Page 41 of Final Serenade

The corners of his lips curled up. “Did anyone ever tell you your empathy levels are incredibly low?”

“No. Did your ego get hurt somehow? I’m sorry about that.”

“I like that you don’t shy away from cracking jokes about my head after it’s pretty much been through a meat grinder.”

“Laughter is the best medicine, Frank.” Unwillingly, I drew my hand away from his hair.

He pushed himself up to return his upper body to a vertical position. “I need to tell you something, Cassy.” This time, his voice was serious. “You and your partner will be getting an email from my publicist tomorrow, but I wanted you to hear it from me.”

Panic crept up my spine. I waited.

“Your magazine can’t run my video interview.”

Bitterness filled me. “Why not?” I asked, disappointed. At that moment, I wasn’t a woman on a date—or, at least, I’d thought it was a date—with a man. I was a mother who’d just lost one of her babies. That interview meant a lot more to me than Frank could have ever imagined.

“This is why.” I heard his whisper.

Then it happened. He gently caught my mouth with his, a cool gasp tingling on my lips. Our bodies were close but not touching; our hands didn’t dare move. The entire city stood still. My heart was a restless storm in my ribcage. I was drowning. Drowning in the sweet heat of his breath, in the light graze of his stubble against my skin, in the sudden promise of something real.

His mouth, soft yet insistent, slid against mine slowly, teasing. My mind was in shock while my greedy lips took everything he was willing to give. Each and every second of sizzling pleasure.

I heard the box of crackers fall over as he shifted on the blanket, his broad chest pressing to me. Our tongues danced a gentle dance, and holy shit, for a spoiled man, Frank knew how to be generous with a kiss. Electrical currents ran through my body. My blood was thick with desire, and I was ashamed of all the thoughts in my head because I’d finally let myself wander into forbidden territory.

“Now you have enough for a novella,” Frank whispered against my mouth before pulling away.

I sat there, motionless, and watched him with my heart drumming a savage beat against my ribcage. My throat tightened. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to say.

After putting the picnic supplies in the trunk, we climbed into the Range Rover and Frank turned on the music. Mild shock still ruled me. My lips ached for his mouth. I’d forgotten all about the interview.

“Have you ever scuba dived?” he asked matter-of-factly.

“No.” I shook my head.

“Would you like to?”

“Sure.”

“Pick you up tomorrow around noon?”

Wow, this is moving too fast, I thought, but prior real life commitments reminded me who I was. “I actually have an event to cover tomorrow.”

“I guess my charm doesn’t work on you, Cassy Evans.” He laughed.

“Oh, it works fine. I simply can’t drop everything I’m doing for a scuba session with a rock star.”

“What are you covering?”

“Umm… It’s a small awards show.”

“Yeah?”

“At El Capitan. Downtown.”

“What kind of awards?”

“You ever heard of KGLT?”

“The radio station?”

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