The two burst into laughter at once.
“I think I’ve met my match,” he said with an appraising nod.
They ate a few more peaches before Ivy spoke up again. “Wow, I’ve never met a fellow fact geek. In the time we spend together, we’re going to nearly double one another’s useless data bank. Then we’llreallydrive our families crazy.”
Easton laughed out loud, the genuine sound of it making her feel at home somehow. “That calls for another cheers, I think.” He steadied his spoon while Ivy readied hers.
“I think you’re right,” she said, lifting it to clank it against his. She ate that peach, and a few more, realizing that, despite Easton’s flawless appearance, Ivy felt more at ease with him than she’d felt with a man in a very long time. A man she was attracted to, anyway.
“I’m impressed that aguymade these,” she said between bites. “I pictured some old lady in an apron.”
“Jerry’s great,” Easton said. “He’s retired, makes and delivers them every Christmas. Of course, his kids took his license from him over the summer—guess he was getting dangerous out on the roads—so I helped him deliver them this time.”
Ivy gulped down the next peach as a new and welcome warmth stirred in her heart. “That’s so sweet of you.”
Easton only shrugged. “He lives right next door. And I don’t mind helping the guy out when he needs it.” He seemed to think about that for a bit before adding, “Heck, it’s only a matter of time before I’ll need that kind of help too.”
Ivy nodded. “Guess that’s true for all of us. I dread the day we have to tell one of my parents that they shouldn’t be driving anymore.”
Easton looked away quickly, then dropped his gaze to the jar. “Yeah,” he offered. “That reminds me, I’m sorry you’ll have to miss your family party. Sounds like it’s really important to you.”
“Thank you,” she said, but inwardly she was thinking back on what he’d shared during the interview. That his childhood was traumatic. She tied that piece of his past with another he’d shared—of how he’d wrapped his baby sister up in his old thermals at night to keep her warm. A shiver rocked through her. How was it that someone could be raised so…poorly yet turn out so good?
She wanted to ask him that very thing. Instead, Ivy followed his spoon into the jar and snatched the slice he’d scored right off the scooped surface. “That one looksgood,”she said with a laugh.
“Hey,” Easton chuckled. “I picked that one because it looked the best.”
She couldn’t help but giggle some more. The mood was just so…light suddenly. And Easton was so warm and welcoming and wonderful. “Here,” she said, feeling playful now. She straightened her arm toward him. “Open up and I’ll feed you.But,” she stipulated, “you have to do the same with me next.”
He backed away slightly, eyeing her for a blink. “Okay.” He sounded wary, which only made Ivy laugh some more. This was a good night. As horrible as it had begun and as deadly as her predicament had been, this moment with Easton by the fire felt like magic.
She kept her gaze fixed on his lips as he ate the peach off her spoon and wiped his mouth.
“Mmm,” he rumbled from low in his throat. “It’syourturn.” The way he said it, with the lift of that brow and the gleam in his eye, felt more like a warning.
“You’re going to do it nicely, like I did, right?” she cautioned. “This isn’t that whole cake at a wedding thing where they shove food in each other’s faces.”
“I hate that tradition,” he said, scooping a peach from the jar. “Open up.”
A spurt of reluctance gripped hold of her as he lifted the spoon. “You didn’t agree with me yet.”
“Yes I did,” he said, steadying the spoon as he straightened his arm toward her.
Ivy backed away from it and shook her head. “Just say you’ll give it to me nicely like I did you.” Her words might have been coated in laughter, but she’d meant them all the same.
He huffed out an exhausted breath.
“Please,” she urged, forcing her lips into a pout.
Easton squared a serious look at her. “Ivy?”
She loved the sound of her name in his raspy voice. “Yes,” she urged.
“I hereby promise to deliver this moonshine peach gently into that pretty little mouth of yours.”
Her heart went into some sort of spasm. Chills rushed over her arm and legs and possibly everything else too. “Okay.” She let out a shaky breath, leaned toward him, and opened up.
He spooned the slice into her mouth just as he’d said, but a drop of juice still spilled down her lip. Before she could catch it herself, Easton slid his thumb along her lower lip. She watched in surprise as he licked it off. “Mmmm,” he rasped. “I was wrong.”
