Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 16678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 83(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16678 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 83(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
Arden snickered and ducked back, leaning in almost close enough to kiss. “I want to kiss you—”
“The cave is the perfect spot,” I interrupted, already trying to pull him toward the hiding spot.
“But I’m afraid that once I start, I won’t be able to stop. I don’t want another interruption.”
I huffed. “Okay.”
It wasn’t a great excuse, but I’d accept it. For now.
As I followed Arden out of the cave, he shifted his hold to thread our fingers together. “Do you mind?”
“Nope.”
I’d never been much of a hand holder. Fuck, I was pretty sure my mother had been the last person to hold my hand. But it felt good to hold Arden’s hand. It felt right.
“Arden?”
The surprised voice cut above the rush of the falling water, and we turned to see a short, slender, dark-haired man standing on the other side of the bridge with a tall broad-shouldered blond.
“Tim?” Arden choked out.
Fuck.
4
ARDEN
Tim…was here.
Seeing my ex knocked the breath from my lungs while my brain scrambled to reboot. This was the first time I’d run across him since we’d separated. We didn’t have a lot of friends who overlapped, so I’d never heard where he moved to or how he was doing.
Apparently, he’d started dating again.
Fuck. So had I!
Sort of.
Well, I hoped I was dating again.
The interesting man who’d tempted me from my very first glimpse as he approached the art museum now stepped in front of me. I caught a tight smile and something in his narrowed eyes that made me both nervous and excited.
He couldn’t be…jealous, could he?
Possessive?
Protective?
If even half of that were true, I was taking Kaylan home and screwing his brains out.
“Hi, I’m Kaylan,” my date introduced, sticking his hand out to Tim.
My ex stared at it for a second with wide eyes and then at me in question before accepting the handshake. “Hello. I’m Tim Lunken.”
“Oh, like the old airport,” Kaylan cheerfully replied.
I bit the inside of my cheek, holding in my goofy grin. Kaylan had not actually put emphasis on “old.” I was just hearing things.
Or maybe not, considering the way the apples of Tim’s cheeks flushed red.
“Yes,” Tim agreed flatly. He pulled his hand free of Kaylan’s and motioned to the man standing on his right. “This is my boyfriend, Karl.”
I clenched my teeth to hold in my anger. It was a struggle to not grind my teeth. Karl, as in Karl from work. As in, “There’s nothing going on between us” Karl. “We’re just work friends” Karl.
“Nice to finally meet you, Karl. Tim told me a lot about you,” I said, trying so very hard to keep my tone flat. I probably shouldn’t have said anything at all. Should have been the bigger man. Walked the fuck away.
“Have you been dating long?” Kaylan interjected. He stepped onto the small arched bridge and leaned on the metal railing with the waterfall behind him.
“A few months,” Tim answered, not daring to make eye contact with me. “What about you and Arden?”
“We just met today!” Kaylan reached out with the arm that had his coat draped over it and hooked one of his fingers through a belt loop, pulling me in close enough to bump against his chest. With his free hand, he cupped my cheek, tipping my face toward him. “But this has been the best date of my life. I can’t wait to see how he tops it.”
My jaw dropped on a choked gasp, and Kaylan struck. The devilish man jerked me in close and plunged his tongue into my mouth. It tangled with mine and I couldn’t stop myself from wrapping one arm around his slender waist, pulling him in even closer.
Kaylan was pure magic. With one toe-curling kiss, my ex and his new boyfriend disappeared. The crashing water of the two-story, man-made waterfall vanished. All sounds fell away, so that there was only the wet heat of Kaylan’s hungry mouth demanding that I do dirty, dirty things to him. And God help me, I wanted to. My body ached to give him everything that kiss was begging for and more.
Time slipped away from me, and I was more than a bit dazed when Kaylan broke off the kiss and glanced to his left from the corner of his eye. I followed his gaze to find that we were alone. Tim and Karl had left, but I had no idea how long we’d been alone.
“It’s okay if you hate me now,” Kaylan murmured, sliding one finger across his damp bottom lip.
“I’m sorry, what? Why would I hate you?” Had Kaylan killed brain cells with that kiss? I wasn’t following.
He released me and shrugged one shoulder as he fully leaned on the railing. “I wasn’t thinking. He just…I don’t know…something about him rubbed me the wrong way. Sounded like his new boyfriend is someone he knew while you were together, which makes me angrier. If he was cheating on you, I hope there’s a plant in here that can eat both of them.”