“It’s your whole look,” she murmured. “California surfer meets corporate killer. Like… businessman by day, trouble by night.”
I laughed under my breath. “That’s a terrible brand.”
“It’s really hot,” she said.
Just like that.
Matter-of-fact.
My throat went dry.
Her hand lingered a second too long at my jaw.
My palm found her waist without asking permission.
The world shrank.
Water. Leaves. Sunlight flickering through branches.
Her lips curved like she knew exactly what she was doing to me.
We drifted back to the blanket like gravity had decided for us.
The garden had shifted while we were gone. The light lower now, softer, honeyed. The air thick with warmth and the smell of water and grass. Somewhere, music floated faintly from a distant street performer, but out here it felt like the city had pulled its breath in and gone quiet.
She sat first, folding her legs beneath her, dress pooling around her thighs. I watched her without shame. The way the last of the sun kissed her skin. The way her mouth curved when she looked up at me, like she already knew this night was changing something.
I reached into the picnic basket again.
She tilted her head. “You’re full of surprises.”
“Wait,” I said.
I pulled out the tealights one by one. Small. Simple. Nothing flashy. I set them around the blanket, careful with the spacing, shielding the flames with my hands as I lit them. The glow bloomed slowly, amber and soft, turning the white bread golden, the wine bottle luminous.
Her expression shifted.
Not surprise this time.
Something quieter. Warmer.
“This is…” she started, then stopped, like she didn’t trust her voice to finish.
“Too much?” I asked.
She shook her head immediately. “No. It’s perfect.”
Fireflies had begun to wake up around us, tiny flickers of green-gold blinking in and out of the dusk like the sky was winking. One drifted close, hovering near the willow branches, then another.
She laughed softly, reaching out instinctively.
“I forgot they existed,” she said. “You don’t see them in the city.”
I smiled. “Guess they came out for you.”
She rolled her eyes, but her cheeks warmed.
I reached for the guitar then.
