Eve closed her eyes, memories of that other kiss filling her mind, and her lips pulsed in anticipation. The musky scent of his aftershave filled her senses. She felt him draw close, his breath warm.
“Your food, miss,” the waiter said loudly.
Startled, Eve’s eyes popped open at the same time her mouth smacked Darius’s, her teeth hitting soft flesh.
“Sorry, miss.” The server put their plates down in front of them and left.
Eve glanced at Darius who was running his tongue over his lip. Putting a finger to hers that were now pulsing for a completely different reason, Eve tasted blood. How embarrassing. But itwaskind of funny. The humor of the situation started to gurgle inside her until she couldn’t keep it in, and she chuckled.
Darius burst out laughing, a joyous thing to hear. He sometimes seemed so serious it was nice to know that the boy’s humor hadn’t been lost in the man.
“Oh my word,” Eve said, still trying not to laugh. “What must that have looked like?”
“Do you think our server did that on purpose?” Darius asked. “If he wants a tip, he shouldn’t interrupt a good lip-locking.”
Eve had taken a sip of her drink, but a bubble of laughter erupted again, and she choked.
“Are you all right?” He put his hand lightly on her back, his expression concerned.
“I’ll be fine,” she said with a raspy voice, “once I can breathe.” She coughed a couple more times. “That comment really took me back. Do you remember that group date our junior year?”
“For prom? How could I ever forget Jill and Tyson? Talk about awkward lip-locking.”
“Oh, my word. They kept choosing the most random places to make out.”
“Public places too. When our group was at dinner and they started in again, I noticed people looking at all of us like we were all going to start in too.” Darius picked up his fork and poked it into the flaky crust of his pie.
“That’s another one of my dad’s favorite meals.” Eve nodded at his dish. “We’d have it at least a couple of times a month when I was growing up.”
“Would you like to give it a taste so you can compare it to what you had at home?” Darius pushed his dish a little closer to her.
“If you don’t mind.”
“I wouldn’t have offered if I did.”
“Don’t you get snarky with me.” Eve shook her fork at him like it was a finger and she was chastising him.
Darius took her hand that held it and poked it into his pie. Eve met his gaze, and that familiar intensity swelled up between them again. She shifted the fork, cutting a portion of the pastry, and lifted the crust and meat. Instead of bringing it to her mouth, she turned her hand toward his. Still watching her, he opened his mouth and let her feed him. His eyes widened as he chewed.
“Do you like it?” she asked softly.
“It’s almost as delicious as the company.” Darius then stabbed a similar bite with his fork and held it up to her.
Feeling overly warm, Eve wished she’d taken off her cardigan. She opened her mouth and accepted the bite. Chewing, she considered the savory taste of the gravy and meat with the pastry.
“It’s delicious. My mother has an authentic recipe for this, one she’s taken years to make so it matches my father’s memory of it. I think she’s got it right.” Eve took a scoop from the haggis and held it up to Darius. “Would you like to give mine a try?”
“Nope. I’m not into sheep’s lung.”
“That should be the only difference between my mom’s recipe and this one. It’s not really all that different from Thanksgiving dressing. I’ll bet your mother uses the turkey organs in that.”
Darius still didn’t look convinced, so Eve didn’t push it. Then she remembered she wanted to take a picture of herself eating it to send to her father. She pulled out her phone and handed it to Darius.
“I promised my dad.”
He did as she asked and snapped a picture as she opened her mouth.
“How does it compare?” He handed back the phone.
