Page 42 of Save a Wish

The girl immediately surrendered the mallet and the dad—with the boy still wiggling in his hold—moved in to take her hand so she couldn’t run off again though she showed no signs of doing that. She clearly wanted to see if her student could master the bell ringing.

“Am I holding it right?” Sadie asked.

I was puzzled at first because this wasn’t all that different than playing the singing bowls except that you could use more force. Then I realized Sadie knew how to ring the bell. Asking the girl for help had been a way to slow her and calm her down.

Genius.

“Yes, that’s perfect,” the girl said.

Sadie gave the bell a few solid rings and the twins cheered.

“You did it!” the girl said. “Daddy, I taught her how to ring the bell!”

“And you did a great job.” The dad let the boy slide down to stand on his own feet, but he had a tight grip on both children’s hands. “Well done to you too, miss,” he said to Sadie. “And thank you.”

Sadie gave him a little wink. “It can be hard to catch sprites.”

The dad tugged the children back onto the maze path by bribing them with caramel corn if they found their way out of the maze.

Sadie strolled back over to me. “They were cute.”

“You’re cute, and you have a way with kids,” I said. “Maybe Kalm Kingdom can branch out to mindful programs at schools.”

“Teaching children to be mindful is a wonderful idea, Beckett.” She gently tapped my forehead with her index finger. “Is this incredible brain always on business?”

I shook my head. “Not always. For instance, right now, it’s on only one thing.” I let my gaze drift down to her lips.

Sadie lifted on her toes and captured my mouth with hers. The fact that she’d initiated this kiss confirmed we were both into what was happening between us. This wasn’t a one-way thing. Attraction was flowing in both directions.

This kiss was shorter because the voices of a group of maze visitors wafted up to the platform.

“To be continued,” I said against Sadie’s mouth, giving her one more quick peck before stepping back.

“I should hope so.” Sadie took my hand and we descended the platform to return to the maze path.

We enjoyed the afternoon, wandering through the corn maze and eventually finding our way out. I insisted Sadie try an apple cider donut and a cider slushie from the farm store where apples, pumpkins, pies, and other autumn treats were sold. Hearing her little noises as she enjoyed the donut and slushie was far more fun than consuming them.

Seeing the pure bliss on her face made me hope I could create that look again. Later. When we were alone. I intended to try my best to accomplish that task.

“This was so much fun, Beckett.” She licked some cinnamon sugar off her bottom lip and my cock twitched in my pants. Everything she did right now turned me on. “Thank you for taking me here.”

“You’re welcome,” I said after a sip of my cider slushie to cool myself the hell down. “There are other fall things we can do like hayrides and apple picking and pumpkin carving.”

“I want to do all of those!” She had the glee of the little girl ringing the bell.

“I guess we have our future autumn dates planned then,” I said.

Sadie smiled, such warmth in her eyes as she looked at me. “I guess we do.”

“But we have more to do on this one first.” I threw away our napkins and empty cups. “We can either go out to eat for dinner or head back to Hartley’s Nest. My mom and Jimmy were planning to grill tonight because the weather is still so nice and anyone who was around was invited to join.”

“Do you have a preference?” Sadie asked.

I shook my head.

“I’d love to have dinner at Hartley’s Nest then,” Sadie said. “I like being there.”

“Your aura feels good there?” I teased.