Page 47

His smile twisted. ‘Are you saying you care about me?’

He’d backed her into a corner, and she knew it. And so much for thinking the mood had dropped. That damn static was back in the air, sending tingles through every part of her.

‘Well, you’ve helped me a lot,’ Bex said, trying to replicate the same casual shrug he’d managed while talking about the engagement ring. ‘You’ve probably saved me over a week of work.’

‘Which I regret, actually,’ he said, the slightest smirk twisting on his lips. ‘If I’d known, I would’ve made an absolute mess of things just to make sure you’d have to stay longer.’

There it was again, that electric charge between them. Bex felt her whole body ignite as if drawn to him by an invisible force.

‘I really want to kiss you,’ Duncan said softly. ‘Would that be okay? If I kissed you?’

Every ounce of common sense she had was telling her to say no. They could still leave tonight without kissing, having had an amazing night. They could be flirty friends. That would be okay. And yet he had asked her if he could kiss her. Who the hell did that?

Before she could find her voice, Bex felt her chin dip, almost as if her body was answering for her.

‘I think I’d like that too,’ she whispered.

A second later, he leaned across the table and pressed his lips to hers.

It was an explosion of fireworks. It felt like the kiss she’d been waiting for her entire life – the one that set her whole body alight. As she pressed herself closer to him, his fingers found the back of her neck, holding her with a gentle nervousness, as if he feared she might suddenly change her mind and back away from him. But there was no chance of that happening.

‘Your first course?’

Bex felt her cheeks burn as the pair broke away and she saw the waiter standing there, two plates in his hands. Wordlessly, he placed them down.

‘Enjoy,’ he said before disappearing.

‘I swear they did that deliberately,’ Duncan muttered.

Bex didn’t even glance at whatever it was she had been brought. Instead, her eyes were locked on Duncan. While he hadn’t gone the same fluorescent red she was sure she had gone, there was a definite pink to his ears, though it did little to distract from his ear-to-ear grin. A grin that, judging from the ache in her cheeks, she was mirroring.

‘Well, that was something,’ she managed.

‘I’d say it was worth the wait for the third date.’

‘Maybe,’ she said, though it was difficult to play it coy when her heart was pounding hard enough to burst out her ribcage.

‘So we should eat,’ he said, still not having broken eye contact since the moment their kiss ended.

‘We should,’ she replied, and then, because the smell was divine and she was well aware they could be stuck in the same position all night if one of them didn’t move, she picked up her knife and fork and began to eat.

For a second, she kept her eyes on the plate, sensing that Duncan was still looking at her, when finally he let out a light chuckle.

‘What the hell are you doing to me, Barker?’ he said.

There was no denying it. That kiss had confirmed everything she feared. Bex was in trouble. She was falling for the groundskeeper. Hard.

42

The food was exceptional. It was one of those places that served barely a mouthful per course, and Bex had to force herself to take miniature forkfuls, so she didn’t simply devour the tiny little mousse in one. Though, as delicious as it was, the food was far from what occupied Bex’s thoughts. Instead, she found herself waiting for the moment when the waiter would come and take their plates away, so she and Duncan could kiss again without the risk of trailing her hair in the jus or sabayon, or whatever type of sauce was drizzled across her plate.

When she finished her first course, her hand met his across the table. Their fingers entwined, steepled together, and with their grip on one another reassuringly firm, Duncan lifted his hand so that he kissed along the line of her knuckles. All the while, his eyes never left hers. The action was far more subtle than any kiss, and yet so intimate it was like the entire world had disappeared and they were the only things that mattered.

Even when he lowered their hands, he shifted his position so that his leg brushed up against hers under the table. And she reciprocated, leaning into him. It was as if they were trying to touch as many places of one another as they could, while still being out in public at a restaurant.

‘So, are you having a good night?’ he asked. There was no hint of a smirk on his lips. It was a genuine question.

‘There have definitely been some high points,’ she replied.