Pressing lightly on his chest, Beth leaned back just far enough to see his face. When their eyes met, she grinned. “Are you hungry?”
Bryce’s pupils dilated as his gaze flickered to her lips. “You have no idea,” he practically rumbled as he pulled her tighteragainst his chest and lowered his head.
Beth’s eyes widened, her head falling back as shocked laughter bubbled out of her. Arching her back and pressing both hands on his chest, she leaned away from his “hunger.”
“Food, Bryce! Food!” she exclaimed. “I meant are you hungry for food? I’m starving.”
Bryce didn’t release her just yet, his hold still gentle.
“Pity,” he grumbled, before leaning in to graze the underside of her jaw with his lips, then moving to her earlobe, his voice devastatingly low. “Are you sure it’s food you’re hungry for?”
A shiver skated down her spine, unexpected and almost unwelcome. She could still feel the warmth of his breath on her skin, and it sent a strange mix of nerves and excitement curling in her stomach.
“Yep!” she squeaked, shifting away before she could analyze it too much.
Bryce chuckled as he slowly let her go. Before she pulled away completely, she pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
“Yep, it’s food I’m hungry for,” she said with a decisive nod.
Bryce wasn’t sure if the words were for him or for her.
Laughing, he bent and retrieved the rose she had dropped during their kiss, then led her over to the flat area where he had spread out their picnic—cold fried chicken, pasta salad, cheese and crackers, grapes, snap peas, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.
They held hands as Bryce prayed for their meal, then dug in. The sun was bright, and the conversation light.
“How do you think we should tell people we’re married?” Beth asked after she swallowed her first bite. “I mean, aside from sending out the announcements.”
“Organically, I guess. When it comes up in conversation.”
Beth laughed, not fully understanding what he meant.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with someone where my marital status has just sprung up organically.”
“Maybe not, but surely, you’ve had a conversation where someone asked, ‘What’s new?’ That’s more along what I was thinking.”
“Okay. I can do that.” Popping a grape in her mouth, she nodded. “That seems easy enough. Low pressure. What about at work?”
“Got it covered.”
Beth raised an eyebrow.
“I’m going to come in at the start of your next shift,” Bryce said, voice dropping an octave as he leaned in slightly, “and during the change-of-shift report, I’m going to pin you against the wall behind the nurses’ station and kiss you breathless. Right there, in the middle of the emergency room, so everyone on both shifts will know that you’re mine.”
Beth’s entire body flushed. She opened her mouth—then snapped it shut, gaping at him. “You will not.”
“Oh, I will.” His smirk was nothing short of dangerous, his fingers trailing lightly down her arm before he leaned in justenough to invade her space.
A shiver ran through her, unbidden, unwelcome. She shoved his shoulder, but he didn’t budge.
“Bryce.”
“Lizzy,” he mimicked, voice full of amusement.
“No.”
“Yes.”
A handful of grapes pelted him in the face.
