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“You will be.” I wasn’t sure how I knew that, but deep within myself I knew it was true.
“I hope so.” He put his arm around me, and I snuggled into him as if I belonged by his side.
The rest of the tour was a lot of fun. I even won a prize for answering one of the trivia questions right—a The Walking Dead T-shirt. I would probably keep it for the rest of my life as a reminder that Kane Hudson took me on a date.
One of my favorite parts of the date came after the tour, while we were walking toward the restaurant. We happened to walk by a mural of a beautiful baby with the dark curly hair being tenderly held by his mother. She was dressed in a colorful and bright stunning dress, but it had nothing on the emotion the wall art invoked. I stood in awe, touching the small pieces of it I could reach. So many times I’d wondered if my mother had ever held me like this mother cradled her baby. As if she were holding the most precious gift.
Kane stood back in silence and let me take it all in.
As my fingers brushed against the brightly colored painted bricks, tears streamed down my face. “It’s so beautiful,” I whispered.
Kane placed his hand on the small of my back. “Are you all right?”
“Oh, yes. Can you feel how much this mother loves her baby? It’s so pure.” I longed to love and to be loved like that.
“It’s beautiful. You know, these kinds of murals are all over the city. They call them Living Walls.”
“Really? I had no idea.” I continued to be enamored by the mural. “It’s so strange. I’ve lived in Atlanta my entire life and I feel as if you’ve shown me more today than I ever knew existed.”
“Let’s change that this summer.” He said it so easily, but it had a powerful implication behind it.
I turned and met his gaze. “That means more than only two dates.”
His hand ran up and down my back, making my breathing stop completely. “That’s kind of the point,” he said, matter-of-factly. He was so confident.
I envied him. “You know this seems like a dream to me,” I admitted, embarrassed.
“I meant what I said about not giving up on your dreams.”
“Eventually, I will have to wake up.” Surely this thing between Kane and me couldn’t last.
“Even if that’s the case, isn’t it better to live the dream while you can?”
I stared up at the mother who held her baby as if she were holding a dream. I knew she would say it was better to live the dream, even if the dream eventually vanished. Her love for her baby would still exist. It had changed her, and she would carry that change with her for the rest of her life. It was the kind of change I ached for.
“Yes,” I whispered.
Kane’s smile spoke of how pleased he was with my answer. “Let’s make a list of every place we want to visit in Atlanta this summer,” he suggested.
“You love lists, don’t you?” I thought back to the list he had made of my best qualities. It was under my pillow. I had plans to keep it forever.
“Until you write it down, it’s only a wish. I’m a man of action,” he said with an air of seductiveness.
I wanted him to act on me. Oh, my gosh. Where were these thoughts coming from? It was like Kane had lit a fire under the pot of my hormones and they were boiling to the surface. I was ready to act too.
“Do you have a pen and paper?”
Kissing Lessons
“I can’t believe you’re dating your stepbrother!” Mindy squealed over the phone.
“Let me guess, Ophelia called you.” I cringed while setting my laptop on the floor of my office, shaking a bit. I knew it wouldn’t be long before the rumors started, but I still wasn’t prepared for them.
“Actually, it was Danielle who heard it from Tyler who heard it from Ophelia. Apparently, people at the office are talking about you. Sounds like you two get cozy in your office a lot. Please spill and go into lots of details. Kane is freakishly hot.”
Speaking of hot, my cheeks were burning. I hated that people were talking about me, especially my stepsiblings. I’d told Kane to leave the door open yesterday morning when he’d brought me a Frappuccino and a muffin. But no, he’d insisted on closing the door and eating together before he ran off to a meeting. It was sweet and wonderful, yet I knew it came with risks. Risks that Kane couldn’t care less about. He said we weren’t going to sneak around like we were ashamed. Easy for him to say—he was so self-assured. Mindy was right—he was freakishly hot, and I was freakishly awkward. He could literally have anyone he wanted. I’m sure people were questioning his sanity.
