“Knew what?” I ask him, crossing my arms.
He smiles and unfolds my arms, placing them on his shoulders before he wraps his around my ribs, tugging me closer.
“I knew there was something I liked about you.”
I grumble, and he catches my lips again. There’s no other choice but to lean into his kiss. I could do this forever. No wonder people love making out.
My fingers slide into his hair, and it makes him moan, startling me a little. I start to pull away, and he holds me tighter. “I like that,” he rasps.
I keep my hands in his hair, diving deeper into our messy, uncoordinated kiss, while his other comes to the back of my neck and his hand draws through my hair.
“You’re going to get stuck,” I mumble.
“I really like your hair,” he says, tugging on a large corkscrew.
“Thanks,” I say breathless.
He hums and kisses me again, and I can sense him letting me take control and experiment. I slip my tongue past his, and he sits up a little straighter as if to chase my mouth. His hands slide to my butt and squeeze gently. And I realize I might have control of this kiss right now, but I’m at his mercy.
I pull back to breathe, and Cooper presses light kisses along my jaw and down my neck. My lips feel raw and my body feels like lava.
“Cooper?”
He hums into my neck, making me shiver.
“You okay?” he asks.
“Yes, but…”
Cooper pulls back to look me in the eye. Ever the patient man.
“I leave in a year,” I rasp. I feel like I need to be clear about that because what I’m feeling, though confusing and overwhelming, does not feel like a temporary thing. And I don’t want temporary, even if it feelsreallygood.
“A lot can change in a year, Mae,” he says.
“I’m not sure how to respond to that.”
He kisses my cheek. “You don’t need to. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As we learn about each other, you might find that I annoy you more than anyone else in the world, and I’ll have to watch you leave.”
“I already find you annoying.”
He chuckles. “Well, I guess it’s settled then.”
“But what if—”
Cooper places his finger on my lips, silencing me. “We’re on our first date, Mae. You’ve been here for what, a month? If you’re here for a year, then that means we have eleven months to figure it out.”
“But that feels unfair to you, especially if you want to go out again after this.”
Cooper grins and drags his thumb across my kiss swollen lips. “I can promise you we will go out again after this. But why a year?” he asks.
I slide off his lap, and he lifts his arm, tucking me into his side.
“Aunt Francesca said I have to run the flower business for a year, and then I can do what I want with it. And after that, I’ll probably need to get back to Colorado.”
He tilts his head. “Why is that?”
I bite my lower lip, wondering how much to tell him. I can’t leave my parents high and dry. Right?
