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“Is everything okay?”
“It is now.” He gently brushed my lips with his own.
My body erupted in an explosion of tingles, per its usual whenever Kane kissed me.
Kane grabbed my hand and my bag and rushed us over to his car waiting front and center in the circular drive, next to the large fountain stepmother number six had installed. She’d felt the property needed it. As soon as we made it to his car, he took off my glasses and tossed them in the bag before dropping it on the ground; then he pushed me up against his car. His lips didn’t waste a second before slamming into mine.
He held my hands and pressed them against my thighs while his body pinned me against his car, as if he couldn’t get close enough to me. He parted my lips and tasted me deeply, so deep I could hardly catch a breath. I wasn’t complaining. Though I wondered if anyone from the house was watching our very public display of affection. And I began to worry, as this kiss felt reminiscent of yesterday’s in my office. Urgent. Where was the urgency coming from?
Minute upon minute, our lips stayed tangled up. When the kiss did slow, he groaned against my lips. “Scarlett,” he whispered my name.
My name had never sounded so good.
“Kane, are you all right?”
He kissed the corner of my mouth and my cheek before pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Always when I’m with you. Let’s get out of here.”
The hour drive to Dawsonville was mostly a quiet one. Kane held my hand the entire drive and kept sneaking glances of me when he could, almost as if he were making sure I was still there. Something was off, but every time I pressed him to tell me what was going on, he brushed it off. He told me he only wanted this day to be about us. I was fine with that. Still, I wanted to ease whatever was bothering him, and I knew him well enough to know he was upset. I was missing his smiles and laughter.
When we reached our destination, he had barely thrown the car in park before his lips were on mine again. This time his hands tangled themselves in my hair, making it come tumbling down around us.
“You are so beautiful,” he said between taking my breath away.
“You are too.”
He chuckled lowly. He always laughed when I called him beautiful. It was good to hear his laugh. He sat back in his seat and took a deep breath. I had to catch my breath too.
“Plan on me kissing you all day.”
“Works for me.”
He got out of the car, came around, and opened my door.
I was trying to put my hair back up to no avail.
Kane took my hand. “Don’t. I love it down.”
“You say that now, but this humidity is going to make it look like I stuck my finger in a light socket.
“Leave it down,” he begged.
I tilted my head; something was definitely off. I didn’t ask again what it was. Instead, I let him help me out of the car. He seemed determined not to let me go even when retrieving my bag, his backpack, and the small cooler he’d brought. He carried each item and still held my hand as we walked the trail. The midmorning August sun was already blazing hot, and the humidity made it feel like a sauna. Thankfully, the trail offered periods of shade provided by the forest of trees, and it wasn’t an awful hike—very little elevation change and only a little rocky.
There was so much I wanted to say. I wanted to plan our fall list and ask about the project Auggie had him working on, but whatever Kane was dealing with hung in the air like the humidity sticking to my skin.
For three miles we made small talk about the weather and the beauty the trail offered. It was so unlike our normal talks. It was almost as if he didn’t want to have any meaningful conversations. The only thing of consequence we spoke of was the photo album Auggie had given to me. When I expressed how surprised I was by it, all Kane had to say was, “I’m not surprised at all.”
“Why?” Kane knew Auggie wasn’t a sentimental man or an attentive father.
“Let’s not talk about your father,” he growled.
I let it drop.
By the time we made it to the swimming hole, I was ready for a dip in the cool water. The rushing rapids sounded refreshing and being close to the river dropped the temperature about ten degrees, which was a nice reprieve. A lot of other people must have thought so, too, as it was crowded. Sounds of laughter and cheering filled the air as people made their way down the chutes of water and splashed in the pools below the rocks. Others were lying on the rocks and soaking up the rays.
