Page 68 of Forbidden Kisses

"Okay," I said, assuming she ate a sweet-flavored popcorn with ice cream. Weird combo, but whatever. Then it turned out to be even weirder. She liked salty popcorn with ice cream. I double-checked with Jeremy three times.

"You're sure?" I asked the fourth time.

"Dad!" He stomped his foot, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I told you."

"All right." I was tempted to message Riley and ask if this ridiculous combination was what she really liked, but then I’druin the surprise. If worse come to worst, we could always throw away the salty popcorn.

Jeremy wanted ice cream too. I usually didn't allow sweets before dinner, but I was breaking far too many rules today to stick to this one. I wasn't a hypocrite. I wasn't hungry at all, so after I paid, I carried Riley's ice cream and popcorn, and we went to wait by the entrance to the zoo.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Duncan

She'd shared her location with me on the phone. Jeremy and I stood next to each other, looking at everyone who came in. Now that it was late afternoon, the crowd had thinned.

I sucked in a breath when Riley arrived. She had on a thin blue dress, something she would probably wear at the beach. I imagined her relaxing in her bed with a book. How easy it would be to slide that dress off.

I sucked in a breath and pulled myself together as Jeremy and I walked over to her.

"Surprise!" Jeremy said. He immediately wrapped his arms around her waist.

She returned his hug without hesitation. The sight did something to me, though I wasn't ready to admit what it was.

"Hey, we bought you ice cream and popcorn." I handed her both.

She looked at the bowl, then asked, "It's the salty kind? Oh my God. You really remember my favorites, huh?"

All right, I had to give Jeremy more credit. The guy had a good memory.

"Yes." He looked up at her and then said, very unhelpfully, "Dad didn't believe me. He asked like five times."

Riley giggled. "I know it's a bit weird, but it actually works with the salted caramel ice cream. You're welcome to try."

"I'm good," I said. "Thank you for coming, Riley."

"Of course. I'm happy you guys called."

"Dad was afraid we might overstep the boundaries," Jeremy cut in.

Riley and I exchanged a glance. Yeah, we'd set whatever boundaries we’d had on fire already. But that had been different—just between her and me. We hadn't discussed how we were going to behave around Jeremy. I'd been too consumed by her to think about anything else.

"Can we go see the zebra?" he asked.

"Let Riley enjoy her food."

She had a system. After taking the popcorn from me, she held it with her forearm to her belly so she could still hold the ice cream in the same hand and eat it with the other one. She took one spoonful of ice cream, and the next mouthful was one of popcorn. Weirdest combination I'd ever seen, but she was so damn happy.

We walked straight to the zebra’s enclosure as Riley ate her snacks. She even knew a shortcut, so we were there in less than ten minutes. The crowd had dispersed here, too, reminding me that the zoo was much better at this time of the day. The only downside was that the animals tended to be less active later in the day.

The zebra and its foal were currently lying down. The baby had its head on its mother's belly.

"Oh my God. It's so cute. Can you take a picture of me and them?" she asked, expertly taking out her phone from her bag and handing it to me.

"Sure," I said. "Jeremy, do you want to be in the picture?"

"Yes, please." He was thrilled at being included.

He didn't pose next to her but rather wrapped his arms around her waist from the side, pressing his head against her rib cage.