoe.' His voice was quiet. 'I don't want you to want to stop feeling this.'

She realized she had spoken her thoughts aloud and didn't know what to say to him.

'I know I ruined everythin'. I know I…I cheated,' he swallowed, as if the words were difficult to say. 'But you can't keep…keep doing this. I can't do this any more.' He wasn't looking at her, but at the road, his voice little more than an undertone. 'You can't expect me to accept this. Whatever on earth this is.'

'Wade…'

'No.' She felt him shift slightly, yet he still didn't - couldn't? - move away from her. She splayed her fingers across his chest and looked up at his face.

'Please, Zoe.' This time he met her eyes and she was shocked at his expression. Whatever she'd suffered, he was suffering just as much. She shifted her body closer, dropping her hand to find his, hanging limply. She threaded her fingers through his and brought it up to her breast.

'Zoe…'

'Shhssh.' She reached onto tiptoe and lightly brushed her lips against his. She saw his eyes close and watched him swallow. Reaching her hand to the small of his back, she pulled him gently towards her.

'Zoe…'

'Wade, I know.' She met his gaze and smiled and opened her lips to kiss his. It felt altogether different. She leant into him and welded her body to his. He made no effort to move, to touch her, to do anything but kiss her. How long could two people go on kissing? She felt the gurgle of laughter well up in her throat. So this was what all the fuss was about, she thought vaguely, feeling herself falling. This kiss. This kiss.

THE END.