The problem was, she couldn’t afford any kind of distraction.And Connor was definitely a distraction.
And yet, she found herself approaching the park where she spied her fantasy Viking in the flesh sitting on a park bench.A scowl crossed his face as he looked across the expanse of the park toward a group of college-aged kids playing disc golf.
“Hi,” Aspen said brightly as she approached Connor on the wooden park bench painted fire engine red.
He shifted his gaze to land on Aspen, but his frown remained.“Where’s the restaurant?There’s a lot of people around here.”
Hello to you, too.
“Oh, um, there’s actually a food truck just over there that I heard was really good.”
And one you had a coupon for, sister.
“A food truck, huh?”
Wolfe asked skeptically and stood so he was so close to Aspen she could feel the heat radiating from his massive body.The movement caused a cacophony of prickles to bloom atop her skin.
“Yeah, just over there.”
Aspen turned from Connor and pointed to the overhauled delivery-truck-come-mobile-diner.She not only wanted to point out the truck, but she needed to give her eyes a break from all of the muscles barely held beneath his pale blue t-shirt that perfectly matched his eyes.The band name Foghat stretched across his chest in bubbly script.Turning to the food truck also prevented her from fixating on the colored ink that crisscrossed his arms weaving an unknown story that she longed to hear.
“All right, let’s do this,” Connor said, as if he prepared for a root canal or some other form of medieval torture.
Aspen deflated a bit at Connor’s lackluster response to her dinner idea.
“Seriously, Connor,” Aspen said, and turned back to him, placing her hand on his forearm.Big mistake as it caused an involuntary pulse of want in her body.“If you’re not up for this, we can certainly go our separate ways.”
In fact, thoughts of pot stickers in her freezer andWheel of Fortuneon the TV called to her like King Arthur responding to the Lady of the Lake.
“I always do what I say I’ll do,” Connor’s voice was laced with conviction and a bit of strain she’d never heard during their handful of encounters at the bakery.
“All I’m saying is—"
“—Let’s just go to the truck and eat, okay?”
“Ooookay.”
They walked in silence through the park until they arrived at the mobile restaurant.A flurry of activity buzzed around the spot from people in line to others eating at pop-up tables set up in the area.The delicious smell of the smoke curling from the truck’s venting system teased at the yumminess that awaited.
“There’s a lot of people here,” Connor said flatly and pulled his baseball cap lower onto his head.
“Yeah, but they’re in their own worlds because the tacos are just that good,” Aspen teased in an attempt to lighten his sour mood.
After several minutes in line, they approached the small window where a roundish man donning an apron dotted with sauces and a purple bandana wrapped around his head a la pirate-style greeted them.
“What can I get you?”the cook grabbed a pair of tongs in anticipation of their order.
Connor perused the menu and slid his hand to the small of Aspen’s back.
“Ladies first.”
Aspen couldn’t remember her birthdate, let alone what she wanted to eat at the feel of Connor’s massive hand resting at the base of her back.
“Um, I would like the fish taco meal,” she breathed out in a wistful tone, trying to slow her heartrate at his tender touch.This was the polar opposite of his salty persona since they met up earlier in the park.
“What kind of fish taco, lady?”the man asked drolly.
“Oh, um...”Aspen quickly glanced at the menu written in chalk on an easel by the truck.“How about the honey wasabi salmon meal?”
