“That’s fine,” I said quickly. Sure, I was nervously twisting my fingers together behind my back and paranoid I was going to blurt out the wrong thing. But that was hardly new. “I get that it’s part of the best man gig.”
“At least I get breaks on this job. Want to walk over by the creek with me?”
“Sure!”
Deciding not to feel embarrassed about my enthusiasm, I grabbed my little glass of wine and followed Kai away from the crowd. The sun was sinking, and with the trees reaching so high, the shadows stretched wide.
“More forget-me-nots,” I said, pointing to one of the white blooms.
Kai squatted down, peering at the flower. “Can I pick it? Or is that bad conservation?”
I laughed. “You can pick it. Those ones are everywhere.”
He did, then stood and extended the flower to me. The stem was pinched between his finger and thumb, and the delicate white petals flared out, welcoming the dappled sunlight. “Here,” he said, offering it to me with an earnest smile on his lip. “Thanks again for coming.”
A quiver went through my muscles. As I accepted the flower, my fingers brushed over his. “It’s my pleasure,” I said, twirling it between my fingers.
The creek babbled as it flowed over the flat, gray rocks, barely high enough to make a puddle. Away from the crowd, I was able to relax a little more and actually appreciate being there with Kai, instead of just marveling at him silently.
Maybe just a little crush could be okay. A tiny crush with a tiny flower, and then we’d be back to Pittsburgh. I could handle that.
“Sorry everyone at the office is being so nosy,” he said. “Like I said on the car ride, I don’t really date much. They’re all shocked to see me with someone.”
I took a sip of my wine. “You don’t have to explain. If I brought you around my friends, they’d probably grill you with a million-question interrogation and then talk about it for weeks after.”
Kai laughed. “Did I tell you that, before I agreed to Instagram, I caught Leo working on an online dating profile for me?”
“Oh no! You must have hated that.”
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “I knew something was up when he tried to surreptitiously measure my height one day.”
“My friend Jo isn’t that pushy, but I swear, she’s obsessed with telling me I need to put myself out there, whatever that means.”
“Well, now we’re both on a very public date with Instagram documentation. That should buy a little peace and quiet, right?”
I crossed my fingers and held them up. “Hope so.”
My heartbeat kicked. We were talking about the date almost like it was a real date and not just a convenient way to attend the wedding.
I dropped my eyes, worried I’d give myself away if I met his gaze, and lingered over the way his collar touched his neck. He was neatly shaved, and I wondered what it would feel like to run my tongue up his smooth skin, right behind the cut of his jaw.
Kai took a small step forward. I spun the flower in my fingers and let out a shaky breath. If this were someone else’s life, he might lean in and kiss me right then.
If I were anyone else, I might have the courage to kiss him myself.
Instead, I tilted my eyes back up and caught the last glimpse of his gaze as he turned back away. “There’s a small dinner for the wedding party. We should get going. Don’t want to be late twice today.”
“Sure,” I nodded. “I’ll meet up with you after?”
He turned back with a half-smile. “You’re my date,” he said and laid his hand on my arm. His grip on my bicep was firm and steady, and my whole body responded, like my nerves all came alive. “This weekend, you’re with me.”
“Right,” I said. “Well, let’s go!”
I threw back the rest of my wine, then followed my date back to the party, a tiny flower in one hand and a crush that was quickly growing out of control in my heart.
Chapter Eight
Kai
