Chapter 6

I'd forgotten that I owned candles until Kitchen Queen summoned me for dinner and I saw the table set nicely with flickering tea lights.

I"d also been lost in my notes for so long that I didn"t even notice that she changed at some point. Kara now stands in front of me in a bright peach-colored dress, her hair twisted half up in a clip, and a smudge of brown eye makeup that makes the blue of her eyes even more intense.

Reaching for her feels like the most natural thing in the world. My arms pull her close, kissing her gently as I feel her sexy body instantly pressed close against mine. "You didn"t need to go to this much trouble, gorgeous. But it"s very sweet of you."

Her smile warms me from the inside out. "Well, I didn"t know how long it had been since you"d had someone cook for you."

"I go to Fran"s…that"s the diner in town…at least once a week. Plus dinner at Mom"s maybe once a month." My lips sweep a slow looping path around the shell of her ear, then I nuzzle just below. "And I"m about to be investing in a friend"s restaurant soon. I can"t wait to take you on a proper date there. Or anywhere else you like, really. How about we go for a scenic drive to Spring Grove and I take you to the Evergreen Pub for a fantastic steak dinner someday?"

Kara smiles shyly. "I"m certainly not a dating expert, by any stretch. But maybe we could pretend tonight?"

"Baby, this isn"t pretending, and you know it."

I can"t believe how much trouble she went to. Fresh spinach, walnut and pear salad. Fresh-baked (!!!) herbed rolls. Lasagna. She even found the good dishes.

We sit down, and I reach out to squeeze her knee. "You are the most beautiful woman I"ve ever seen, Kara."

Her cheeks turn an adorable shade of pink, her eyes glowing in the candlelight. "You can"t mean that."

"I do indeed. Which is why I am about to lay down the law here."

She looks at me, pursing her lips and arching her eyebrows, as if she already suspects I"m going to say something ridiculous.

"You"re breathtaking. Sexy. Sweet and smart. And now you"re trying to show off by being a brilliant chef as well. That"s just out of line. I"m going to have to insist that you settle down."

She crosses her arms, subtly kicking my shin. "Eat your dinner before it gets cold," she commands.

Reaching out, I gently grab the shoulder of her dress, pulling her toward me for a slow, sultry kiss. "There. I was more hungry for you than for the food, delicious as it looks."

Her eyes snap closed as her cheeks redden again. "Let"s eat."

Just a few bites of salad, and I"m in Heaven. Kara licks a miniscule walnut fragment from her bottom lip, and half of my blood instantly rushes south. She has no idea how irresistibly sexy she is. "So," I ask, "since the app you"ve been working on isn"t going to pan out, what are your plans for the future now?"

"I don"t know. I"ve always wanted to work on something in art and tech, but I"m not a programmer. I guess I"ll have to go back to waitressing for now."

"Do you love it?"

"No, but I"m okay at it. It pays for my apartment, food, books." Her lips are so inviting when she smirks. "Occasional frivolous purchases like lip balm, or a new sweater."

"If you"re not super attached to Kingsville, perhaps you might consider moving someday?" I"m probably being too blunt, but I need to know that it"s at least a possibility.

Her perfect white teeth sink into her bottom lip for a moment. "I guess. I mean, there"s nothing really tying me there."

"Good. That"s all I need to know. For now."

We dig in, alternating between eating, chatting, and staring into each other"s eyes. This connection between us feels magical. This is what has been missing from my life, and I wasn"t even bright enough to realize it.

After dinner, I insist on taking care of cleanup while she lounges on the couch. Then I start a fire, and we fall down an amazing rabbit hole of sharing hilarious stories from our childhoods. I tell her about some of the weird and wonderful things that have happened on the mountain with my extended family. Kara tells me funny anecdotes from her University days with her friends, even though it sounds like most of them have moved away.

Then she sighs in exasperation. "That"s why I thought Brad was trustworthy. He was a friend of Steven"s, and he and I were such great buddies at school."

I stiffen momentarily, picturing her at school with who knows how many guys looking at her. I"ve never felt so possessive about anyone before. "I get it. We want to trust friends of friends. But you never know if their radar for who"s good and who"s not is calibrated the same way as yours."

She nods. "Exactly. I feel like an absolute idiot now for trusting him. I should have paid more attention to the way he was getting fussier and meaner. I should"ve looked into his other companies instead of just taking his word for it. I should have?—"

Her hands are beginning to twitch, and I reach out to hold them. "Don"t beat yourself up. It"s okay. You"re safe on my mountain now."

She sniffles slightly. "Yeah. But for how long, though?"

I spread my arms wide. "Want to hide out in here?"

"Does that make me a baby if I want to do nothing but hide?"

"No way. Think of it as a vacation from your stress. A chance to run away from it all for a few days."

She shifts into my arms, and when I sit back against the couch, she somehow ends up in my lap. I love how comfortable she is with me. It shows that she trusts me, which is not something I take lightly. "I hate seeing you so tense, baby. But I don"t want to overstep any lines."

Kara shrugs. "Do I even have any lines?"

"Are you saying that I can kiss you for as long as I like?" She smiles and nods. I attempt to glower. "Okay then. You tell me when you"ve had enough, or if I should stop."

Her fingers walk up my t-shirt, then tickle the back of my ear as she leans in closer. "Jace, I"ve never felt like this with anyone before," she whispers. "Let"s just go with the flow. Not just a vacation from my stress…a vacation from the whole world. Sounds good?"

"Better than good. Sounds perfect."

As if on cue, the power flickers for a few seconds. My arms tighten around her as I kiss across her cheek. "Relax, beautiful. Sometimes it gets windy up here, and it shakes the power lines. Once in a while they go down. But don"t worry – I have firewood, a backup generator, and plenty of food. You"re completely safe with me, Kara."

The pressure of her delicate fingers across the back of my neck makes my breath unsteady. "I know," she whispers against my chest. "I"ve never felt like that with anyone. My whole life, everything has always been up in the air. And now I don"t know how I"ll pay my rent, and the app I worked so hard on for months is gone. And yet, with you, I feel like everything is going to be okay."

"And it will be. I promise."

My head dips down for a long, steamy kiss. My hand wanders across her hip, then slowly up to tease the bottom of her right breast over the fabric of her dress. I love that she"s not wearing a bra. She moans against my lips, tilting her body as if to help me caress her.

"Am I a wicked man if I invite you to stay in my bed tonight?"

"Maybe. Am I extremely improper if I accept your invitation?"

"Maybe. But I think I like you being improper."

Reaching up, I take the clip out of her hair and set it aside as she leans back a bit and shakes out the long waves. I use the moment to my advantage, kissing along the graceful column of her throat until she is shuddering in my arms. "So sexy," I murmur. "Thank you for dinner – it was amazing. But I"m still hungry." My eyes meet hers. "I want you."

Her bottom lip wobbles for a second, then she nods decisively. "I want you too."

I"m not sure how far we"re going to go tonight, but that doesn"t matter. I just need sweet Kara in my arms. In my bed. In my house. In my life.

I just need her.