I couldn’t help myself. I had to kiss him. Well, technically, he put kissing on the table first. Albeit, his was a chaste kiss, but it was still a kiss. And I’d never been one to do things by halves. If I was gonna kiss him and kiss him properly, then it’d be a kiss he’d remember.
And holy shit, what a kiss it was.
When I pulled away, his eyes were unfocused and his lips were red and wet. We were both breathless, but this was different.
He took my damn breath away. “You are sublime.”
“Oh.” He blushed, and the colour that crossed his cheeks matched the delicious colour of his lips. “No one’s ever called me that before.”
I ran my thumb across his cheek. “Then they were fools.”
Lawson bit his lip. His shyness was charming in a way I’d never fancied before. Normally I’d go for guys who were more a physical match to me―masculine with more brawn than brains―but there was something about this butterfly-chasing genius that really drew me in.
He let out a little chuckle and stepped back, apparently so he could take a few breaths. “Okay, so I seem to have some kind of cognitive dysfunction when you’re too close.”
I laughed. “Sounds serious.”
He put his hand to his forehead, and I might have been worried if he wasn’t smiling. “Could be.” Then he looked up to the sky. “Should we be heading back?”
I checked my watch. “Probably. It’s just after four.”
We walked back toward the clearing. Lawson packed everything away neatly into the tubs, and we loaded them into the Defender and headed back to town. He drove for a while, then he asked, “So, what are you planning for our date tonight? Because if we’re heading back into Launceston, I’ll need some time to transfer my data to my laptop.”
“Did you want to head back into Launceston?”
“Well, no. Not really. As nice as a fancy dinner sounds, I have work to do.”
“What makes you think I can’t get you a fancy dinner in Scottsdale?”
“Well, the table for two in the bakery is going to be hard to beat.”
I grinned at him. “Mr Gale, that sounds like a challenge.”
He made a happy sound. “I believe it was supposed to. I have high expectations, remember?”
“How can I forget?” I took his GPS from his dash.
“What are you doing?”
“Adding in the address you’ll need to get to for the best date ever.” I put the GPS back into its dash holder. “Bring whatever work you want to go over too.”
“Are you sure?” He looked from the road to me and back to the road. “Not to say I’m not grateful for the offer. But working on a date?”
I looked out the window and tried to play it cool. “Well, you’re only here for a week, so the work you’re doing is not only important, but you’re also on a very limited schedule. If we have to multitask, that’s okay with me.”
He looked at me again for a long second before turning his attention back to driving. “Thank you. For saying that.”
“What? That multitasking is okay?”
“No. For saying my work is important.”
“Environmental conservation of any kind is important.”
Lawson smiled. “You know, it’s already highly likely you’ll get lucky to some degree tonight. You don’t have to butter me up.”
I laughed at that. “Can’t say I’ve ever used dairy spread as a personal lubricant, but I’m not opposed to trying.”
His mouth fell open and he stared at me, as though he was half-amused, half-horrified.
“Please watch the road,” I said, pointing to the windscreen. “We can’t have the best second date ever if we die in a car crash.”
*
I heard the Defender pull up out the front of my place and watched Lawson get out. I think it took him a second to realise he was at my house. It was, after all, the address I’d given him. He appeared hesitant to walk up to the garden gate, so I opened the front door. He wore the same navy trousers but had changed his shirt. This one was a short-sleeve button-down with some triangle pattern. And sweet mother of God, he was wearing a bow tie. I had to steady my breath before I could speak. “Hey. You look lost.”
He patted down his already perfectly combed hair. “Well, I wasn’t expecting… actually, I didn’t know what to expect. The address you gave me was out of town, and this is the only house for miles… Then I saw your work ute.”
I walked out to meet him, and I could see he was taking in the view. There were mountains to the north-east, a valley to the west. I lived in a tidy three-bedroom timber cottage painted pale yellow with white trim on the veranda that wrapped around all sides of the house. It was old but had character. The best part was, the cottage was on a ten-acre lot in the middle of larger properties, which meant there were no other houses in sight. “So, uh, this is my house.”
He smiled up at me. “It’s very quaint.” He listened for a second. “And very quiet.”
“Which is why I love it.” I leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. “Thank you for coming.”
He sighed happily before turning back to his rental. “Can you help me carry these?”
I had no idea what these were. “Sure.”
He opened the back door to the Defender and pulled out one of the tubs he’d had in the clearing earlier today and handed it to me. He grabbed a laptop bag and held it to his chest. “Something smells really good.”
“Dinner or the jasmine? Or me? Because I did have a shower.”
He smiled at that. “I was referring to the food. The jasmine plant is nice, though. And I haven’t smelled you.” He paused for a moment. “Yet.” Then he looked around me and nodded to the front door. “Are you going to invite me inside, or are we dining out here tonight?”
“Oh, yes, of course,” I said, walking down the path to my front veranda. “Someone’s very excited to meet you.”
“Oh,” he mumbled. I stopped on the steps and turned to him. He looked put off and a little confused. “I wasn’t expecting there to be anyone else here.”
I smiled at him. “Her name is Rosemary. She promised to be on her best behaviour.” I crossed the veranda and opened the door. Rosemary was still sitting like a very good girl where I’d told her to stay. “Come.” She padded over to me, then stuck her head out the door behind my legs. “Rosemary, I’d like you to meet Lawson.”
How this meeting went was critical for me. If she didn’t like him, or if he wasn’t a dog person, I’d be very disappointed. It would mean that whatever was starting between Lawson and me would end tonight. I couldn’t have a man in my life who didn’t accept Rosemary into his. Me and my dog were a package deal.
I was nervous because I really wanted this to go well. I liked Lawson, and I really thought we had a connection, a beginning of something that could be very special. Permanent even, if it was possible to know that after just a few short days. But their getting along was the catalyst on where we went from here.
My worries went unfounded because Lawson broke out in a grin when he saw her, and my dog immediately wagged her tail. She went out to meet him, and Lawson put his laptop bag on the ground, bent down on my one knee, and gave her a good, hearty pat.