The water splashed over the stone, creating a melody of sound that had the ability to relax a guy’s neck muscles without even trying.
Sadie rummaged through her purse. After finding a penny, she gripped it in her hand, studying the image of Abraham Lincoln and polishing it with her thumb. She nibbled at the corner of her lip.
“Are you going to make a wish?” he asked as she continued her consideration of the stamped copper.
She gulped.
“I was just reevaluating my wish.”
He stood behind her, nuzzling his chin against her neck. “You can wish for whatever you want.”
“That’s not how it works at all.” She furrowed her eyebrows in a cute way that made him want to know why it wouldn’t work that way.
See a fountain. Make a wish. Toss the penny. Move along with life.
“You have to hold the coin and wait. The wish comes right to you,” she said.
“The wish comes to you?” he asked.
“You’re supposed to go with whatever comes to you, but I’m not sure that what came to me is what I want.”
She was putting a whole lot of effort into this wish thing. Personally? He’d wish for a buttload of money, toss a coin in the water, and call it good.
Sadie had other ideas. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
He didn’t move. Roman wasn’t a superstitious guy, but the way Sadie held that single cent like it was a gold coin… He wasn’t going to muck any of that up. As quick as she closed her eyes, she opened them and flicked the coin into the water. It landed with a soft plunk.
“What was that?” Roman asked.
“I made a wish.”
“With your eyes closed?”
“That’s how you make a wish.”
Roman grinned. No one had ever explained wish making to him in such detail. They didn’t move—the only sound that of the water trickling in the background of the night—until a moth flew by.
“Was that a butterfly?” she asked with another lip nibble.
“Moth,” he replied.
She shook her head. “Too big for a moth. Definitely a butterfly.”
Definitelynota butterfly.
She adjusted to face him. His hand fell from her hip and their fingers tangled together instead.
He was not about to argue about the species of an insect.
The gleam in her eye was one of steam and fire.
“Nohchnaya babachka,” he muttered.
Her eyes were brown pools of molten gemstone. “That’s pretty, what does it mean?”
“Nighttime butterfly.” He calmed his breathing because just that look in her eye had him nearly panting. Rounding to stand in front of him, she pressed up on her toes until their lips met. His jeans got a touch tighter in the crotch. The hairs along his arms stood on end.
Yeah, he didn’t mind being back in Denver when he spent all his time with Sadie. Denver with Sadie nearly made him forget all about Louise and Uncle Sam. Nearly.
