She shakes her head. I look around. It’s raining in a five-foot circumference around us. I look up. Petunia and Gladiola wave gleefully at me from a second-story window. Wanda holds a large sprinkler over us. A suspicion enters my mind.

“Is this a kiss in the rain?”

“No,” Jessie says. She opens her eyes and peeks at me. “Turn it off,” she shouts up at the ladies.

I take a step toward her. “Were you going to lure my brother here for a romantic kiss in the rain?”

“No. Of course not.” She takes a step back. “Turn it off, Wanda,” she shouts up.

“Can’t hear you, dear, I lost my hearing aid after class,” yells Wanda.

“She said turn it up,” Petunia says.

A slow grin spreads over my face. I take another step forward. Jessie takes a careful step back. Water runs down my face. I wipe it from my eyes. Strands of hair are starting to fall out of Jessie’s French twist. I reach forward and brush a lock off her cheek. Jessie takes another step back and bumps into the brick bakery wall.

The rate of the fake rain shower increases. Water pours down around us. Drops stream over Jessie’s face and onto her dress, washing away the spaghetti and sauce. I put my forearms to the brick wall on either side of her, closing her in. I bend down, until our mouths nearly touch.

“Did you think a kiss in the rain would make him fall in love?”

“No.” Her eyes turn dark and luminous. A drop of water trails down her cheek and settles on her lip. I groan. I’ve never ached to taste a drop of water so much.

“You want to know who would want you, Jessie?”

“Who?” she asks reluctantly.

“Me.”

I press her against the wall and send my lips to hers. She gasps and her mouth opens to me. I send my tongue in, I run it over her lips and drink the falling water and the taste of her.

I press my body over hers and shield her from the rain. I bury my hands in her hair and pull her closer. She makes a small sound in her throat and I lick it up. I take her lip in my mouth and tug, then I send my tongue across her lower lip. She’s heaven.

She was right. If I didn’t already love her, then this kiss in the rain would make me love her for forever and beyond.

Her hands settle hesitantly on my shoulders and I groan. I need more. I need more of her. It’s been too many years since I’ve touched her. It’s been too many years of wanting her and not having her.