“Hey, we got what we needed from that place.”
“Well, right now, we don’t need anything.” I lead him further into the store. “We’re just here to look around and have fun.”
“How in the world is hanging out here supposed to be fun?”
I motion at the array of aisles. “How can it not be? We have so much to see. Clothes, shoes, housewares, skincare, handbags…”
“Hold up.” He cuts me off with a raised palm. “Giving me the rundown will only turn me off. I’ll just follow you around.”
“Okay, maybe I’m being too much,” I concede. “I come here with my girlfriends, who get a little overexcited about all this stuff. I don’t do the whole dating thing, so I’ve not seen this from a male perspective.”
He grins. “Is that what this is? A date?”
I shrug, keeping my shoulders bunched high as nerves fizzle and pop inside me. “Isn’t it?”
Dax runs his hands over my shoulders, helping them lower to their rightful position. He smooths back my hair, and when his mouth slightly opens, I gently close my eyes and feel his lips press against mine.
Electric tingles of joy obliterate my nervousness. I hold on to his T-shirt front, conscious of the fact my weakened knees might buckle. The raspberry on my lips mingles sweetly with the taste of citrus in his kiss. A soft moan purrs out of me, and his smile grows as I suck on his bottom lip.
When our lips break apart, I can’t help spying the area over his shoulder. Even though no one was watching us, my face still flushes with an awful mix of bashfulness and shame. I’m not supposed to be making out with a ruggedly handsome guy in the middle of the department store.
His thumb grazes my cheek. “Are you okay?”
I clear my throat, turning away. “Yeah, sorry.”
“Don’t be. You almost blew my socks off with that kiss.”
I slurp a large mouthful of my smoothie through the straw to help lower my body temperature. The icy goodness takes my mind away from the expectations of others.
Dax takes my hand again, and we make our way through the aisles. In the housewares section, we smell a wide selection of candles. I can’t get enough of the coconut and lime candle, and Dax deems the vanilla bean his favorite.
We move onto the book section, and Dax waits by my side as I read a few back covers.
I place a book back on the shelf, and ask, “Have you ever read a book that made you feel things you hadn’t felt in real life?”
“No. I don’t read books.”
“I read a lot of classics,” I tell him. “Especially ones where the female lead leaves home to go on an adventure.”
“Did it inspire you to go to Switzerland?”
I frown, tapping my fingers across the book spines. “No. I left to follow my mother. It was a dumb idea.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Don’t be. Spending time with you in Logan’s Point is an adventure away from home.” My lips curve upward as my mind wanders. “I used to be obsessed with romance books. I wanted to feel sparks and tingles I’d never found in real life.” I meet his eyes, and my stomach instantly flutters. “And now I know it was nothing compared to the real thing.”
Without needing to say a word, Dax leans in. This time when our lips connect, I’m zapped with an electric shock. The spark takes us both off guard, but only for half a second. We magnetize again, dumping our smoothies on the bookshelves so we can wrap up in each other’s arms. When I think about someone I know seeing us, I bump it out of my mind. Nothing will stop me from soaking up this moment. My back arches as Dax cradles me in the kiss. The faint smell of motor oil lingers on his hands, and I can’t get enough of it. He’s like no one I’ve ever met, and I couldn’t be more glad.
When we unravel, I’m flushed with passion and longing. I snatch my smoothing cup from the shelf and place it against my forehead to cool off.
Dax bites his lip, smirking. “That good, huh?”
I put the cup back on the shelf. “Exceptional.”
We stumble across the accessories section, and I tell Dax, “We need to avoid the section on the right. It’s the shoes, and you’ll never get me out of there.”
“Noted.” Dax leads me over to the rack of sunglasses. He pulls out a pair of aviators. “I used to have a pair like this. I can’t remember if I broke them or lost them.”
