Page 35 of Wild Promise

Damn him.

“Come on,” he urged with a smile. “Food’s getting cold. It’s not as good if you nuke it.”

I took his offered hand and followed him up toward his house, but he paused after only a few steps. He dug inside our takeout bag, bringing out a single-serve container.

“Almost forgot something,” he said, pulling me across the lawn to the neighbor’s front door.

I stood beside him, feeling awkward. Until an elderly lady peeked her head out.

“Oh, Zane!” She opened the door wider, revealing her fuzzy pink bathrobe and her frail hand over her heart. “I wondered who’d be knocking on my door at this time of night.”

“It’s only a bit after nine, Mrs. Walker.” His voice was light and teasing, but damn, it was laced with a kind of care that sent my own heart racing.

“Oh dear, is it that late? Past my bedtime, then.”

“Well, we won’t keep you from your beauty sleep, although I think you could probably skip a few nights and give the rest of the girls in town a fighting chance.” He winked at her, and my speeding heart did a damn backflip. “I just wanted to drop this off.”

She took the container of food, bringing it to her nose for a long sniff. “You both flatter and spoil me, young man.” Then, turning her playful gaze to me, she said, “This one’s a keeper, my dear, I hope you know that.”

“Mrs. Walker,” Zane chided, saving me from having to respond.

And thank goodness for that because what could I really say? One night. One date. That was the deal.

But standing on that porch, watching him charm this sweet old woman with the same effortless warmth he’d shown me all evening, the ground shifted under my feet. Because she wasn’t wrong. And the part of me that knew it—the part that had known since the night on his back porch—was getting harder and harder to silence.

“Good night, youngsters.” She smiled and closed the door in our faces.

We walked back to Zane’s place, hand in hand, my mind too full to form words, and my heart still feeling a bit like it might explode. Maybe his brain was looping around similar circles as mine, because neither of us spoke until we were standing in his kitchen.

“I know we said no alcohol tonight, but would you like a glass of wine with your meal?”

I shrugged out of my coat. Was the wine a good idea? On one hand, it might get rid of some of these nerves. On the other, it might put me in danger of relaxing too much.

“Sure.” Fuck it. For one night, what was the harm?

I hung my coat on the back of a chair and smoothed my hands over the front of my long sweater. When he didn’t move to pour the wine, I looked up to find him staring at the path my hands had just traveled. And suddenly my body was on fire.

Maybe I didn’t need to worry about the wine making me lose my head. My body seemed intent on doing that job. I drifted toward him, my hips swaying with a little something extra, as though they had a mind of their own.

His eyes roamed over me, his throat bobbing hard as he swallowed.

Oh, that was sexy.

“Anything I can help with?” I murmured.

He blinked, shook himself out of his stupor, and turned back to the counter with a smirk. “There is one very hard thing I’d love your help with, but I’m trying to keep this date respectable, as promised.”

Shocked by his salacious honesty, an unruly bout of laughter seized me. I held my stomach with one hand, his counter with my other, and inched my way closer until I was standing right next to him.

Zane’s shoulders shook with laughter as well, but he kept his focus on pouring the wine and unpacking our food.

When my giggles finally subsided, I reached in front of him for a fork, my arm brushing across his abs and my chest pressing lightly against his arm. “Let’s not bother with plates,” I suggested, digging into the Thai dish, still in its container. Bringing the bite of food to his lips, I looked up into his burning gaze. “Or is that too scandalous for you?”

My pulse raced in my ears as his mouth closed around the fork on a groan.

“Good?” I pulled the fork back and snagged a bite for myself. The juicy morsel of chicken and noodle hit my tongue with a burst of flavor. Garlic, lemongrass, and a punch of spicy peppers flooded my senses, and I couldn’t help but vocalize my appreciation for it, too.

“Holy shit, that’s amazing,” I moaned around my mouthful.