“Nothing.”
“Huh?” I pushed the button for the lobbylevel.
“Forever on an island? Lying on the beach and eating seafood? What you’re actually describing is a lifetime full of nothing. That might be great for a month, or maybe even a year. But eventually, you’ll get bored with the tide, and the fish, and the deck chairs. And withme.”
The elevator opened in the lobby, and I followed her out to the car, so I could watch her walk in front of me. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that,” I called after her, as I watched her hips move. “But I assume you have an alternativesuggestion?”
“Why would you assumethat?”
I unlocked the car with the fob, then rushed forward to pull her door open before she could get to it. “Because it’s rude to tear down someone’s fantasy without providing an alternativefantasy.”
“Then you admit the island is a fantasy?” Kaci sank into the passenger’s seat and looked up atme.
I made a mental note to stop underestimating her verbal prowess. That girl could back a lawyer into a corner using nothing but his own words, against him. “I admitnothing.”
“That’s a solid trial strategy,” she said as I slid behind the wheel. “But maybe not a very solid cornerstone for amarriage.”
“So, this is a marriagenow?”
“This is…insane,” she finally finished, with a quiet smile. “You’reinsane.”
“Now,that’sa solid trialstrategy.”
She threw her head back and laughed, and I stopped the car with us still halfway out of the parking spot so I could lean across the console and taste the tender flesh beneath her jaw. “Seriously, we could just blow dinner off and feast on each other, Kaci,” I whispered against her skin. “I’m not evenhungry.”
Tires squealed, and a car horn speared my thoughts. I growled at the car stuck behind us in the aisle, and she laughed again. “Well,I’mhungry.”
“Fine.” I backed the rest of the way out, then pulled out of the parking lot onto the road. “Dinner it is. But then, I intend to taste otherthings.”
“Sure.” Kaci grinned at me. “As long as those other things include chocolate syrup, cream filling, or whippedcream.”
I groaned at the dirty images her dessert cravings called to my mind. “Oh, I think we candefinitelymake thathappen.”
* * *
“This isn’t exactlywhat I had in mind,” I said as I tipped the room servicewaiter.
“I’m sorry, sir?” He glanced down at the tray he’d just set on the table, searching for theproblem.
“He’s talking to me.” Kaci came out of the bathroom with her hair in a ponytail and her face scrubbed clean. “But this is exactly whatIhad in mind. Chocolate syrup.” She pointed to the slice of cheesecake drizzled with chocolate. “Cream filling.” The stuffed raspberry tart. “And whipped cream.” On top of a huge slice of red velvetcake.
“You two really going to eat all that?” the waiter asked on his way out of theroom.
“Oh, those are just for her,” I said as I closed the door in his face. Kaci was all the dessert Ineeded.
“This is amazing!” She rubbed her hands together as she looked over the tray full of sweets. “I’ve never had room service! Maybe weshouldhave just stayedhere.”
“You’ve never had roomservice?”
“Nope. Haven’t spent much time in hotels. Shifters tend to rent cabins or houses, for privacy when they travel. And I haven’t traveled much.” She scooped a finger full of whipped cream from the cake and licked it off her finger. “I don’t know what to eatfirst.”
“All of them.” I tucked all three sets of napkin-wrapped utensils beneath my arm, then picked up the cake and the tart. “Grab that last one and follow me.” I set both plates on the middle of the still neatly made comforter, then started unwrappingsilverware.
“On the bed?” She sounded scandalized, and my new goal for the night became drawing that sound out of her again—withoutfood.
“Yes. It’s like a hotel picnic. Unless you’re planning to make a mess. If that’s the case, I’m going to have to ask you to eat them all three…off me.” I pulled my shirt over my head and dropped it on the floor. “You know, to preserve thelinens.”
She laughed as she carefully crawled onto the bed, holding the cheesecake plate in one hand. “Funny. Put your shirt backon.”
