12
Mark
We were alreadyto Cam’s truck by the time I managed to scrape any working brain cells together and think about what we might do next. The warm sunshine beat down on my head and shoulders and the breeze played through my hair. Cam’s strong, callused hand gripped mine comfortably, and I was falling into a strange dreamlike state where I was too happy for words. Being physically exhausted and horny tended to slow down my processing time—in a good way. Normally I was allgo, go, go, but not right now.
He’d had the time to plan a date, somehow—probably while I’d been dealing with the bridge meltdown yesterday—and even though I’d had fun, I was dragging ass already. My stomach gave a hopeful grumble that there might be food on the horizon sometime soon. I suspected we’d been out playing the paintball game longer than I’d thought, and I glanced at the sun, high overhead, to try to work out the time.
Cam gave me a smile that was altogether too sweet, considering everything I knew he was capable of doing, and opened the door of the truck for me. I climbed in, and he stood there, rather than going around to get in his seat. He gripped my hips and turned me until I was facing him. His arms flexed and there was no change on his face, like moving me around physically was a barely noticeable activity.
Heat fluttered in my stomach at his casual display of strength while he tipped his head back and stared right into my face. Normally I had to look up at him. Tentatively I rested my hands on his shoulders and hooked a foot around his middle until he took a step closer with a self-satisfied smirk. His body heat was a tease along my front, and I ran one hand across his chest to touch his hard muscles.
“I said you had to wait.” He bent and brushed his lips to mine anyway.
Humming and narrowing my eyes, I slid my hand down his front until I was able to lift his T-shirt and toy with his belt buckle. He shifted a little closer. “Maybe it’s you who’ll be waiting later. Ever consider that?”
He huffed out a laugh and dropped a kiss on my cheek. “What next? We’re not going home until sundown.” The way he said that, as if it was a challenge, had me wriggling around on my seat. We had to wait for our fun later. Was that part of the game we were playing today?
“Are you trying to get to know me or just torture me?” I poked at his stomach, not quite believing I was flirting. My cheeks heated. This wasn’t me. I didn’t make an ass of myself for the amusement of a man. I cleared my throat and glanced away, but he knocked the bottom of my chin with a finger until I was staring into his eyes.
“Both.”
Laughing, I tilted my head back and looked at the beautiful bright blue sky overhead, dotted with perfect summertime clouds. I thought lazily of all the things I’d been meaning to do around the city but had never gotten around to trying, or simply hadn’t had anyone to do them with. His stomach grumbled, too, and we shared a smile.
“How about a stop at the new water gardens in little Chinatown?” I picked at my shirt and frowned at a few splotches of neon lavender paint along the collar. I hadn’t been hit, so where had it come from? “There’s a tearoom that just opened up, the newest addition in the area, and I don’t think there’s a dress code. They sent an invitation to city hall, but Vane has been too busy to go. One mess after another has kept him hopping, as usual.”
Cam settled his hands on my hips and flexed his fingers, digging them into me. He dragged me closer to the edge of the seat and leaned down until his mouth almost covered mine. My breath hitched, and I found myself clinging to his shoulders and quivering as my cock plumped in my boxers. He dragged in the air near my neck in a deep snuffle but didn’t kiss me there.
“Why not?” he asked after a moment and backed off so abruptly that I nearly fell out of the truck. He gripped my arms to keep me from toppling over, then laughed as I swung back in while giving him the finger. I slammed my door, but my lips were twitching toward a smile.
Thankfully the water garden was on the east side and not technically in what was referred to as downtown, because traffic was manageable, and it didn’t take too long for us to arrive and find parking. The second we were both on the sidewalk, I was uncomfortable and thought about asking him if he wanted to go do something else.
His part of the date had fit him to a tee—something fun andactive. This would be a lot of sitting around, not something I thought he’d really like, even though I’d wanted to come investigate the place. From what I’d read, tearooms were a good spot to discuss ideas, or at least, that’s what they’d traditionally been for—relaxing and shooting the breeze. I blew out a long breath and tried not to be antsy.
Cam teased his fingers along the back of my hand as we walked under an arched red-and-green pergola-style entrance into the water gardens. The slight dampness to the air made everything smell greener and sweeter.
“This is beautiful,” he said, shock clear in his tone. “If I’d known this was here, I’d have brought the girls over.” We strolled onto a cobblestone path lined by burgundy and white chrysanthemums that wound around a sizable pond with three tiered fountains breaking up the middle. The spice of the flowers filled the air. Large koi flashed in the water between small stone circles that separated different types of water plants. There were pink and purple flowers blossoming on lily pads, and I didn’t know the names of any of the greenery we strolled past, but I didn’t care much because I got to watch incandescent dragonflies buzz by a hummingbird drinking from a flower on the side of the path, and I was struck how I’d never seen anything like that before. When I glanced at Cam, he smiled at me. We strolled across a small stone bridge set at intervals with painted metal statues of what I thought were stylized lions. No matter what the sculptures were, they looked like they’d cost a fortune.
Cam danced his hand over the head of one of the maybe-lions and drew me to a stop at the center of the bridge so we could look out over the fountains. The tearoom was a small wooden building that had been constructed near the water’s edge on the far end of the pond, and I pointed at it.
“We’re going there.”
He nodded. “This is gorgeous. Looks exactly like true Chinese construction. That type of building with those hardwoods is all put together by hand,” he said, and I could hear the awe, and maybe a tinge of jealousy, in his voice. “The paint job is beautiful, too. I love that red against the green slate roof. We just don’t have time for anything this delicate on the jobs I work.” He shook his head and glanced around. The water gardens were new, and flowering trees were being nurtured in small groves nearby. I loved that I could tell what was being done now would leave New Gothenburg beautiful by the time I was an old man. The garden made me feel strangely sentimental.
“Are you glad we came here, then? I didn’t pick something too boring?”
He laughed and drew me closer. Warmth flared to life in my chest. “Not at all. Even a predator needs to rest.” He dropped a kiss on my forehead and we walked on. As we approached the tearoom we slowed down, and I thought that maybe Cam was again appreciating the newly constructed building, now that we were closer. The straight, perfect lines of the architecture drew my eye to the symmetry of the building, and there were jade statues on the roof—two more lions, one on each corner.
“There’s one thing, though.”
“What?” I asked and frowned.
“I told you I could do more than Chinese food, and here we are.” He winked at me.
“Well, to be fair, this will be a lot better than that takeout,” I said with a small sniff.
He slapped a hand to his chest and winced. “You wound me, and everyone who works at Yang’s.”
We were chuckling together as Cam opened the door of the tearoom for me, and a slim teenage girl in a black T-shirt and jeans with a green apron at her waist snapped to attention at the hostess station. The inside of the building was simple and done in dark woods, but the minimalism was stunning in and of itself. There wasn’t a single bit of clutter in the building, nothing that didn’t appear entirely necessary, and only one low bench for people to wait. The girl brushed her short dark hair behind her ears and beamed at me. “Welcome to the Meihua Tearoom!” She rushed out from behind her station and gestured for us to follow her. “Our flower teas are a specialty in New Gothenburg.”
