“Okay,” I said. Again, my voice was too forceful, but not squeaky.
“Does that mean yes?” he clarified, his eyes warm.
I nodded vigorously. “That means yes.”
“Do you need to know when it is?” he prompted.
“Oh, there’s always that,” I said, suddenly sheepish. “When?”
“It’s actually this weekend, on Saturday.” He paused, just a flicker of hesitation in him. The first one I’d seen. “I hadn’t been planning on bringing anyone, and then they asked if any of us without dates would be part of an auction, and I’d rather not do that. But more than that…” He shrugged. “After we kissed, well, I’d like to take you out.”
I swallowed through the anxiety spinning in my chest. “Okay, um, okay.” For fuck’s sake, I needed to pull it together. “Is it a fancy event? Casual? What is it, and where is it?”
“Apparently, they rented the event room here. Seeing as this is Alaska, I think casual is probably fine. They didn’t really give us a dress code.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll figure something out.”
“Okay,” he repeated with a bemused smile.
I started to back away, my bag slung over my shoulder, but Kincaid reached out, catching my hand in his. His touch was like a jolt of lightning sizzling up my arm, spinning through me, and lighting every nerve ending on fire.
“What is it?” I asked.
He gave the slightest pressure to my hand, as if giving me space to pull away. I didn’t want to. Instead, I stepped closer, because that’s what almost everything in me—everything except the tightly-wound distrust coiled in my chest—wanted.
“Just this,” he said softly, before dipping his head and brushing his lips over mine.
His touch was soft, but electric. I actually sighed when he pulled back, a sharp sense of loss filling the space between us.
I wanted more. I wanted to plaster myself against him. To climb him like a tree. To get utterly lost in another kiss like the one from the other night. The heat in his eyes felt like a promise.
He thumbed over his shoulder. “We have an audience.”
I glanced over to see a tourist bus had rolled into the parking lot with a group already disembarking. “Oh.” I let out a breathless, startled laugh.
“So, I’ll text you?” he prompted.
“What time is it?” I asked.
He blinked. “Oh, you mean what time is the fundraiser. Right.” He gave a little head shake, and I thought maybe he was a little discombobulated too. “Six o’clock. Are you working?”
I shook my head, relieved for once that my shift wasn’t scheduled that night. “Nope.”
“I’ll see you then.”
A moment later, I watched him walk toward his truck. I climbed into my car and sat there for a minute before I lifted my fingers to my lips. They were still tingling.
I took a shaky breath and whispered to myself, “See you then.”
Chapter Eleven
Kincaid
“You’re bringing Tori?” Maisie sputtered, her eyes widening slightly.
“Yeah, is that a problem?”
Maisie blinked a few times. “No.”
