Page 13 of All I Desire

“Hunh?” Do not stare at his bellybutton. So inappropriate, Natalia.

But his hair there is so downy and soft looking. I rake in a breath.

“Lightning round. I fire off questions and you answer the first thing that comes to mind. Then you do the same to me.”

Ooh, I love games involving surprise and randomness. “Okay. Shoot. Wait. Do we alternate? Or do we each ask a certain number of questions?”

“How about I ask five and you ask five?”

I mull this while sipping champagne. This is a good diversion from his sexy body. “Okay. Fair. Go.”

“What did you want to be while growing up?”

“A famous artist and a soldier of fortune,” I say.

He busts out laughing. “How long does it take you to get ready?”

“About five minutes, if Lauren isn’t around.”

“Who’s Lauren?”

“My sister-in-law to be. The one who gave me this dress. Was that one of your questions?”

“No. Let’s make it six.” He squeezes my hand. “Favorite place, other than Paradise Beach?”

I pause. “New Mexico.”

“Good choice. Beautiful country out there. Favorite junk food?”

“Sour gummy worms.”

He frowns. “Not bears?”

“No. Worms.”

That seems to stump him into silence. “Okay. One more. Are you dating, married, attached?”

I push my shoulder into his, loving the warmth of his skin. I nudge him. “Of course not. This would all be pretty awkward if I was.”

He tilts his head, and I tilt mine. We smooch softly. What is going on here? This is like the weirdest blind date I’ve ever been on. Although with my dating history, it’s not a surprise that the best blind date would also be the weirdest.

“Okay, now you ask the questions,” he murmurs in a low voice.

“Is it wrong for a vegetarian to eat animal crackers?”

He lets his head fall back and laughs. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Okayyyy, fine,” I say chidingly. “Tell that to the lions. Next question: Do you snore?”

He rights his head and a cocky expression takes over his face. “Maybe you can find that out some night.”

My skin flares, and my face is probably the color of my dress. “Right. Yes. Um. That’s not an answer.”

“I don’t snore.”

“Okay. Question three. Do you believe in fate?”

“Obviously.”

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