Page 94 of Bodyguard By Night

“No. But wine slushies are a great idea for the bachelorette party next weekend. And that definitely is on our to-do list this week.”

“That’s onyourlist. I don’t have to worry about a girls’ night.” Thank fuck. But I had to worry about a guys’ night. Good Christ.

“No, because the bachelor party is just whiskey and beer.”

“Damn right.”

Reluctantly, I followed her across to the brick building. Once there, I passed on a wine snow cone and got a regular lemonade.

It was late afternoon, and the sun peeked out between the trees near the water. With a sigh, I let her drag me down to the pass-through to the lake and then along the walkway that looped around it. There were a few people out with strollers and kids on bikes, the warm weather finally teasing people out of their houses. Especially since sunny days were hard to come by in a lakeside town in the spring.

“I didn’t realize how beautiful this town was.” She hip-bumped me lightly. “My sister was warned away from it.”

“Why’s that?”

“Something about baby-crazy water.”

I arched a brow. “That’s not a thing.”

She wrapped her lips around her snow cone and nodded toward the plethora of strollers. “Maybe a thing.”

Now I was doubly glad I’d managed to resist her. I drew her off the path and in front of me, then swiped at her lower lip where the wine had stained her lips. “Enjoying that?”

“Nothing bad about a merlot.” She dragged her tongue over the rapidly melting snow cone before holding it up to me. “Try?”

I lowered her hand and dipped my head. “I’d rather taste it this way.”

I kept the kiss light. This wasn’t the place to get carried away. But it was nice to have her sway into me, her lips curving under mine in a smile. The bold, red wine clung to her tongue as I lightly sipped from her.

When I pulled back, I couldn’t help returning her smile.

She scraped her teeth over her lower lip. “I don’t get to see that often.”

I laced my fingers at her back. “See what?”

“A smile.” She lifted her dripping cone to her lips and quickly swallowed down the wine. “You have dimples.” Her eyes went golden in the sun and made my chest ache.

I tried to stop smiling but fighting how she made me feel always made it worse.

“This is a banner day, Grumpasaurus.”

“Shut up.”

She finished up with the little paper cone and crushed it as she looked around. I took it from her and tucked it into my back pocket.

“Stop being cute.”

“I’m not cute.” I took her hand and led her back up to Main Street.

She tugged me back. “Just a few more minutes?”

As if I could tell her no when she smiled at me like that. I dropped onto one of the empty benches. She set her bag down and sat down next to me, pulling my arm over her shoulder so she could curl against me. She even hooked one of her legs over mine.

I lightly stroked her bare shoulder with my thumb and accepted the fact that we could both use a pause. Neither of us felt the need to fill the gaps with conversation. A dog barking in the distance reminded me we weren’t alone, but at that moment, it felt like it.

There was a lone sailboat in the middle of the lake taking advantage of the warm weather, and the lapping water added another layer of calm. Something I usually only felt when I was alone.

She rested her cheek against my chest. “It feels like I’ve been on the max setting of a record player for days.”