Page 98 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House
‘Oh, was that it?’
‘Yep. Can’t go bruising that ego of yours.’ She laughed, her eyes dancing as she teased him.
They stepped up to the counter and he ordered two Strawberry Cheesecake and Death by Chocolate combos in waffle cones from the young guy at the register, who was busy staring at Iris. At first Archer wasn’t sure the guy had even heard him, he was so distracted, but Archer couldn’t really blame him. It was impossible not to stare.
Iris smiled at him, and Archer thought the poor kid might expire on the spot.
‘Hey Carter,’ she said. ‘How’s your grandpa’s new hip?’
The question about his grandfather seemed to snap Carter out of it.
‘It’s okay. But my grandma said she might put a pillow over his face while he’s sleeping and put them both out of their misery.’
Iris threw her head back and laughed, her hair like a fiery stream down her back. ‘Wow, that woman is dark,’ she said when she’d caught her breath.
‘Yeah,’ Carter said with one more shy smile at Iris before he went and scooped their ice creams.
‘Do you know every senior citizen in this town?’ Archer asked while they waited.
‘Pretty much.’
‘You know that’s remarkable, right?’
‘Is it? I’ve lived here my whole life. It would be weird if I didn’t.’
He didn’t really have a response for that, except he knew it wasn’t just because she’d lived here her whole life. It was because Iris cared about people. She paid attention to them. And that’s why people couldn’t help but want to be near her.
It was why he wanted to be near her.
That, and he knew what she tasted like and he desperately wanted more.
But for now he would settle for strawberry and chocolate.
‘Want to walk while we eat?’ Iris asked as they grabbed their cones.
‘Sure.’
They headed out into the warm night air. The town smelled like magnolia blossom and salt air. He followed Iris’s meandering lead, enjoying being with her.
‘It’s not just Olive that I’m worried about,’ she said, after a while. ‘I mean, that’s not the only reason I’m hesitant. About us.’
‘Okay. Do you want to tell me the other reasons?’
Iris took another bite of her ice-cream cone. ‘I don’t usually do things like this.’
‘Wander the streets at night while eating way too much ice cream?’
She laughed a little, her soft gaze flicking to his. ‘No, I do that plenty. Date people, is what I don’t do. Well, date one person for like a long period of time.’
‘Yeah, I kinda got that.’
‘You did?’
‘Iris, you tried to make our first time sleeping together a hit-and-run.’
She laughed harder at that. ‘A hit-and-run?!’
‘That’s what it felt like,’ he said with a laugh.
