“We have it now,” I replied in the same hushed tone. “And sure, we’re only on a date because I figured it out and you were going to keep it secretforever—”
“Not forever,” he said with a little smile at my needling tone.
“But we have the future, Fil. We can do whatever we want with it. At least if you want—”
“I want,” he interrupted, gravel in his voice. “I want everything with you, angel. Every last little thing.”
His words settled like warmth in my chest, and I smiled. “Every last little thing?”
“Every last one,” he confirmed, reaching across the table to run his thumb over my knuckles.
“Even ultra-salted Spaghetti Bolognese?”
“I shouldn’t have told you that,” he groaned. “First the wonky heart lights, then my chequered food past. It’s a wonder you still find me handsome.”
“Instead of fishing for compliments, you could try givingmea few,” I said sweetly, finishing the rest of my food and making the wine magically vanish from my glass.
“Forgive me, my lady,” he said with dramatic pomp. “Your eyes sparkle like stars in the night sky. Your skin is as golden and radiant as the sun. Your body as luscious as… uh…”
“Regretting using the word luscious, huh?” I teased.
“As luscious as a pomegranate,” he finished with a little, self-satisfied smile.
“You’ve never actually had a pomegranate, have you?” I asked, getting up and rounding the small table to straddle his lap. God, he was so warm, his chest like fire against my palms.
“No.” His hands found my hips, fingers exploring my shape and sending a giddy thrill through me. “Why?”
“The seeds crunch.”
“They—what?”
I nodded gravely. “They crunch.”
“But—they’re so shiny. I always imagined them like mini grapes.”
I stroked up his chest, linking my fingers at the back of his neck. “Are you calling my body shiny and surprisingly crunchy?”
He squinted one eye shut in a wince. “Are they sweet at least?”
“Very.”
“Well, at least—”
“And kinda sour. Tart.”
He groaned. “Like a peach, then.”
“With fuzzy hair all over my skin?” I teased.
“Angel,” he complained. “Jessia. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid my hands upon. The most bewitching woman mine eyes have ever seen. Take pity on me.”
“Gladly,” I said, and kissed him.
Devil’s deep moan was the highest praise, and I used my locked fingers to pull him closer, moulding my mouth to his for kiss after sweet, aching kiss.
I kissed him until my lips were swollen, my lungs ached for air, and only a rustle and crash drew us apart. We both stared at the flopped mess of fairy lights that hung onto the ground, still twinkling but now a sad heap instead of a pretty arrangement.
A smile pulled up my lips as his mouth wandered over my jaw and down my throat. Breathily, I said, “On reflection, you might be better at hanging lights than me.”
