Page 83 of Riverbend Gap (Riverbend 1)

“I’m not falling for that a second time.”

“I won’t do it again.”

“I have trust issues now.”

He chuckled. “Fine. Here.” He handed her the spoon.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she took the spoon and tried a bite. The cool vanilla melted on her tongue, and the soft cookies mingled with the chocolate and peanut butter flavors. “Mmm. That is good.” She took another spoonful, this one heaping.

“Hey, save some for me.”

“I have a sticky nose, mister. You owe me.” She savored the flavors of his treat, detecting an Oreo flavor this time.

A smug look came over his face. “You like me, Kate Loveland.”

“Does that arrogant approach work for you?”

He had the grace to appear sheepish. “Sometimes.”

“Well, just so you know, it doesn’t do a thing for me.”

His lips tipped up in a knowing grin.

That smile, on the other hand...

He gestured toward her cone. “Are you sharing?”

“Since you paid I guess I should.” She held out her cone.

He eyed her over the confection. “Should I trust you?”

“Oh, you definitely shouldn’t trust me.”

He approached the cone cautiously, then took a slow bite.

Katie shivered as the look in his eyes shifted from playful suspicion to something else entirely. She barely even noticed the drop of rain that landed on her hand.

Muscles in his jaw shifted as he worked the ice cream around his mouth. He nodded approvingly. “Rich. Sweet. Smooth. They really should name it after you.”

Her cheeks warmed as she pulled her cone back and took a bite, breaking eye contact.

One moment it was quiet, the air humming between them, and the next the sky opened up. A deluge of rain dumped on them. They scrambled from their seats.

Cooper grabbed her elbow. “Over there.”

Navigating tables, they dashed toward an overhang on the shop’s side. When they were under the roof, their gazes met. Cooper’s hair lay flat against his head, and water dripped off his chin and nose. His breath came rapidly, and his features held the same stricken expression hers probably did.

Unable to help herself Katie burst out laughing. “That look on your face.”

His lips slowly morphed into a smile, then he was laughing too. “Mine? You should see yours.”

“Your hair’s plastered to your head.”

He ran his fingers through it, leaving it in messy spikes. “How did that happen so fast?”

“I guess we should’ve taken that thunder more seriously.” She leaned against the block wall and saluted him with her cone. “At least we still have our ice cream.”

His head snapped back toward their table. Cooper’s cup still sat on the table in the downpour. His face fell.