Liam? “Sounds like a date.”
He smiled and she smiled back goofily, until someone jostled her from behind, and they started moving again. She checked her watch. She’d need about an hour to get ready for the event that night, and they needed time to walk back to the hotel and get up to their rooms, which gave her thirty minutes. That was all the time she’d need.
“I’ve got an idea.” She tugged him in the direction of a store they’d passed when they’d first arrived in New York City.
“What idea?”
She stopped walking and turned to him very seriously. “It has been brought to my attention that you have terrible taste in chocolate.”
“Really.” It looked as though he were trying to hold back a smile. She loved seeing some of the nervousness fall off of him.
“Yes, indeed. It’s a sad state of affairs.”
“So what do you have in mind?”
“Your very own chocolate tour, curated by me.”
A little bit of the worry eased in the lines around his eyes as they took on an amused glint. “I’m game.”
“Excellent.”
They approached a corner market with neon beer signs on every available space in the windows. A bell on the door jingled as they walked in, and she took him straight to the candy section. There, she grabbed one of every single chocolate bar, making him laugh out loud.
He held up a Reese’s. “Can this really be counted as chocolate? It’s at least 50% peanut butter.”
“Peanut butter enhances the flavor the chocolate,” she said in her most serious, chocolate-connoisseur tone. “Changes the flavor from, say, a chocolate mixed with caramel—”
“Or chocolate mixed with wafers?”
“Exactly. Each mix-in really amplifies certain undertones of the chocolate. You’ll see.” She threw him a cheeky smile. “But we need a base chocolate, one to compare them all to, which happens to be the most heavenly of chocolates produced.” She snagged a Hershey’s bar to put on the top.
“Now you’ve gone too far.” Liam led the way to the register. “Hershey’s is little more than chocolate-flavored wax.”
“Perhaps to some misdirected individuals. But to everyone else, we know there’s nothing better than a Hershey’s bar in one hand, a Diet Coke in the other, with the latest Gavin Stone movie on the television.”
“Trade out Hershey’s for imported Belgium chocolate, Diet Coke for full-sugar Coke, add in you and me holding hands while we watch Gavin Stone, and you just described my perfect night.”
She liked the sound of that very much. Was that a life he could ever have, though? With everything he had awaiting him at the end of this break, it seemed impossible to imagine a quiet night in together.
The cashier didn’t even bat an eye as they bought over twenty candy bars, a package of napkins, and two water bottles. They found a bench to sit at and set the bag between them. She loved that Liam jumped right in to trying a bite of every single candy bar. He’d move it around in his mouth, talk about the cacao undertones—“This one is nutty; it’s probably the nuts”—take a swig of water, and try the next.
“We’re going to be too full for dinner,” Viola said as they were finishing up.
“Worth it. In some cases.” Liam had a discard pile, with his least favorite, the Hershey’s bar topping the list. “Okay, my favorite is definitely the Reese’s, which I already suspected, but through this thorough taste testing, it was confirmed. The surprise stand-out to me was the Almond Joy. I’ve never had one before, and though the chocolate was minimal, it really did help showcase the coconut.”
“How have you never had an Almond Joy? That’s like a trick-or-treating staple.”
He shrugged. “Our neighborhoods were all about artisan candy and little toys.”
Ah, the rich neighborhoods.
“Well, the surprise stand-out for me was the KitKat. I haven’t had one in probably a decade, and it had a delightful crunch.”
She looked up from her piles of candy bars to find Liam watching her. “Thank you for doing this.”
“What? Getting you hopped up on sugar right before you’re supposed to go on stage?” she joked.
“No. Being here like this. Distracting me. Introducing me to things like the Almond Joy bar.” He leaned forward over their piles of candy, and she leaned to meet him halfway. He tasted sweet like chocolate, and she knew she’d never get enough of him.
“I change my mind,” he murmured, his lips still close to hers.
“About what?”
“The chocolate I taste on you is my favorite flavor.”
She smiled as their lips met again.
Chapter 16
Liam