Page 64 of Hard Corps (Selected Sinners MC 7)

“And this entire thing,” she said as she waved her hand toward the table. “It’s just. I don’t know. It’s too much.”

“It’s dinner. It’s a necessary part of the day,” I said as I poked my last peach with the tines of my fork.

“Well, most guys don’t do things like this,” she said.

Well, maybe they should.

I looked up from my plate to see her gazing into the small bowl hoping to find a peach that didn’t exist. Finally, after she realized they were truly gone, she sat up straight and exhaled a sigh of frustration.

To anyone else she probably appeared no differently than she did on any other day. To me, she seemed to be more beautiful than ever. I didn’t look at her with eyes more capable of seeing, or with a mind more open that it had ever been in the past, but she was truly different. I sat and admired her until she met my gaze. As she returned my smile and brushed her hair over her ears, I raised my fork and offered her my peach.

“It’s not the last one is it?” she asked.

I nodded my head. “Last one in the house. I cooked them all.”

“I don’t want to take your last one, you eat it,” she said.

I shook my head and wiggled my fork slightly, careful to keep the beloved peach from falling to the table.

“I want you to have it” I said.

“Share?” she asked.

“Sure,” I said as I reached over the table and handed her my fork.

I fully expected her to eat half the peach and hand me the fork in return. Instead, she lifted the fork to her mouth, bit into the peach, and pulled it from the tine. With the peach half in her mouth and half out, she leaned over the table.

Without speaking, our mouths met. The sugar-coated peach was nothing compared to the sweet kiss of her lips, something I seemed to yearn for from the very moment our last kiss ended.

Resting on my elbows and hovering over the center of the table, I kissed her fully and passionately, while the sweet taste of the peach lingered throughout the length of the kiss. Long after the taste of the peach was gone, she broke the embrace.

I opened my eyes and gazed in her direction. She tilted her head, stared up at the ceiling, and mumbled to herself as I lowered myself into my chair.

“What?” I asked.

“I don’t want this to end,” she said.

I shook my head. “It won’t.”

“You make my stomach go crazy each time you kiss me. It’s just too good to be true,” she said.

“I think that’s just what happens when two people are really meant to be together,” I said.

I truly believed what I told her. Kissing her was more satisfying than anything to me. No other woman on earth could provide me the feeling of satisfaction that Katie provided me by simply kissing me, and not only did I know it, I wasn’t afraid to admit it.

“Kissing you takes me somewhere else. Somewhere nice,” I said.

“I feel the same way,” she said as she stood from the table.

I stood from my seat. “Hand me your plate. I’ll get it. I’ve got one more thing.”

“I’ll help you,” she said.

I shook my head. “It’s a surprise.”

“Crap. I hate surprises. Okay,” she said as she handed me her plate.

I carried the dishes to the kitchen, opened the freezer, and removed two dishes of raspberry sorbet, being careful not to mix them up. As I carried them to the dining room, I fought the urge to smile.