Page 31 of Icebound Hearts
Jake scoops up a huge amount of ice cream, brownie, and corn flakes, and brings it to his mouth.
“Mmm, it’s really good!” he mumbles through a mouthful and his crunchy chewing fills the quiet between us. Sawyer smiles at me over his ice cream and gives me a little shake of his head, and I snicker back at him.
“Oh, Daddy! Can I have a quarter? I don’t want to forget to make a wish.” Jake points at the big fountain at the middle of the food court area that’s visible from the parlor’s dining area.
“Finish your ice cream first, then we can talk.”
“Okay,” Jake says, and just like a typical kid, starts wolfing it down until Sawyer calmly puts a hand on his shoulder.
“Slow down, killer. It’s not gonna melt that fast, and I don’t want you getting sick.”
Jake smiles playfully at me and does slow his pace, but not by much. He eats the majority of it before finally giving up and pushing the little plastic dish away. Sawyer’s already eaten all of his, and I just have a few bites left.
“I’m full. Can I have a quarter now?”
“Alright, alright,” Sawyer caves and fishes in his pocket for some coins. He passes Jake a handful and Jake drops out of the booth seat to climb out around his dad from under the table. “Don’t go too far! I want to be able to always see you from here, okay?”
“Okay!” Jake says and peels off toward the fountain.
Sawyer sighs and shakes his head at me. “Told you he can be a handful sometimes.”
“He’s fine. I think he’s just putting on a show for me,” I say as we watch Jake sit on the ledge of the fountain and start flicking coins into the water. “I wonder what he’s wishing for?”
“Who knows? Could be anything from a stuffed animal to a new episode of his favorite cartoon.” I snort and we laugh together.
“To be a kid again, right? When those are your biggest concerns.”
“Yeah, seriously,” Sawyer agrees, watching Jake with admiration. “But that’s what I love about the kid. Keeps me young and keeps my life in perspective, you know?”
“Oh, definitely.”
We fall silent while I finish the last of my ice cream, and Sawyer offers to take care of the trash for me. He’s just sitting back down across from me when someone calls out to him.
“Sawyer? I thought that was you!”
We both turn in the booth to find the same pretty young woman who tried to hit on him at The Hideout that night standing in the entrance of the ice cream parlor with her hands full of shopping bags. Sawyer shoots me a surreptitious grimace as the woman, Scarlett, makes a beeline toward us.
Shit. As far as she knows, we’re dating.
Quickly, I reach across the table for Sawyer’s hand and link my fingers with his. He glances down at our joined hands and then back up at me, a look of understanding passing over his features just as Scarlett reaches our table.
“It really must be a small world. I never thought I’d run into you here,” Scarlett gushes, maybe trying to overcompensate for the awkwardness of her last encounter with Sawyer. “You remember me, right? From The Hideout?”
“Of course. How could I forget?” Sawyer replies, although he’s still looking at me. I don’t think it’s conscious, but his thumb brushes lightly over my knuckles as he speaks.
“Anyway, I don’t want to interrupt your date,” Scarlett says, and Sawyer squeezes my hand in reaction. “But I just wanted to say you two look so cute together. You make a great couple.”
“Thanks. We’re just out doing a little shopping with the kiddo.”
Sawyer’s voice is casual, but I can make out just a hint of a flush on his cheeks. Clearly having picked up on what I’m trying to do, he goes along with the ruse, lifting our linked hands to his mouth and placing a kiss on the back of my hand. It’s sweet, but with the way Scarlett is watching us both so intently, I’m not sure it’s quite enough to sell the lie. Following an impulse that I don’t stop to question, I lean forward across the small table, and with only a half-second of hesitation, Sawyer does the same.
Our lips meet in a soft kiss, and Scarlett lets out a soft, “Aww.”
It’s brief, barely a kiss at all, really—just a quick press of our lips. But something electric zaps through me the moment our mouths meet, and when I suck in a breath, his masculine, woody scent fills my nostrils.
We separate, each of us leaning back in our seats again, and for a moment, I could swear that Sawyer looks as stunned as I feel. He holds my gaze for a suspended moment, his lips slightly parted and an expression on his face that I desperately wish I could read. Then he puts on a smooth, easy smile and looks back up at Scarlett, who’s got her hands clasped by her chin as she stares down at us.
“Oh my goodness, you two really are adorable!”