His eyebrows rose.
“What?”
“The lock jammed. You were inside for forty minutes.”
“What did you do?”
“Removed the door.”
“You broke it down?”
“I took it off the hinges.”
“Did the restaurant complain?”
“It wasn’t a restaurant.”
“Where did you take me?”
“A night tour of the old lighthouse.”
Noah stared at me. “That sounds romantic.”
“It would have been if the guide had not been eighty-seven and openly hostile toward everyone under seventy.”
“Why a lighthouse?”
“You told me you had lived on the coast most of your life but had never gone inside one.”
“Did I enjoy it?”
“You loved the lens room.”
I could see him beneath the enormous prisms, turning slowly as reflected light moved across his face. He had forgotten to be guarded. Wonder had left him open.
“What happened after you rescued me from the bathroom?” he asked.
“We missed our dinner reservation. We bought fish and chips and ate on the seawall.”
“Was it cold?”
“Freezing.”
“Did you kiss me?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Beside the old signal bell.”
His attention dropped to my mouth.
“How?”
The question came softly.
I took a breath before answering.
