“I didn’t say that.” I set my empty mug on the coffee table. “The farm was a great place to grow up. And raising food for people is a noble thing to do.”
“There’s a ‘but’ in there.”
“I feel like I can help more people as a cancer researcher.” I shrugged. “After I play myself out in the pros.” I draped my arm across the back of the cushions. “What about your dad? Is he a physics guy too?”
Her eyes rounded when I mentioned her major. Why she thought I wouldn’t remember everything about our previous conversations was a mystery.
She chuckled. “In a manner of speaking. He owns a hardware store.” Lifting her mug to her lips, she sipped more chocolate, and I had an overwhelming urge to learn how hot chocolate tasted on her mouth.
The way girls could make a drink last for days stymied me. The only reason mine had lasted for more than a minute was because we’d left the kitchen to sit in the living room.
“You don’t want to run a hardware store?” I grinned. “Who’s he going to pass it on to?”
“Probably Piper.” An eye roll emphasized her dry tone.
I wrinkled my brow. “Your friend with the purple hair? The one Bax has a major hard-on for?” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see that girl within a hundred yards of a hardware store.
“She’s job-shadowing my dad over break. It’s going to be fun teaching her all about power tools.”
“Did not expect that.”
Her eyes took on a wicked twinkle. “What, that Piper wants to learn about power tools?”
I might have choked over the vision that suddenly popped into my head of Chessly in nothing but a shop apron brandishing a drill with that same look in her eyes.
She patted my hand where it rested on the cushion. “Are you all right?”
Her impish grin made me think she’d seen directly into my thoughts. My face heated, and I leaned forward to double-check for any last drops of hot chocolate in my mug resting on the coffee table.
“Out of chocolate.” I managed to push past the frog in my throat.
Dialing up the naughtiness, she asked, “Talking about power tools really chokes you up, huh?” Her eyes strayed to my mouth, and it was my turn to grin.
“You have no idea.”
For a long minute our gazes locked as electric heat sparked between us. I swear, if the lights were dimmed, it probably would have looked like fireworks shooting up from the couch.
Taking a chance, I reached for her mug, which she let go without a fight. Still holding her eyes, I set the mug aside on the table with one hand while I let my other hand drop off the back cushion to land lightly on the top of her shoulder. Slowly tracing the pad of my thumb over her collarbone, I said, “Seeing you on my doorstep made my night.” Damn, her skin was so soft beneath my touch. “Thanks for coming over.”
The hitch of her breath as I lightly stroked over her skin echoed in my groin.
“Sorry I kept your hoodie for so long,” she whispered.
“No worries.” My eyes snagged on her plump pink lips. “I liked seeing you in it.”
I moved closer, and she let me.
“Chess?”
“Mmm?”
“I’d really like to kiss you right now.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah?”
A grin ghosted over her lips. Was she teasing me for trying to be a gentleman?
