First Love (Love Nibbles Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

walked toward her. “You came!”
    For a moment she thought he was going to hug her. Instead, he took her hand and led her toward the road. “I’m parked right up here.”
    Rachael had never hands with a boy. It felt strange to let him touch her even so innocently. Her hand tingled and sweated a little. Nightfall had done little to decrease the heat.
    Reaching the pickup, Joe opened the passenger door and held her elbow as she climbed in. Then he ran around to the driver’s side, hopped in and turned on the engine. The radio blared, Oh yes, I’m the Great Pretender. Pretending that I’m doing well.
    Joe turned down the volume and grinned at her, teeth shining in the dashboard lights. “How’d you manage to get out?”
    “I asked to sleep on the porch because of the heat. Mattie always sleeps straight through ’til morning, so unless Mama comes out to check on us, it should be okay.” Rachael’s pulse beat fast from her run and from the very idea of her mother finding her missing. She’d stuffed the blanket to make it appear filled, but the form beneath didn’t look very human.
    “I’m glad you could come.” Joe put the truck in gear and drove up the dirt road. “I hope you like the movie. It’s Creature from the Black Lagoon this week. I saw it at the indoor theater a while ago. It was okay.”
    Rachael slid back on the smooth vinyl seat, the vibrations from the engine purring into her bottom and the backs of her legs. It was exhilarating riding in the fast moving truck, like flying away in the night with this charming boy who’d come to free her.
    The music on the radio changed. The next song was unlike anything she’d ever heard. An echoing male voice wailed the words and each phrase was punctuated by a hard-strummed guitar chord, Since my baby left me. I found a new place to dwell. It’s down on the end of lonely street.
    Rachael leaned forward to listen.
    “You like Elvis?” Joe turned the music back up. A strong bass and tinkling piano carried the melody along.
    “It’s so full of emotion, isn’t it? You can almost hear the heartbreak.”
    “Elvis is big. A lot of guys are growing out their crewcuts and slicking back their hair with Vitalis to look like him.”
    Rachael had no idea what that meant, but she was glad the English boys were starting to wear their hair longer. It would make the Amish boys stick out less. Although, with the differences in clothing, there would always be a big divide. And that was the point anyway. The Amish purposefully set themselves apart.
    As the truck turned a corner with a squeal of tires, she gripped the seat. Joe was showing off with the truck like the boys who raced their buggies on the back roads.
    He smiled at her. “Have you ridden in a truck before?”
    “No. It’s very fast.” Her teeth clicked together as they bounced over a rut.
    “Sorry. I’ll slow down.”
    “That’s okay. I like it.”
    He laughed and sped down the straight track of road toward the highway.
    *
    The movie was so exciting Rachael forgot to eat the popcorn Joe bought for her. The story was about a half-human monster found by some explorers who didn’t have sense enough to leave the creature alone in its natural habitat where it wasn’t harming anyone. She got completely caught up in the creature’s plight and gasped aloud when the gill man killed one of the scientists. Her heart ached for its doomed obsession with the lovely woman.
    Suddenly she became aware that Joe’s arm brushed against hers. He’d moved close to her on the front seat. One of his fingers stroked the back of her hand.
    “The movie was better with 3-D glasses, but it’s still pretty cool,” he said.
    Rachael’s eyes were riveted on his hand, which moved to cover hers. He turned hers over and laced fingers with her. The friction of skin sliding together made her shiver. Gooseflesh rose on her arms despite the heat in the truck’s cab. She pressed her thighs together to try to stop the pulsing