Page 30 of Dining for Love

Matty and Goldie take off, cackling like they’ve gotten away with the best ruse on the planet, and Reid looks down at me as they drift out of sight. “You okay?”

I lick my lips and nod. “I’m fine.”

He hands our tickets to the guy at the front, who waves us in, bored and distracted by his phone. A couple gets off the seat in front of us, and the second worker gestures for us.

“Ladies first,” Reid says, holding his hand out to steady me as I step up and onto the swinging bench.

In seconds, we’re side by side on the bench and the worker has snapped the bar over us, wiggling it to make sure it’s locked, and stepping away.

The ride lurches into action, and I grip the bar tightly, emitting a tinyeepas we immediately come to another stop.

“Are you okay?” Reid’s voice is full of concern. “It’s not too late —”

“I’m fine,” I repeat.

“Are you afraid of heights or something? Because seriously, Willa?—”

I shake my head. “That’s not it. Heights are fine.” We lurch into movement again, this time going up a few chairs’ worth of spaces into the air. My heart is beating a billion miles an hour, and all I can think is how I’m going to throttle Matty and Goldie if I make it off here in one piece.

Reid touches my hand. “Not sure the death grip is doing you any favors.”

I whimper. I can’t sort my emotions fast enough.

“You know,” he says conversationally, draping his arm around the back of the chair and settling into the ride, “Seems like those two want us to get together. Same for Agatha.”

I look at him. “I, uh...” I stammer. What do I say to that? “Um. Yeah? I guess so?”

He turns his attention to me, and he’s even better looking in this light than normal, the way the faded sunset cedes to the neon lights of the Ferris Wheel. “Would that be so bad?”

I blink. “You’re not serious.”

He wraps his arm around me and pulls me closer. We’ve moved farther up now, near the top. Behind us, the ocean stretches into the distance, and neon lights blur the scene all around us. Reid smells so good. This is going to be my undoing.Breathe.

“I’m serious, Willa.” He tilts his head down and cups my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. They’re a deep green in this light, the darkest parts of a forest. And I’m the girl lost in them. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

I squeak.

He smiles gently. “Please?”

I bite my lip and nod. When I finally find my voice and speak, it comes out as a strangled whisper. “Okay.”

His lips meet mine for the second time in my life, and it’s just as life-altering as the first kiss. The scruff of his days-old beard scrapes against my lips, rough and unyielding, and my body thrills to have it. Instinct takes over. I open my mouth on a moan, and he pulls me tighter, closing the distance between us on the bench. His tongue explores my mouth, softly, almost sweetly, but I can feel the coiled tension behind it, as though if he was given enough time, he’d have me laid out. There’s no questioning the desire he has for me. I feel it in the way his breath hitches when I reach up to thread my fingers through his hair. The way he makes me feel is terrifying. He’s the Tilt-a-Whirl I refuse to go on because I know I won’t survive, and yet, I can’t stop.

“You’re scary.” I blurt the words the second we part, my lips still tingling from his kiss.

He laughs, still cradling my face. “How amIscary?”

“Because you’reyou.”

“What does that mean, I’m me?” he presses, his hand warm against my skin.

“Just…you’reyou. Sophisticated and gorgeous and funny and clearly the better kitten parent.” I say the last part with no amount of jealousy.

Okay, it’s a ton of jealousy.

His smile broadens, and he holds me in place as he kisses me again. His lips are heartbreakingly gentle and soft as they move over mine, sipping at me like I’m a bottle of the finest wine.

It feels too intimate, too real. I pull myself away and look over the town. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

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