“But like I said, it did mess with my head a little.” Then he let loose one of those lethal grins.
“That’s understandable,” I admitted, taking another swig of my cocktail, and just like that, the bad tension left the room. The tingly tension was still very much here, though.
“Speaking of messing with my head, how strong did you make these?” he asked, taking another sip and raising an eyebrow.
“I just dumped stuff in; didn’t bother measuring.”
I lifted my drink in salute to the new song on the turntable, “Witchcraft.” “Mmm, I love this song,” I said with a sigh. The song made me brave. That, and the mai tais. Curious about something, I stood up. “So she messed with your head. Did she mess with anything else?” Wow, head rush.
“Chloe?” he asked, a curious expression on his face. “Are you asking me if I messed around with my ex tonight?”
“I don’t know. Yes. No. Shut up. Did you? Don’t tell me. Well?”
I had an entire conversation by myself while trying to walk across the patio for another drink. Turns out, I didn’t need another. Because standing up had led me to the conclusion that I was a little tipsy. Listing a bit to the left, I looked around for Lucas, who was standing at the other end of the bar, his tiki tumbler frozen in midair.
“Oh, forget it, you cute veterinarian, with your bedroom eyes and your sexy freckles and your hot . . . kryptonite hair.” The words spewed out, words that would come back to haunt me. But right now, in the moonlight, with that damn Sinatra playing, I had no recourse but to move forward. And I literally did, moving right on over toward Lucas and taking one more sip of mai tai before setting it down on the bar.
“Since I only understood about half of what you just said, I’ll just go ahead and tell you no.”
“No?” I asked, tripping over my own foot, and thanking goodness for a bar stool that I could grab on to.
“No,” he repeated, a slow grin creeping across his face. “Cute veterinarian?”
“Beside the point,” I waved my hand in impatience. “So, nothing happened?”
He shook his head. “Bedroom eyes?”
“Shush,” I said, closing my eyes. When I opened them, he stood before me.
“I brought you something,” he whispered, and from behind his back, he produced two sparklers. “I promised you fireworks, didn’t I?”
“You did.” I smiled. “Light ’em up.”
Striking a match against the bar, he lit both sparklers, then handed me one. And as we swooped and swirled and wrote our names in the sky, sparks flew. I began to hum along to the song, adding a word or two here and there, and before I knew it, Lucas had spun me into his arms, dipping me old school.
“What are you doing?” I laughed breathlessly, horizontal to the floor, our sparklers raining down on our suddenly intertwined limbs.
“I couldn’t help it. Starry night. Sparklers. Incredibly strong cocktails,” he murmured, our faces so very close together. “It’s witchcraft.”
“It’s not just the witchcraft, Lucas,” I whispered, sliding my hands up his arms, so strong and holding me so very tightly. Lightly, so lightly, I brushed my fingertips along his neck, his skin still warm from our day in the sun. His nose bumped against mine, and I could feel his little puff of breath. Twisting my fingers into his silky hair, I blinked slowly, dreamily. And then he kissed me.
Soft. So soft. And sweet as can be. His lips brushed across mine just once, and I was hooked. Ruined for all other lips. He kissed me a second time, and my eyes fluttered open, wanting to see him. Surrounded by fairy lights, I felt suspended in midair. I was all toe curl and finger twirl. Which tucked deeper into his hair, as my tongue swept out to taste him. Mmm. Coconut rum and ginger vet. I let out the tiniest of sighs and felt his fingers dig into my hips, holding me impossibly tighter. I arched my back, just enough to get closer to him, and a sizzle ran through me as his tongue met my own.
“You taste divine,” I whispered against his mouth, and felt it curve into a grin. He swept kisses along my jaw, up my cheek, and then disappeared somewhere underneath my ear, and just behind. I squealed a little, but the good kind, where it’s almost tickling but incredible at the same time. I dropped my head back as he continued a path down my neck, still dipping me, mind you, and I laughed hazily at the fairy lights above. The tiki bar and all its colorful umbrellas. The pink teddy bear on the chair.
Which he won for me. And now he was kissing me, and I was loving it. And I would seriously let him love me all over this patio . . . if I didn’t get my head together. But holy fudge, those lips . . .
I let myself indulge for one or two more seconds . . . or three or ten . . . and then I brought his face back to mine. Because I couldn’t think clearly when the man had his lips on my neck. Oh, yeah.