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The smile that spread across her face made me feel like I’d just unlocked the perfect hybrid of apple. Sweet, tart, strong, and bold. All the things I wished for in a harvest were right here in front of me. She was incandescent in the soft golden lights that glowed as the sun disappeared into twilight—the gold at her throat and ears, that echoed in her hair that tumbled over my forearm and swung down her back, and the warmth of her eyes.
That I could give her this bit of happiness humbled me in ways I hadn’t felt before. The fact that I wanted to keep making her happy beyond Friday should have made me run for the back half of the orchard. And here I was wondering how I could continue to make it happen.
How could I keep her here?
The words were on the tip of my tongue.How do I make you mine?
Instead of voicing them, I brushed my lips over hers until she sighed into me.
On the patio of my garden of the house I’d built over time, in the orchard that I’d struggled to build with the help of my family, I felt something building between us. Something that I didn’t understand but needed to hold onto.
“Hungry?” I asked against her mouth.
“For you? Always.”
I groaned and buried my face in her sweet-smelling hair. “Food first. I haven’t eaten all day.” I stepped back, lacing our fingers together once more. “C’mon.”
I led her up the stairs to the second level deck. More of the paper lanterns framed the dark wood and I’d set out real dishes. They weren’t the china she was probably used to, but the Fiestaware was solid and serviceable just like me. I’d decanted a bottle of my better wine, remembering she liked a bold red.
Handily, it went with steak.
I held out a chair for her, settling her in with a kiss on her shoulder as I poured a glass of wine for her. “I’m assuming you’re staying with me since Bells dropped you off?”
She looked up at me, a tiny spark of shock in her eyes. “That was presumptuous of me.”
“Presume away, girl. I’m not letting you out of my sight tonight.”
Her face flushed as she lifted the glass to taste. Pleasure slipped over her face as she took a longer sip. “That’s lovely.”
“Local winery. Thought you’d like it.”
“I do.”
“Now the important question…you like steak, right?”
She laughed lightly. “Definitely.”
“Good.”
I busied myself with the steak and made sure the rest of the food was still hot enough to eat while the grill got back up to temperature.
She filled me in on the party, that she’d been introduced to the nearby lake town of Crescent Cove, and that Bells had helped her spend a bundle of money at a boutique there.
I tried to concentrate on not burning the steak since my eye kept slipping down the surprising vee of her dress where her tangle of chains draped. I imagined her sparkling in my bed tonight and couldn’t wait to see just how she glowed without that dress on.
She seemed to know exactly what she was doing to me, since she toyed with the damn chains as I cooked for her.
I pushed my iPad toward her and unlocked it. “Find some music, the food will be ready in a minute.”
“What you have is fine.”
“It’ll keep you busy.”
She sipped her wine. “I’m enjoying the company.”
“Helena, if you keep dipping your fingers between your breasts, I’m going to go insane. Have mercy.”
She bit her lower lip. “It wasn’t intentional.”
