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“Sounds good to me.”
As it turned out, the ice cream shop was very busy. Even from a distance, Ginny looked frazzled. When it was their turn, Cate quickly introduced Harry to her new acquaintance.
Ginny’s smile was cheerful. “Gonna be a zoo this weekend, but that’s good for business. What will you have?” She pointed at a small placard. “I recommend the holiday special.”
The picture showed three scoops—red, white and blue. Strawberry, vanilla and blueberry.
“I’m game,” Harry said. “But why don’t we share one cone?”
Cate went hot from her scalp to her toes. He might as well have said,Let’s take off our clothes and dance in the rain.“Um, sure,” she croaked.
Ginny looked at her curiously, but as the woman bent her head to scoop out the ice cream, Cate was able to regroup.
It was only ice cream. Not sex.
She had to get a hold of herself.
When they were back out on the street, Harry waved his hand. “You go first. Eat what you want. I’ll finish it off.”
“No,” Cate said. “We should share.” She took one long lick. “There. Now it’s your turn.”
What had gotten into her? Harry looked poleaxed. Red crept from his collar up his neck. Cate’s comment had come out sounding like an invitation to something far less mundane than ice cream.
When she handed him the cone, their fingers touched. Electricity arced between them. It was a wonder the ice cream didn’t melt instantly.
As she watched, Harry bent his head sideways and rescued the bits that were running down the cone already. “Eat fast,” he said. Instead of giving her the ice cream, he kept the cone firmly in his hand. The man was on crutches. His range of motion was limited.
Cate was forced to step closer. She licked both sides of the three flavors until they were smooth and even. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harry’s lips. They were damp and shiny.
“This is good,” she said.
He deliberately put his mouth close to hers. “Better than good.”
Their tongues met somewhere between the red, white and blue.
Cate jerked back, startled. Harry’s beautiful silvery-gray eyes weren’t opaque now. They flamed like molten steel. No wonder the ice cream was melting. “You eat the rest,” she said. “I’ve had enough.”
Her comment could have been interpreted in two ways. Maybe she meantboth. Yes, she was still full after the big lunch, but more importantly, she wasn’t ready for this intense flirtation, even though—arguably—she was the one who started it. Harry suggested one cone, but Cate was the one who made a big deal aboutlicking.
Though Harry kept up with the melting ice cream and polished it off, he watched Cate the entire time. So much so that she fidgeted.
When he was done, he tossed the messy napkin in the nearest trash receptacle. “Hand sanitizer?” he asked.
Cate pulled the small plastic bottle from her purse and squirted a blob into his palm. “I suppose we should go back to the house,” she muttered. “It’s getting crowded.”
“Whatever you want, Catie-girl.”
She read a million interpretations into those simple words. He smiled as he said them. Did he meanshehad to be the one to say she wantedhim? If so, he was probably going to be disappointed or at the very least, in for a long wait.
It was true she was reinventing her entire life, but propositioning Harry would require a whole other level of courage.
What if she was wrong? What if she had misinterpreted his casual affection?
Back at her grandparents’ house, Catie tried to hide behind domestic chores. “I’ll have dinner ready at six,” she said.
Harry frowned. “No. We’ll fix a meal together. How do you feel about breakfast for dinner?”
“Love it. Grammy has an old waffle iron here somewhere. And she used to make the most amazing blintzes. Her version, anyway. Two superthin layers filled with strawberries and cream cheese.” Cate squatted to rummage in the deep corner cabinet. “Here it is.” The old stainless-steel appliance probably hadn’t been used in years. “I’ll google a recipe for something simple.”
