I leaned forward and took the napkin-wrapped ice from her hand. “You’ve got some too.”
“Where?”
“Wrist.”
I touched it to the inside of her wrist, where a glossy smear of fudge had escaped. Her skin was warm from the fire. Her pulse kicked under my fingers.
Sunny didn’t move away.
“Flint.”
My name in her voice came out low and real.
I looked at her face. “Tell me if you want me to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop.”
“You sure?”
She shifted closer, her knees brushing my thigh. “I’m sure.”
I put the napkin down.
Her chin tipped up before I touched her. The last of my patience went with it. I slid one hand to the side of her neck, careful at first, giving her room to pull back.
She didn’t.
Sunny came to me.
The kiss started hot and got hotter fast, chocolate and marshmallow and her soft sound against my mouth. Her hand gripped the front of my shirt, not gentle, and the bench creaked when I pulled her closer. She laughed into the kiss, breathless,and that laugh tore straight through whatever control I’d been pretending to have.
I broke away just enough to breathe. “Sunny.”
“If you’re about to say something responsible, I need you to make it quick.”
“I want you.”
Her grip on my shirt tightened. “Good. I was worried this was a very intense food-safety demonstration.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
I brushed my thumb along the side of her throat. Her skin went warm under my hand. “This doesn’t have anything to do with the competition.”
“No kidding. If this were strategy, I’d be wearing better lip gloss.”
“I’m not using the permit mess, the fire rules, or the fact that we’re on my land to push you into anything.”
Her expression changed. The humor stayed, but something underneath it opened. “I know.”
“I need to hear it.”
“I want to be here.” Sunny’s hand slid from my shirt to my jaw. “I want you. Not because of cameras, not because Caprice sees dollar signs, and not because you saved the meadow from my allegedly criminal dessert. Because I haven’t stopped thinking about your hands since you caught my apron tie, and I’m tired of pretending this is about hot dogs.”
Heat punched through me so hard I nearly closed my eyes.
Instead, I made myself stay still. “Protection?”
