Chapter 7

Jess

I was a hot mess,and it was all thanks to Karnak.

I mean, fine, it wasn't his fault, not in any way, shape or form.

It's just…

It'd been three days since that kiss on the beach on Saturday, and I was still wrecked by it. I hadn't seen him since then—not that I was sitting at the window waiting for him or anything.

I'm kidding. I was totally sitting at the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of him.

I hadn't seen him all day Sunday, and on Monday he hadn't taken his morning or evening swim. Maybe he changed his routine, but why?

So late last night I did something truly stupid.

I snuck over to his house and I slipped a letter under his door. I mean, it wasn't a letter letter, just a note:

Any interest in joining me for lunch tomorrow? I'll be at the Diner on Sea Cucumber Street at noon, and would love some company.

I signed my name, and left my cell number, and woken up every hour or so to frantically check my phone in case he texted me.

Idiot. You don't even know if he has a cell phone.

I had no reason to think he didn't, but at the same time, he'd grown up in a different world than I had and spent his days pitting himself against monsters from the deep and paintbrushes. Maybe he wasn't comfortable around technology more advanced than a coffee maker.

Oh Lord, he did drink coffee, didn't he? Every reasonable person drank coffee.

Anyhow, that's why I was a complete nervous wreck, and had spent the morning struggling to focus on any of my projects. I had the annual pet clinic coming up next week, and the end-of-school beach bash to plan, and Mrs. Masterson had finally put the bookstore on the market, meaning I had another empty storefront to worry about.

And what was I doing? Obsessively wondering if I should put my hair up because it made me look dumpy if it was around my shoulders.

I'd slept like poo, taken twice as long to do my makeup this morning, and I still didn't know if he was going to join me for lunch.

"More tea, Miss Jess?"

I smiled gratefully up at Alice, who was holding an inviting pitcher, and pushed my glass toward her. "Thank you. I probably shouldn't drink too much more, or I'll be up all night."

She chuckled along with me, although I knew I needed the caffeine to make it through the rest of the day.

The waitress—a middle-aged lady who had put out this you can talk to me, hun vibe for as long as I'd known her—cocked her hip against the booth's back. "You wanted that second menu, and you're looking even prettier than usual today, so I'm guessing you've got someone meeting you. Want me to come back in a few, or do you want to order now?"

If Karnak wasn't going to be joining me, I should probably go ahead and order. Theoretically I needed to be back in the office in forty minutes, but I'd let the admin know I might be taking longer than usual.

Although it was looking more and more likely that wouldn't be the case.

I sighed. "I guess I'll just have the—"

When the door opened and three different voices called out, "Welcome to Debbie's Diner," in that cheerful customer-service way, I jerked my gaze up in time to see Karnak freeze on the step, obviously confused by the stereo-sound welcome.

And I couldn't help it; my face split into the biggest smile.

"Aaahh," murmured Alice. "I see it now. Well, if I was meeting that hunk of a man, I'd want to look extra pretty too. He meeting you for a business lunch?"

I'd waved my hand to watch Karnak's attention, and admitted, still grinning: "Not quite."

Alice hummed, then chuckled. "I'll get another glass," she promised as she bustled off, and then Karnak was sliding his huge frame into the booth across from me.

"What was that about?" he muttered, glancing over his shoulder.

"That's just something they do here. The owner thinks it makes them friendlier, so the bus boys and the servers compete to see who can welcome each guest first."

Why couldn't I stop beaming?

Oh yes, because Karnak was having lunch with me.

But instead of greeting me, or even smiling in return, he scooped up his menu and stared down at it. "What's good here?"

"You've never—" I cut myself off. Of course he'd never eaten at the Diner, although it was a local favorite. He hadn't allowed himself to explore Eastshore until I'd dragged him out on Saturday. "Um. Their burgers are really good."

He nodded curtly, his gaze still on the menu. "Fried fish tacos?"

How to explain? "So, tacos are like wraps—they're Mexican. From Mexico. A corn tortilla is wrapped around a fried…"

I trailed off as I realized he'd lowered the menu and was finally looking at me, his lips pressed together in what might've been irritation…but there was a sparkle of amusement in his dark eyes.

"What?"

"Jess, I know what tacos are. Believe it or not, I make a killer fish taco. I just don't fry them."

My lips formed a little "oh," but I didn't say anything. Mainly because I felt like an absolute idiot.

His lips twitched. "I've been living in your world for a decade, Jess. I know about Mexican food and all sorts of things. Like girl-on-girl pornography and compound interest and the Crusades."

He was teasing me, wasn't he? I hoped so, because it was easing my embarrassment and making my heart lighter. "How about technology?" I shot back. "Cell phones?"

"I have a cell phone," he announced haughtily, placing the menu on the table between us. "I just…don't know how to use it."

I burst into giggles. "Give it to me, so I can put my number in and text you."

He was grinning when Alice returned with a glass of iced tea for him. "What can I get you, gorgeous?"

Karnak's eyes widened momentarily at the compliment, but he cleared his throat. "I've been assured your burgers are the best on the island."

"You bet they are." Alice winked as she jotted down the order. "You want the regular? I'll make it a double, because you're a big boy. Lettuce, tomato, onion?"

He nodded. "Extra mayo."

I dunno. There's just something about an orc ordering extra mayonnaise on his burger which seems so surreal.

And also made me blush again. I'd thought he'd needed an explanation about what the fuck a taco was.

When Alice turned to me, I lifted my chin. "Normally I would've chosen the fish tacos, but Karnak tells me his are even better than Debbie's, so I'm going to try to weasel an invitation out of him." Both of them made a little noise—Alice's an offended harumph and Karnak's an amused snort—and I grinned. "So instead, I'll take a burger. Fully loaded, with honey mustard for the fries."

After Alice headed to the kitchen, I turned my smile back to Karnak…and when he dropped his gaze to his fingers, spread out on the tabletop between us, my expression fell.

Why was he being so awkward? Was it the kiss? The kiss which had changed my life?

The kiss between ‘friends'?

He'd enjoyed it, hadn't he? God, I'd spent all weekend reliving it. That very night, I'd climbed into my hot tub and as the jets pounded my sensitive clit, I'd imagined him behind me.

I imagined his large hands on my hips, pulling me back against him as he settled between my legs. I imagined that thick cock I'd felt, sliding between my folds and into my core. I imagined him thrusting and pumping, filling me as the jets battered my poor, overstimulated clitoris…

And when I came, I was pretty sure I'd called his name.

Oh my God, what were the odds he'd heard it, inside his house? Was that why he was being so awkward?

Great. Now I'm going to be awkward too.

"So…you like fish tacos?" I managed, then blushed harder. What were the odds he knew fish tacos was a slang term for lady bits?

"I like cooking," he muttered, staring at my chin.

And I sighed. "Look, Karnak, I'm sorry. I really didn't want to make you uncomfortable by inviting you here if you didn't want to come. And I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable on Saturday. On the beach."

His gaze finally snapped to mine. "You think you—" He bit off the rest of the sentence and shook his head. "I should be apologizing to you, Jess."

Impulsively, I reached across the table to place my hand atop one of his. "If you do, you'll ruin the memory of the most amazing kiss of my life."

He blinked.

As I watched, his confusion slowly melted to something like…pride? One side of his lips twitched.

"Well, okay then," he murmured.

And I offered him a smile. "Now, tell me about your cocking—cooking! Your cooking—do you make any other kickass meals? Anything from your orc heritage?"

As we waited for the burgers, we talked about our favorite foods and what we liked to make. He told me about some combinations I would've never considered—warm peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches? No thank you!—and some ingredients the orcs used in completely new ways.

By the time our food arrived, we were both laughing.

And I got to introduce him to the taste sensation that is French fries dipped in honey mustard. I couldn't believe he'd never tried it before.

"This is good," he mumbled around a full bite, and I, realizing half my fries had already disappeared into his mouth, flagged down Alice for another order. With two sides of honey mustard.

"I thought this was a salad dressing," he said, almost in apology, as he snagged the ramekin right off my plate. "It's better than ketchup."

"It is," I agreed, laughing. "It's my go-to, but if I can't get it, I mix ketchup and mayo and yellow mustard together. It's the right combination of sweet-creamy-tangy."

"Where'd you learn this? Is there a cooking channel I don't know about?"

I loved the thought of him watching cooking shows. Actually, judging by the state of his house—all the art—my guess was that he watched a lot of crafting and cooking and home improvement shit.

But I just shook my head wryly. "It was my mom's idea. I dunno where she got it from, though."

"Maybe it's a regional thing," he said around another mouthful. "Is she here on the island?"

"No, she's…" I poked at my burger. "I grew up in Georgia, but she's gone now."

He'd frozen, and was staring at me with a fry halfway to his mouth. "She's dead?"

"Yeah. Fuck cancer, amirite?" It was an old wound, but it still hurt. "I moved here four years ago because I needed to get away—a change of scenery. I'd seen Eastshore in one of her old magazines from the 90s, while I was cleaning out the attic. She'd circled in with a thick marker and written…'one day'." I picked up the burger and shrugged, as if this was no big deal. "So I packed up Pickles and we drove to the coast and caught the ferry here."

Slowly, Karnak lowered the fry to his plate. "So Eastshore is a refuge for you, too."

I hadn't thought of it that way. I considered his words as I chewed. "Yeah," I finally agreed, "I guess that's why I'm so determined to save it. I want other people to come to know it and love it the way I do."

He'd said he might know someone who could help me get the word out. I want to know more about that.

As if he understood my thoughts, Karnak nodded. "I haven't called my friend yet, but I think he would appreciate this place too. There's an elementary school here, right?"

That was an odd question, but it was a hell of a lot better than talking about ovarian cancer, so I nodded. "Well, there's a school. K through 12th." When he looked confused, I explained, "That means it teaches all kids, all ages. Although I think some of the classes are combined, because we just don't have enough kids on the island. One day, I want to be able to place advertisements for more teachers because we just have so many children and families."

From his smile, either he agreed with me, or I was being a dork.

"How many kids are there in the school?"

I made a guess, and from there I just had to gush about my plans for the start-of-summer beach bash I was planning for them, which led into him asking me all sorts of questions about my job and the community.

It felt so good to talk about Eastshore like that, bragging about the parts I loved. He chimed in as well—it's not like I was monologuing or anything, although I could be guilty of that—and offered some suggestions.

Up until now, Meli had been the only person who got as excited about my plans as I did, and half the time I was pretty sure I was boring her. But Karnak…seemed to genuinely care. He listened, he nodded thoughtfully, he asked probing questions.

He even suggested a fun idea for the kids' party favors!

Yeah, this was possibly the best meal ever.

When the check came, he pulled out his wallet, and I was surprised by how charmed I was by the gesture. I mean, if it had been Geoffrey I was sharing a meal with, I would've been irritated and insisted on paying for my own meal.

But perhaps it was the way Karnak raised his brows as he held up the credit card, as if asking me if I was okay with him paying.

Yes, that was it.

He made no assumptions around me, and I liked that. I liked that he let me be my own person, and he was interested in that person.

And buying me lunch. Not a hard sell.

Impulsively, I reached for his hand as Alice went to run his card.

"Thank you for lunch."

He dropped his chin, grinning a little sheepishly. "Thank you for inviting me."

"I was really nervous you wouldn't come," I admitted. "After that kiss…"

Something very much like horror flicked across his expression for a split second, then he was staring. "You said you liked the kiss."

I squeezed his hand. "I loved the kiss, I'd love to repeat it. Assuming you want to repeat it."

Please, please, please—

He opened his mouth, then closed it, then tried again.

And I realized something: I'd flustered him.

Karnak was flustered, and it was the cutest thing I'd ever seen.

I waited patiently for him to figure out what he wanted to say, and I wasn't disappointed.

"Jess," he finally said hoarsely, "I can think of nothing I'd like more."