“Riley, you take my breath away.”
Her cheeks flush a pretty shade of pink and her eyes sparkle. “Thank you. I could say the same about you. You put your hair up.”
I had. I’d worn it down for the wedding. I didn’t want people staring at my scars and I felt more comfortable with the layer of protection. “I did. It’s easier when I’m eating.”
“I like it down.” She steps closer and places a palm on my scarred face. “But I like this better. I get to see all of you.”
“They’re a lot.”
“No. They’re you. Part of your story, your life. I like knowing you feel safe enough to show them with me.”
Is that what it is? I trust Riley with my scars, my pain? “You’ve seen them before.”
“I have,” she says, her thumb stroking along the line gouged into my cheek. “But you were hiding them in the beginning. The first few days.”
“I didn’t want to scare you.”
“You don’t. You never could.” Pushing to her toes, she presses her lips to my jaw.
I freeze in place. Her mouth is so close to mine. I’d only have to move a fraction to meet those warm lips with my own. Before I can do something stupid like move that half inch, she drops back down and looks around me.
“Oh! Wow!” Skirting around me, she stops at my back. “Felix.”
The emotion in her voice has me spinning, ducking around in front of her. The tears in her eyes, on her cheeks, have me panicking. “What? What is it? What did I do?”
“It’s beautiful. I can’t believe…” Shaking her head, she meets my gaze. “Thank you. This is the best thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“You’re happy?” I glance over at the picnic set up. See it for what it is. A half-assed job at best. “It’s not very good.”
“No, it’s not good, it’s fantastic!” She walks past me and over to the quilt, lowers herself to her knees. “This is the best date ever and I know it isn’t finished yet and I’ve not been on any to compare, but the fact you went to all this trouble, made tonight so special?—”
She chokes back a sob and I’m moving before I think, kneeling beside her, gripping one of her hands in mine. “You deserve more than this. I’d give you more, better, if I could.”
“This is everything, Felix. You don’t need to give me more or better.”
I want to believe her but the tears on her face and in her eyes have me cautious. Optimistic, but cautious. “Should I serve dinner now or do you want to wait a bit longer?”
“Let’s wait.” Taking a deep breath, she slips back onto her butt and crosses her legs. “Tell me what you dreamed of doing when you were in high school.”
The change of subject has me jerking. Those dreams and years were so long ago, I’m not sure I remember them clearly. “I wanted to be a police officer.”
“Really?” She tilts her head and studies me. “Yeah, I can see that. Maybe you still can.”
“I kind of am.”
“What do you mean?”
“I work for a private security firm in their cyber division.”
“You police the internet?”
“You could say that.”
“That explains all the computers in your off—” She slaps a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snoop in there, I was looking for a pen,” she says into her palm.
“It’s okay.” Reaching over, I pull her hand away. “But not many people know what I do. Most people think I’m a lumberjack.”
“Why would they think that?”
