“Anywhere, sweet-tart. Where are we going?”
I take his hand and lead him to the kitchen, where a picnic basket is waiting on the kitchen table. “Ta-da! I made you a slightly terrible picnic.”
“I thought terrible picnics were Luca’s cross to bear.”
I shoot him a sour look, my eyes narrowed. “This one isn’tveryterrible. Cassian helped. Anyway, I wanted to… to take you on a date. I wanted to go back to Northwest Harbor so you could see how beautiful it is from the beach instead of the parking lot, but I know that’s too dangerous. So, we’ll have to settle for Bethany’s garden, but her lupines are blooming, and Cassian assures me they’re gorgeous.” I press onward. “It’ll be safe for us. Pack Leclerc’s security walks the perimeter, as you well know, and my pack is also walking the grounds to make sure we’re safe.”
“You got the whole pack in on this?”
I blush lightly. “They were more than happy to help. I wanted you to be able to relax and not have to worry about protecting me the whole time.”
“Juniper, I’ll nevernotworry about your protection, but I’d love to picnic with you.” He shoots me one of his rare smiles, his cheeks dimpling.
I grab an old blanket Bethany found for me, and Marcus gamely picks up the picnic basket, eyeing it with curiosity. “What did you make?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see,” I tease, earning me another one of his heart-stopping smiles. Saints, I could get used to seeing Marcus like this, with his smiles just for me.
We make our way onto the grounds, and I lead him down a stone walkway toward Bethany’s garden. It truly is a thing of beauty. Her lupines are blooming, awash with purples, pinks and blues. Purple phlox creeps over the ground, fat bumblebees drifting from flower to flower. Hyssop, columbines, and milkweed decorate the garden, filling the air with fragrance. There’s a small grass clearing in the center ofthe flowers, and it’s there that I spread out the picnic blanket. When we sit, we’ll be hidden within the flowers, secreted away to a world of our own. It may not be Northwest Harbor, but itisromantic, and I’m grateful to Bethany for offering her beautiful garden as a picnic space for us.
Marcus sets down the picnic basket, and I open it, revealing two bottles of very ugly smoothie. Pinkish brown, they look as far from appetizing as possible, but I pass one to Marcus with a cringe.
“I promise it tastes better than it looks. They’re strawberry, but I know how much you like your green smoothies, so I added some fresh spinach. You can’ttasteit, but you sure canseeit.”
He grins and uncaps the bottle, taking a swig. “It doesn’t taste nearly as brown as it looks,” he teases, and I can’t help but laugh. “Delicious, Juniper. You did a good job.”
“That’s not all, of course.” I draw out two large plastic containers filled with a garden salad and a jar of dressing, which I give a good shake. “Cassian helped with the chopping because I kept turning the tomatoes to mush, but I made the lemon pepper chicken and the dressing,” I explain, passing him a container and a jar of dressing.
I watch with bated breath as he dresses his salad, tosses it with his fork and takes a generous bite. I raise an eyebrow at him, trying not to cringe as I wait for his verdict.
“It’s great, sweet-tart. This is an amazing picnic. Not terrible in the least.”
I settle down on the blanket beside him, dressing my own salad. “See? I’m getting better. Luca just had to endure my early… mishaps.” I sigh as I dig into my food. “I really wish we could have gone to Northwest Harbor, but Ian, Luca, and Cassian were adamant that we stay somewhere safe, and I can’t think of many places safer than behind the stone walls of the Leclerc estate. I just… you’ve been on so many of my dates, protecting me, watching from the sidelines. I wanted us to have a proper date, too.”
“We will,” he promises. “As soon as it’s safe, Juniper, I’ll take you on a hundred dates.”
I blush and duck my head. “Really?”
“Really,” he promises. “Besides, I still have to out-skate you.”
“You?” I ask, incredulous. “A California boy?”
“Who played hockey for ten years.”
I smile. “I never knew that about you, but I guess there’s a lot I don’t know about you.”
“You know what’s important. You know what’s in my heart.”
I do, because I read it in his deepest thoughts.
We finish our meal in silence, and I twiddle a blade of grass between my fingers, trying to figure out how to make my move. Saints, the last time I tried to make the first move and kissed Simon, it ended with his gentle rejection. But that was when I didn’t know about him and Cassian, when secrets kept us apart, just as secrets kept me and Marcus apart. Saints, my men really have kept things from me. I shake the thought out of my head. The past is the past. Now, in this moment, I need to figure out how to kiss Marcus Haley and not make a fool of myself.
“Juniper? What’s wrong?”
“I really want to kiss you,” I blurt out before clapping my hands over my mouth. My cheeks flush darkly, but Marcus shoots me a challenging grin.
“Then kiss me, sweet-tart.”
I swallow hard and crawl to him, my heart fluttering in my throat. I take his jaw in my hand, reveling in the short stubble there, and stare at his lips.
