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Eloise sat back and laughed. “We were destined to meet each other.”
“Do you believe in that stuff?” Kiel leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Kismet? Fate?”
Eloise mimicked his position. “I do. I believe in manifesting what you want and accepting what the universe offers. You tell her what you want, what your intentions are. Treat her well and she’ll reward you.”
“Did you manifest me?”
Eloise laughed. “Yes, I sat down at my altar and told my spirit guides to bring me Kiel Collier.”
He began to laugh, then stopped. “Wait, what?”
She giggled hard. “It doesn’t work that way, at least not at first. Our paths had to cross. I often ask for love or someone to share a connection with. Someone to guide my exploratory side. If I’m going to be with someone, they have to appreciate me and what I do. They have to accept the odd hours, the erraticness of when inspiration strikes. They must accept that paint is everywhere, all the time. That’s what I manifest.”
Kiel saw himself as her person and that scared him. He’d never felt so connected to someone before that he sought them out. He’d always been the type to think if he saw them again, he’d chat with them, but to seek someone out was not how he operated.
Until Eloise.
Everything she said, he fit.
“We definitely connected.” Kiel waggled his eyebrows at her. “In more ways than one.”
“You’re a horn dog,” she said as she threw the stir stick from her coffee at him. “Come on, I want to take you someplace.”
They finished their coffees, tossed the cups out, and walked around the back of the gallery where her moped was. “Have you ever driven one?”
Kiel shook his head. He reached for the helmet, but she held on tight.
“Why don’t you drive,” she suggested.
“Is it safe?” He felt stupid for asking such a question, but he had to be sure. The last thing he wanted was to hurt her or end up in a ditch because he doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing.
“I think it is, but let’s practice.”
Eloise gave him the quick and dirty, and then he set off driving around the parking lot. It didn’t take him long to master the speed and balance. But he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do the same with Eloise on the back and with traffic.
When he pulled up next to her, she had the helmet on and got on the back. Her hands came around his waist, and she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. Kiel didn’t care what he had to do—he’d master driving the scooter with her on the back—simply because he wanted to feel her pressed against him. Being as this was something he had never done before, he rather enjoyed having her like this.
Kiel drove around the parking lot a few more times. With encouragement from Eloise and a bit of bravery deep within, he headed toward the busy street. At the stop, Eloise put her hands in the air and whooped. He couldn’t help but smile. While he waited for traffic to clear, he set his hand on her leg and gave it a squeeze.
Unfortunately for Kiel, the gallery was in one of the busiest parts of town. And being summer, traffic was a bitch. Eloise tapped him on the shoulder and told him to ease out. That people would stop, but he wasn’t so sure. Still, he did as she suggested and got behind a car going about ten miles per hour. He laughed at the passengers, whose heads were on a swivel, looking right and left, pointing at everything they could.
“Tourists,” he said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.
Eloise laughed hard, and the vibration reverberated through him. “You’re one,” she pointed out.
“Nah, I’m a local now,” he said as they eased forward at a snail’s pace, thankful because he still needed to get used to driving, and it gave him a longer time with Eloise. “With my local girl,” he added. Eloise hugged him. Warmth spread through Kiel.
Eloise told him where to turn and where to park. They got off, stowed her helmet, and then she reached for his hand. He gripped it tightly and felt a surge of desire and elation. There they were, out in public, and she was broadcasting whatever this was between them for everyone to see.
They jaywalked across the cobblestone road and into the arcade. Kiel paused at the door, looked at Eloise, who had a shit-eating grin on her face, and shrugged. Arcade games were his favorite. Nothing said fun like trying to get as many tickets as possible for a piece of gum.
Instantly, the kaleidoscope of neon lights dancing around, casting an otherworldly glow on the linoleum floor, bringing him back to his childhood. He couldn’t help but feel a tingling excitement in the pit of his stomach as the cacophony of sounds enveloped him. The arcade buzzed with fun and exciting energy. Kiel watched the two gamers battle it out before he followed the tug of Eloise’s hand.
Eloise went to the counter where she greeted an older man. “Claude, this is my friend, Kiel Collier. This Claude,” she said to Kiel. “He owns the arcade and is like a grandfather to all of us.”
Kiel and Claude shook hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Kiel said.
“You too. Are you here to play?”
