few times, each louder than the next, she opened the door and made a big deal of hopping on one foot while she slid on her shoe—for the second time that night. Securely in place, she looked up and smiled. Problem was, Marc was smiling back. Correction, smirking. Marc was smirking back.
“What?” she challenged. There was no way that he could prove she had been gawking.
“I watched you put your shoes on twenty minutes ago.”
She didn’t know why, but his admission made her stomach flutter. Still, she wasn’t about to admit that she had been watching him.
“I changed them.” Her voice went higher with each lie she uttered.
Marc dropped his gaze to her feet. “If you say so.”
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing to the paper bag in his hand and hoping he’d drop the subject.
“For you.” He held it up, a shy smile tugging at his lips.
Oh boy, Marc was nervous—and blushing. Not good. In fact, the knowledge made breathing difficult. It also made her palms sweat.
When she didn’t take it right away and his hands started fidgeting with the paper bag, the awkwardness level increased until Lexi considered shutting the door and calling off the date. Her being nervous was one thing. Him being nervous was a sign that they should put a stop to the whole situation, because it told her that tonight’s date meant something to him. Which made it okay for her to admit what she’d known all day: this date also meant something to her—a big something.
“Open it,” he forced out, handing her the bag.
Lexi took the bag and did as he asked, peeking inside. At the bottom sat a parcel wrapped in butcher paper. “What’s this?”
Marc shoved his hands in his pockets. “Um, boar loin.”
Lexi smiled. Not flowers. Not chocolates. But boar. Wild boar.
“I don’t know what to say.”
Actually, she did. But admitting that raw meat was the most thoughtful gift anyone had ever given her made her love life sound pathetic. Or maybe—she thought back to Mrs. DeLuca and her spaghetti-splattered apron—this was real romance.
“Mr. Craver mentioned that back in the day they served wild boar at the Showdown,” he said, shifting his weight. “But that over the years it had been modernized to pork chops.”
“Is that what you were asking him about at the farmers’ market?”
“I ordered it that day. If you like it, he can order as much as you need.”
Lexi had spent the better part of the afternoon trying to figure out what her rolled pork loin was missing. Boar would give it a gamy quality that would set her dish apart while still remaining true to the spirit of the event.
Clutching the boar to her chest, Lexi wrapped her free arm around Marc’s neck and pulled him down to meet her mouth. “Thank you,” she mumbled against his lips before delivering a series of soft, lingering kisses.
Breathless, Lexi pulled back, but Marc’s arms were around her waist, holding her to him, the boar trapped between their bodies.
“You’re welcome,” he whispered right before his mouth claimed hers. It was gentle, but the heat lingered long after he’d ended the kiss.
“You’d better put that in the fridge so we can go.” His palms slid down her back, over the curve of her bottom, where they lingered for a long get-to-know-you moment before making their way back up to gently cup her face. “One more minute alone and we’ll end up naked. Here. In the hallway.”
The drive over to his family’s house was silent and so full of sexual heat it was impossible to talk. So when Marc pulled up in the driveway and put the truck in park, his fingers gripping the wheel so tightly she was afraid he’d break either the steering column or his hand, she wondered if maybe they should have had a quickie before coming over. Every cell in her body hummed to the point of frustration, and one look at the tent in his pants said he was just as bad.
“Marc—”
“I’m sorry,” he said, turning to face her.
“Don’t be. I mean, we couldn’t be late for dinner.”
“I wasn’t talking about that, but obviously it’s been on your mind,” he said, his lips curling up into a smile that had her girly parts giving a standing O. “We still have a few minutes.”
“We’re parked in front of your family’s house,” she whispered.
“No one’s out there. I promise.” He unbuckled his seat belt and started to reach for her.
“Says the man who knew the pantry door was fixed.”