Page 88 of Chasing the Sun

Bad idea. Very, very bad idea.

The air between us shifted, thickening, stretching tight.

Her gaze flicked to mine, wide, startled, like she hadn’t expected me to touch her. Like she wasn’t sure what to do with the way it made her feel.

Like she wasn’t sure what to do with the way it mademefeel.

I swallowed hard, dropping my hand. “You had something on your face.”

The back of her hand slid over her cheek, wiping where my thumb had been.

I pointed with my trowel. “Stack those empty plastic containers and I can take them to be recycled.”

She blinked, recovering, then rolled her eyes. “You’re bossy.”

I reached for the empty crate. “You love it.”

Her lips parted, like she was about to argue, but then she just shook her head, going back to work, stacking the black plastic containers.

And somehow we just ... kept going and working side by side. The sun warmed our backs, the scent of fresh soil and blooming flowers thick in the air. I worked with the sound of Selene teasing Elodie, of Levi’s quiet laughter blending in, of Elodie’s mom humming some song I only half recognized.

There was an ease there that shouldn’t have existed between us, but it did.

When Elodie finally sat back on her heels, hands on her hips, surveying the work we had done, she smiled.

Really smiled.

Fuck me, that smile settled into my chest. It felt like getting hit with a two-by-four, and something cracked open inside me.

I should have walked away and let this be enough. The afternoon, the way her family had accepted Levi, the way Elodie had looked at me—this should have been the line. Trouble was, standing there with the smell of fresh dirt and summer clinging to my skin, with Elodie looking up at me like she was waiting for something ... I stepped right over that line.

I turned to her, brushing the dirt from my palms. “I’m picking you up at six,” I said, voice rougher and more demanding than I meant it to be.

Elodie blinked. “What?”

I met her gaze, unwavering. “Tonight. Six o’clock. Wear something you don’t mind getting dirty.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it, tilting her head. “Is this a date or more of that apology?”

I didn’t answer right away. Instead, I let my gaze drop, slow and deliberate, dragging over the curve of her mouth, the slope of her throat, the way her pulse fluttered there like a secret. When I met her eyes again, I saw exactly when she stopped breathing.

I finally said, my voice rough, “It’s both. Be ready at six.”

Her eyes narrowed, like she was looking for some kind of loophole. “I don’t remember agreeing to a date.”

I smirked, liking this new shift between us. “You will.”

Her mouth parted, probably to tell me off, but then Selene let out a low snicker. “Ohhh, I like him.”

Elodie groaned, dropping her head into her hands, but I caught a glimpse of her smile.

Levi shook his head, looking thoroughly embarrassed of his dad.

Elodie’s mom just beamed and kept on working.

I stood, dusting my hands off on my jeans, and turned toward my truck, leaving her sitting there in the dirt.

Sure, Elodie could think about it, and she could argue all she wanted, but that date was happening.