She smiled, causing that dimple to appear once more. “Exactly!”
Fire burned low in his belly. This could be dangerous. Or wonderful. Orboth. “Okay.”
She scooted closer to him, onto the middle cushion. “You put some on my tongue and see if I can guess which flavor it is.”
Richard pulled his hand away enough to read the label printed on the front of the package.Strawberry.
Whoa,what were the chances? How many times had he thought she smelled like the tangy sweet fruit herself? “Okay.”
“Wait,” she blurted as he moved to tear open the corner. She lifted one arched brow. “What do I get if I guess correctly?”
Oh, boy. He was not about to offer his kiss as a prize like Maverick or Emmitt would do. Though it was the first thing that came to his mind.
His gaze fell to her lips before he could stop it. “What would you like?”
A soft blush bloomed over her cheeks. She held his gaze, igniting a white hot flame low in his belly.
“I pick the movie next time,” she said, folding her legs beneath her, yoga style.
Next time. Perhaps he wasn’t imagining the chemistry sparking between them. A near flammable heat. That alone should tell Richard to use caution. Everyone knew that when playing with fire, you risk getting burned. But Richard had closed himself off to warmth long ago. So much that he was an iceberg by now. Surely a little thawing couldn’t hurt.
“Deal,” he answered. “You pick the movie next time.” He scooted closer now too, stopping only when his bended knee met the curve of her folded leg. Dang, she smelled good. Just like he remembered.
“Alright.” Ava closed her eyes then. “Tell me when to open up.”
Richard couldn’t help but admire the simple beauty of her for a moment. The delicate curve of her nose. The tiny scar beneath her cheekbone; he’d spotted that before, but hadn’t paid mind to it. It didn’t take away from her beauty. He wasn’t sure what possibly could, especially when she was so beautiful on the inside as well.
He cleared his throat, tore a corner off the package at last, and pried open the top. Next, he brought it alongside her head and gave her the cue. “Okay,” he said. “Open up.”
Her jaw dropped, and Ava stuck her tongue out expectantly, eyes clenched tight.
Richard tipped the open end of the package and tapped the edge until a small pile of pink candy trickled out and onto her tongue. Immediately, the candy began to sizzle, as if it were fire hot.
Ava closed her lips, opened her eyes, and grinned as the tiny popping noises came. “Mmm.” She muttered something else through partially closed lips, a question by the tone of it.
“What was that?” he asked.
Ava dropped her mouth open once more, and the crackling sounds echoed like they were coming from a small cave. She closed back up, seeming to push the candy to the roof of her mouth as it dissolved.
“I was asking,” she specified once it was gone, “if you could hear it.”
He smiled. “Yes, I heard it.”
Ava licked her lips, coating the lower part of her mouth with a pink, glossy glaze. She looked satisfied with that answer, her eyes lighting up as she reached for a different package. “Your turn.”
“My turn?”
“Yep.”
“Wait, you didn’t guess what flavor it was.”
Ava sifted through the different packets. “Strawberry,” she said plainly. She snatched a packet and brought it to her chest while covering it with her hands. “Okay, close those hazel eyes of yours, Richard. You’re in for a treat.”
He did as directed, wondering if she’d start with the strawberry one too. Suddenly something soft brushed against his lips—her hand, he guessed.
“Okay, open up.”
He dropped his mouth open and stuck out his tongue the way she had. Tiny, tingly candy plopped onto the surface. Instantly, the sour sweet pebbles bubbled and fizzed on his tongue. He closed his lips and focused on the flavors as it popped and crackled. He saw blue in his mind as he identified it, eyes still closed. “Blue raspberry,” he guessed.
