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“What?” I’d been expecting him to kiss me. It took a second for his words to hit my ear and process through my brain.
“That’s why you got that look when I said those women were good looking, right?”
Oh, crap. If he could actually read my mind, we were in big trouble.
His head lowered, slowly, until he closed the distance between us and claimed me in a soul-stealing kiss that had a delicious sensation singing through my veins.
When he pulled away, I was dazed. I stared at him in stunned silence. A wide smile spread on his face. He looked satisfied by the effect his kiss had on me. Then he took my hand and continued through the crowds.
After a few minutes, the haze of lust cleared, and I was able to think clearly. As soon as I returned to my senses I went to my go-to anchor for any conversation: facts, information. That was my comfort zone. And right now, hanging out in there sounded like exactly what I needed.
“So, this is the fiftieth anniversary of the festival?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Do you come every year?”
“Nah, I haven’t been since I was a teenager.”
“Really? Why?”
“I don’t know, I guess it just sort of got old.”
I never considered that even though this island seemed to hold magical powers to me, growing up here would probably take some of the shine off of it.
We rounded the corner and came face to face with a huge banner.
“There’s a pie-eating contest?!” I said a tad too enthusiastically.
I couldn’t help myself. I’d always wanted to do some sort of eating contest. It was on my list.
“There sure is.”
“Is it too late to enter?” I had no idea what the rules were for these things.
He shook his head. “Sorry, darlin’, but my pie-eating contest days are behind me. I’ve been banned.”
“You were banned from pie-eating contests?”
“Sure was.”
“Why?” His banning from the pie-eating contest reminded me that I needed to ask him about the beach incident that Tanner had referred to. I filed it in the back of my mind as a return-to-later. “What did you do?”
“I won.”
“You won?”
“Yep, five years in a row.”
“They banned you because you won?”
“It wasn’t fun for the other contestants. And Rory Finch accused me of cheating.”
“Did you cheat?” He seemed like an honest person, but I didn’t think I’d known him long enough to assume that he’d never cheat.
“Hell, no. The only thing I ever cheated on was my diet.”
“You were on a diet?” He also didn’t strike me as the diet type.
