"I can see that. Like something moving at the corner of your eye you don't expect, right? But I love the whole vibe. I think it's great your town does this. And you really do look amazing. All summery. I'm sorry I'm not dressed better."
She paused, looking up at him, then made a slight fuss of straightening his collar. "There. Perfection."
Karl was certain it was not at all improved by her efforts, but his heart rate bounced at having her fingertips brushing his shirt. He said, "Thanks," hoarsely, and flattened his palm against the button at his collarbones, like he could capture the feeling of her touch. "Also, wow, I don't think I've met anybody's dad on the first date since my junior prom."
More laughter pealed from her, bright and loud and honest. "Oh my God. I'll have to tell him that. And, first date? That implies there'll be more, doesn't it? A bold statement, when we haven't even made it off the porch."
"Well, far be it from me to slow our roll." Karl offered his elbow. Emmy slipped her hand through it, making his heart rate soar even higher, and they walked down the steps together. "Tell me, do you invite all the handsome strangers who come to your B&B out to dinner?"
"Only the ones who referenceTreasure Islandin the first thirty seconds they're in the room," Emmy assured him. "It's a surprisingly effective strategy. Batting a hundred, so far, in fact."
"I can't decide if that means I'm the only one who's done it or if it's just a thing that happens a lot."
Emmy laughed again. "You're the only one. So you're walking across America? That's a huge thing to do."
A touch of heartbreak spasmed through Karl's chest and he took a deep breath. "It is. It seemed like the thing to do at the time, so I just did it."
It wasn't that simple, of course, but then again, it also was. He hadn't talked to many people about the trek; part of the point of the journey was to nothaveto talk to people. But to his surprise, he thought he could,wouldtell Emmy the whole story, if she wanted to hear it.
But maybe not on the first date.
Which, as she suggested, implied a second date.
He thought of his destination, Bar Harbor, still hundreds of miles away, then deliberately put both it and the idea of a second date out of his mind for the moment.
"So how far have you walked?"
That, Karl thought, was the kind of question he could answer without it feeling complicated. It was also not the question people usually asked. They asked why a country-wide hike felt like the thing to do, or what had happened 'at the time,' or a dozen other things. But not usually a graceful pivot, still on subject but not pressing him to talk about things he didn't want to. "Almost four thousand miles. It's a little under three thousand if you take the most direct route, but…I haven't."
"Well, that would be on highways, wouldn't it? I'd rather walk on the blue roads, or actual hiking trails, if I was brave enough. Some of it must go through some pretty high mountains, right?”
“Very high mountains,” Karl agreed. “Most of it’s okay, and I don’t mind heights, but there were a few places where I thought maybe going back or going around would be less terrifying. Except I’d have to go to, like, the Panama Canal to go around. There are basically mountains from the west coast of Alaska to the tip of Argentina. So I just went through.”
“I’d probably have to lie down on my belly and squirm along.”
Karl had a delightfully vivid image of what he and Emmy could do together if she lay down on her belly, with or without squirming, and felt himself blush as she led him across the square’s huge green lawn. In an attempt to not sound like a man who thought of nothing but sex, he said, “Cutting across must take half a mile off the walk to the pub,” and was relieved his voice didn’t squeak. “Are there rules against walking across the grass?”
“Technically, yes, but nobody tries to enforce them. The sheriff says it would be embarrassing for the whole town to watch him chasing kids all over the square and not be able to catch them.”
Karl laughed. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“There’s the cafe I was telling you about.” Emmy waved her hand toward the other end of the square from where they were heading. “That massage clinic next to it is pretty new, and let me tell you, if you want the miles lifted from your shoulders, go see Mabs there. You’ll feel like a whole new man. Although I kind of like the one you are.”
She bit her lip at the end of that, glancing up at him like she was concerned she’d gone too far. Karl thought she couldn’t possibly go far enough, not looking up through those long dark eyelashes that made her big brown eyes even softer and more appealing. “Me too,” he said hoarsely. “I like you too.”
Suave. He was smooth and suave and charm incarnate, for sure. Saying ‘I like you too’ like a huge doofus would definitely win the girl.
Although, truthfully, Karl thought it might. Her smile went kissably soft, and he wondered for a minute if they could just skip dinner and get right to getting to know each other better.
Then his stomach rumbled loudly enough to be mistaken for a weather event. Emmy laughed as he clapped his hand over it, and he reminded himself, as they went into the pub, that talking over dinnerwasgetting to know each other better.
CHAPTER5
Emmy usually liked to savor everything she put in her mouth. Tonight, however, every bite of dinner made her think about parts of Karl she might like to savor, and she ended up hardly noticing what she’d eaten at all. The owner, Steven—who also happened to be a bear shifter—stopped by to make sure everything was okay. Emmy sort of wanted to grab him and run off for a minute to whisper that Karl was her fated mate and ask how hadhemanaged to tell Charlee, the chef andhismate, that he was a bear.
But running off with another man during a date wouldn’t send the right signals. Besides, Steven was a cool shifter, not a silly rabbit. Emmy remained pretty certain that bears and big cats and sexy predator-type shifters had an easier time confessing than bunnies did.
Her rabbit, which was rarely confident about anything, said,Karl will think we’re cool,with remarkable certainty.He’ll adore us. He’s our mate. He has to.
