“I taste good, too. Wanna taste?” Bella hollered above the music with a wiggly wave of her fingers.
“No,” Leanna answered for him. She took his hand and led him farther inside the crowded cottage. “I’m so sorry. I lost track of time, but I came up with a new flavor.”
“She’s meeting with Mama’s Market on Thursday,” Jenna explained while struggling to confine her breasts in a bikini top that looked like two thongs trying to trap Beyoncé’s butt against her chest.
With the smell of sugar in the air, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, and wearing streaks of jam like camouflage, he couldn’t help but wrap his arms around Leanna from behind and kiss her cheek.
“Mama’s Market? That’s impressive. Congratulations.”
Feeling proud, she turned to him. “Guess what else?”
“You came up with a new flavor?” Then he leaned down and kissed the jam from her cheek. “Strawberry and something?”
She blushed and stumbled backward, knocking the spoon from her hand onto his white shirt. “Oh gosh.” She reached for a towel.
Kurt gently grabbed her wrist. “Slow down and tell me.”
“Strawberry-apricot, but that’s not what I was going to tell you. Daisy Chain wants to meet with me next week about carrying my jams.” Her smile reached her eyes, and Kurt pulled her close.
“Ah, babe. That’s fantastic. I’m so happy for you.” When he pulled back, the streak of red jam that was on his shirt left a trail between her breasts. He couldn’t take his eyes off of it as all sorts of dirty, sticky ideas came to mind. Dirty and sticky had never been words that he’d found alluring, but when he was with Leanna, everything he thought he knew about himself was beginning to look different, and after last night, he doubted there was much he wouldn’t consider trying with her.
“So, what’s your plan?” he asked.
“Plan?” She washed the spoon that had fallen and was dabbing at his shirt with a wet sponge, deepening the stain in the process. “I’m going to bring the new stock of jam with me and talk to them.”
“Do you have brochures? A marketing plan to show them?”
She looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language and went back to work on the jam on his shirt, which was now ground into it.
He pulled the shirt over his head and was rewarded with gasps from the other women as he rinsed it under cold water.
“Now we’re talkin’,” Bella teased.
“Where have you been all my life?” Jenna added.
“You guys, that’s Leanna’s boyfriend. Give him a break.” Amy placed her hand over the tattoo on his arm. “Sorry, just had to touch him once. Now he’s all yours.”
“Oh my gosh. Sorry, Kurt. And he’s not my boyfriend,” Leanna said.
Kurt’s hands froze beneath the water. He looked up at her and saw the worry in her eyes. “I’m not?”
“Well, I mean, we didn’t talk about it.”
“Hey, girls. Let’s go walk Pepper.” Amy dragged the others out of the cottage. Pepper followed on their heels.
“You’re right. We didn’t talk about it. I’m sorry.” Kurt rinsed his shirt, trying to ignore the tightening of his gut. Maybe he had jumped the gun. He grabbed the baking soda he’d given her and worked his shirt clean. “I didn’t mean to assume…”
Leanna leaned her back against the counter, her eyes trained on the towel clenched between her hands. “I know. Do you want that?”
“To be your boyfriend?” Oh, yes.
Her eyes remained trained on the towel. “I haven’t had a real boyfriend in forever.”
“I haven’t had a real girlfriend in years, and I didn’t realize I was even thinking in terms of boyfriend and girlfriend until just now.” He leaned his hip against the sink and placed his hand on top of hers. He felt them relax beneath his touch.
“Yes. I want to be your boyfriend, Leanna. I know we haven’t known each other long, but I feel something for you that I’ve never experienced before.”
Her lips curved up. She lifted her worried hazel eyes.
“Even after I ruined your shirt?”
“Even after you ruined my shirt.”
He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her like he’d been wanting to since he left last night. Leanna dropped the towel to the floor and cupped the back of his neck, deepening the kiss. Her touch sent heat right through him. He buried his hands in her hair, kissing her hungrily. Without thinking, he lifted her into his arms, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Bedroom,” she said against his lips.
He carried her into the bedroom and kicked the door shut. Kurt couldn’t remember ever wanting a woman the way he wanted Leanna. He longed to be close to her. Her friends’ voices filtered through the window screen, and he pulled back, breathing heavily.
“We can’t. Your friends. Your jam.”
She nodded. “Right. Bad idea, unless we want three sets of eyes watching us while they eat popcorn outside the bedroom window.”
“Popcorn?”
“My friends, they’ll…Never mind.” She leaned her forehead on his. “The bathroom.”
“What?” Oh yes. Of course, yes. Anywhere.
“Bathroom. There’s no window in there.”
“Your jams?”
“They’re cooling. The stove is off.” She kissed him and said, “Bathroom,” in a breathy voice.
He carried her into the bathroom, and with the door closed and locked—because Bella knows no boundaries—Kurt hooked his thumb into Leanna’s skirt and drew it down, then stepped from his shorts.
Leanna whispered, “I want to be your girlfriend.”
It was another first for him. He wanted Leanna in his life, even if it meant giving up a few hours of writing each day.
Chapter Thirteen
BY THE TIME they took a quick shower and dressed, the sun had nearly set. Thankfully, Leanna knew her friends would allow them whatever privacy they needed and care for Pepper without complaint. She had enjoyed showering with Kurt and dressing together, though Kurt remained shirtless. He was so much more relaxed than when they’d first met. She began noticing all sorts of things she had missed, like the way he watched her when he thought she wasn’t looking and the quirky smile when she caught him staring. She loved the way his eyes went dark and intense before they kissed and how his hands were always finding their way to her in some way—reaching for her hand, her hips, her shoulder. Now he was reaching for a jar. She knew it had to be killing him to have the kitchen in such disarray. She touched his hand.
“We can’t move them. They have to cool overnight.”
“Really? You’ll just leave them out here? What if you need your counter? Or your table?”
He furrowed his brow in the serious way that Leanna was quickly coming to love, because what seemed serious in his eyes was never serious in hers.
She shrugged. “I have the table on the deck.” She moved to the sink to scrub the big tub, and Kurt embraced her.
“Let me do that.”
“I can do it.”
“I know you can. I want to. You can do whatever else needs to be done.”
She felt his eyes on her as she moved through the cottage gathering the utensils she needed to run through the dishwasher and the dish towels she needed to wash.