Page 44 of On His Knees
Our plans. Oh, how I like the sound of that.
“First, I’m going to feed you, then we’re going to go bungee jumping off the mountain.”
I gasp and turn around fast. “Tate, I’m afraid—”
“I’m kidding,” he says, stepping toward me, his knuckles brushing mine. “I know you don’t like heights, and I’d never ask you to do something you’re uncomfortable doing.”
“Thank God.”
“There’s a game of snowshoe softball going on. I thought we’d check in with your friends, see if they want to play.” My heart melts a little.
“That’s really sweet.”
“I’ve been keeping you all to myself, and I’m not sure that’s fair. I already bought four tickets.”
Dammit, I hate how he’s putting so much money out for me, but I don’t want to insult him and bring that up. “Let me text them.” I grab my phone, and shoot off a text. Cara instantly answers that they’re both in, and we agree to meet later for the game.
“All set,” I say.
“Tonight though,” he says, and rubs my nipples through the sheet, “I want you all to myself again.”
My body warms. “I want that, too.” He gives me a little tap on the ass to get me moving, and I hurry to the bathroom for a quick shower. Tate is fully dressed in his boots and coat when I emerge, and I quickly get myself ready, pulling on the bomber-style jacket I brought with me, and my boots, and we’re out the door in less than fifteen minutes.
I breathe in the fresh morning air—there’s nothing like a new day after a storm. We go to the café in the center of town, and after we put our order in, he stands.
“I have to run an errand. You okay here for
a minute?”
“Sure.”
He walks toward the door, pulling his cell phone from his pocket as he does. He goes still for a second like he’s reading a message, and then he disappears out the door.
I sip my coffee, and glance around at all the happy vacationers. I have no idea what Tate is up to and when it comes right down to it, it’s none of my business. Less than ten minutes later he’s back, and he shrugs out of his coat.
“Sorry about that,” he says, no explanation.
“Just in time.” I look up to see our food has arrived.
I dig into my pancakes and consider his whereabouts. Maybe he was trying to get someone to cover his shift. “Do you work today?”
“No,” he says. “I have a couple days off.”
“Tate,” I say. “I really hope you’re not taking time off on my account. I wouldn’t want to do anything to jeopardize your job.”
He stops eating, and leans toward me. His hand touches my chin. Instead of answering, he drops a soft kiss onto my mouth, one that leaves me breathless and confused when he breaks it. My head is swimming as I refocus on my food. Honest to God that kiss, it felt more emotional than physical. Tate digs into his food, but suddenly I no longer have an appetite. I nibble a bit, and when we’re done, Tate pays the bill and we head outside.
“Come on,” he says, and captures my hand. He hurries me to the frozen lake, where the game is being held, and I give myself a good hard lecture about what is real and what isn’t, when I see my friends picking up their snowshoes. Tate asked my friends to join us because he’s been monopolizing my time, not because he wants to get to know me better through my friends, and that kiss, well, I’m just fooling myself into thinking there could be more to us, right?
Stop it, Summer.
“For the record, I’ve never played snowshoe softball before,” I say to Tate.
“That makes two of us, but the money to play goes to a good cause.”
My heart misses a beat. Donating like this is so sweet of him.
“Summer,” Amber says, and waves me over to where everyone is putting on snowshoes.