It’s not a traditional meal. It’s a feast.
The entire table is covered with what looks like the most elaborate charcuterie spread I’ve ever seen. Plates of aged cheeses in every variety. Crackers and crusty bread. Clusters of deep purple grapes. Chocolate-dipped strawberries, their coating gleaming. Heart-shaped sandwiches on silver trays. Curled meat slices arranged into the shapes of roses. Fresh figs split open to reveal their pink centers. Honeycomb dripping with golden sweetness. Pink rose petals scattered like confetti.
And that’s just the beginning.
There are sushi rolls arranged in neat rows. Pastel macarons stacked in a tower. Sliders with tiny toothpick flags. Miniature pizzas with crispy edges. Meatballs speared with fancy picks. Tiny jelly candies in every color of the rainbow. Cheese-stuffed dates. Prosciutto-wrapped melon. Things I don’t even recognize but desperately want to try.
I’m salivating.
“My mouth might have fallen open,” I say, “because I can’t find my words.”
Kai laughs, taking the seat adjacent to mine so we’re close enough to touch. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I tried to get a bit of everything.”
“Kai, I’m…” I shake my head, genuinely struggling. “I’m blown away by how incredible this is. I want to eat literally everything, and you did this for me.”
“That’s the goal, and I need to convince you that I would do anything you want. Ask me the wildest thing, and hand on heart, I’ll do it.”
My breath catches, and I hate how fast my chest tightens with it. I love hearing it. I love the promise in his voice, the certainty, the way he says it like it’s already done. And that’s the problem. Kai does not say things lightly. When he offers something, he means it literally. It should make me feel safe. Instead, it leaves me feeling a little shaky, because I know what men like him do when they decide they’re all in. They crash in like a wave and drag you under with them.
“You’re saying that like you don’t have a limit,” I manage, trying to keep it teasing when it comes out softer. “And that’s… insanely sweet. Also terrifying. Because I can tell you actually mean it.”
He reaches across the table and takes my hand, and the contact sends warmth flooding through me. “I mean it.”
“No one has ever done anything like this for me before,” I admit quietly. “You’re going to make me cry.”
He lifts my hand to his lips and presses a kiss to the back of it, his gray eyes holding mine. “Then this is just the start of what I’m going to give you.”
“I never took you for such a romantic.”
He just grins at me.
I laugh, because I can’t help it, and something in my chest loosens as if it’s been bracing for impact.
He reaches for one of the serving plates, sliding it closer to me. “Now eat. I’m starving, and I know you are too.”
He’s right. I’m famished.
We dig into the feast, and it’s even better than it looks. The cheeses are sharp and creamy and perfect. The strawberries burst with sweetness. The sliders are juicy, the sushi fresh, and the macarons melt in my mouth like they were made for this exact moment.
“Most of this is locally made,” Kai tells me between bites. “I wanted to support the town as much as I could.”
“That’s…” I shake my head, still a little overwhelmed by him, by the effort, by the way he watches me like my reactions matter. “That’s really thoughtful.”
“I have my moments,” he says, and the grin he gives me is pure trouble, like he’s already planning the next one.
We eat and talk and laugh, the fairy lights twinkling around us, the carousel music providing a gentle backdrop. He tells me about growing up in Colorado, about his grandmother who taught him to ride a bike and about their Hawaiian heritage, about the first time he got on a bull and knew it was what he was meant to do.
I tell him about Honeyspur Meadow, falling in love with this town as a teenager, how I fought to stay here when my parents wanted me to leave. About the properties I’ve sold and the people I’ve helped find homes.
He listens like everything I say matters and as if I’m the most interesting person he’s ever met.
“I could get used to this,” I admit, accepting a grape he holds out to me. “You’re setting the bar very high.”
His smile is slow and warm, softening his sharp features. “That’s the plan.”
“What if the others can’t compete?”
“They’ll figure it out. We all will.” He feeds me another grape, his fingers brushing my lips. “Besides, I’m pretty sure Carter already claimed the poetry angle. And Seth will probably just grunt at you meaningfully until you fall for him.”
