saved my pennies, and then I found a cheap house up for auction, which brings us to here.”
“I feel like there are some pieces missing in that story.”
“I could say the same to you.” I meant as far as his tale about how they’d bought their first shop.
“You were listening.”
Of course. Listening and my self-doubt clashed, but I heard what he said. “I told you so.”
“So I caught up on Spring Popcorn. There are absolutely no dragons or Nazi’s,” he said.
I was grateful he didn’t press my omission of information. “No? Maybe I read a different version.”
“The one in your head?” His tone was teasingly accusatory.
“Exactly.”
We slid from Spring Popcorn to other manga and comics, our favorite TV shows and books... It was easy to talk to him. I suspected as much, based on our previous conversations, but there was some doubt with us talking one-on-one. I liked that we had so much in common, and that what we didn’t wasn’t an obstacle.
He drove us into Big Cottonwood Canyon, navigating the roads with practiced ease. He wasn’t intimidated by mountain driving.
We parked a way back from the main roads, in a wooded clearing. The scents of dirt, pine trees, rain, and the faint hint of Kingston’s cologne were borderline arousing.
He shut off the engine. “I may not have thought this through one-hundred percent.”
“Oh?”
“My plan was that we’d eat in the back of the SUV, but we still have to get back there.”
“I don’t mind getting a little wet.” Why didn’t I realize how that sounded before I said it?
“So I’ve seen.”
I shook my head, but couldn’t hide my amusement. “Wet in the rain. See?” I opened the door and stepped out.
The rain was coming down a lot harder than I expected, and my shriek ended in a giggle when I was soaked within seconds.
“You’re right, wet is good.” Kingston was by my side.
From his gravely tone, I expected to find him staring at my chest, but his gaze was fixed on my face. Raindrops pelted me. My hair clung to my cheeks. None of it mattered, because I couldn’t turn away from the way he watched me.
No one had ever looked at me like that before. Like I was the only person he could see. Like I was his sole focus.
Kingston brushed his hair off my face, and his mouth over mine. His kiss seared my soul. I almost expected to see the rain evaporate before it hit us. It was just a kiss, but it tingled through all of me.
I whimpered when he broke the sweet, intense kiss. He pressed his forehead to mine. “Dinner?”
“Isn’t that what we’re doing out here?” My half-joke came out breathless.
“You’re more like dessert, but we can have that first, if you want to be stripped down—”
“No.” My response came down more forcefully than I intended, propelled by the chill that raced down my spine. Hello, unwelcome and traumatic memory. “That is... Not out here.”
He tangled his fingers with mine. “Okay. Dinner.”
I was grateful he didn’t ask why? I couldn’t relive that moment enough to talk about it. It already haunted my dreams too often.
Chapter Fourteen
Kingston raised the rear door as a temporary shelter from the rain. There was already a blanket unfurled in the back of the SUV.
“We’ll get your blanket all wet,” I said.
“The blanket can be washed.” He moved the quilt to the edge of the SUV, so we could sit with our legs hanging outside, then grabbed a cooler from where it was secured near the seats, and pulled it forward as well.
Kingston extracted a tray of fresh fruit and cheese. It looked delicious.
Which must be why the nagging in my head asked Does he think I need more fruit? Now that the edges of old wounds had been exposed, my insecurities could rush back. I tried to argue with myself that fruit was all I ate at the cabin, and I made a fuss about the salad the first day I met the guys.
“Why fruit?” I forced out the neutral question.
He plucked a large strawberry from the mix, and traced it along my bottom lip, drawing a gasp from me.
“Take a bite,” he said.
I did. There was really no dainty way to bite into a strawberry so big, and juice dribbled down my chin.
Kingston leaned in and dragged his tongue up, licking the mess away. “That’s why,” he murmured against my lips.
He was toeing into dangerously perfect territory. Making it difficult to remember if I had reservations about liking