listen.”
Maddy stared at the kite, trying to figure out exactly what she was supposed to hear. The cat above them was flittering and flapping in the stiff breeze. She could hear it as it...
“Oh, my gosh.” She listened closer. Yes. The fluttering was rhythmic and low, almost like a... “Is it purring?”
“I was hoping to get something like that, which is why I put some slits in the plastic that covers the frame.”
She glanced back to find he was indeed right behind her. Her eyes moistened. “Chloe is going to love this, Kaleb. Thank you so much.”
“It’s no problem at all.”
There was a strange gleam in his eye, and when she caught sight of the notebook open on the ground, the page wasn’t filled with a bunch of random scribblings about design formulas, but contained a sketch instead.
Of her. Flying his kite.
A warm tingling curled through her body. Maybe she hadn’t been the only one looking. And he wasn’t flipping pages to try to hide the sketch, which meant he didn’t care if she saw it.
“Kaleb?”
One side of his mouth tilted up, and his fingers traced one of her cheekbones, the soft touch causing her to lose her grip on the spool of string. She fumbled for it and it hit the ground, then skittered across it with a bump, bump, bump as it became airborne for seconds at a time. “Oh, no!”
They both dived for the escaping spindle and ended up colliding with each other instead. Maddy chuckled, still trying to right herself so she could take off after the cord, which was rapidly unwinding, sending the kite higher and higher. She leaped for it one more time before tripping all over again. Down she went onto her hip with a thump, laughing as she rolled onto her back in the lush grass, hand to her chest. She expected Kaleb to keep sprinting after the runaway kite, but he didn’t. Instead, he levered himself onto the ground beside her, leaning over her, his smile as carefree as she felt.
“It’s getting away!” Her voice sounded breathless to her own ears.
“Let it.”
Unlike Maddy’s bright laughter, there was a dark undertone to those two words. Her eyes met his, and she understood why, instantly. She’d felt the same thing as she’d watched him earlier: a mixture of lust and longing.
Those two emotions were mirrored in his steady gaze.
And suddenly she realized one thing: he was going to kiss her. Right here in the middle of the park.
And she wanted him to. Desperately.
Half-afraid she might be daydreaming the whole thing and that she would snap back to attention and find he was still flying the kite while she watched him from her perch on the blanket, she curled her hand around his nape and murmured his name again.
And then he was bending closer, his warm breath stirring the fine hairs on her temple.
The first touch of his lips against hers set off a chain reaction she was powerless to ignore. His elbows landed on either side of her shoulders, and he lifted his head to look at her as if trying to gauge her reaction. When he moved in again, the pressure was firmer, more insistent. Nothing like the light exploratory touch a second ago. No, his head shifted a quarter turn to the left, his mouth fitting perfectly over hers.
Settling in.
And she was okay with that. The fingers at his nape wandered to one of his shoulders, the muscles bunching deliciously under her skin. All thoughts of kites and laughter were long gone. This was deadly serious—the stuff pillow talk was made of. Only Maddy didn’t feel like talking. And she hoped Kaleb didn’t either.
They shouldn’t be doing this. She knew it. He probably did too. The last thing she needed was to kiss a colleague. But right now, nothing would be able to pry her away. She made a sound low in her throat.
She’d wanted Chloe to be here earlier. As a buffer. Right now, though, she was glad her daughter was miles and miles away with her aunt, so she couldn’t see how crazy with need this man was making her.
Maddy squirmed beneath him, her whole body flaming to life—the heat threatening to consume her. His lips left hers, traveling sideways across her jaw until he reached her ear.
“Maddy...” He nipped her earlobe, prying another raspy sound from her. “Did you know that you purr too?”
Did she?
She had no idea, but she just might, because he was making all kinds of wonderful sensations spiral through her head. Her body. Her...
“Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt...”
The half-amused voice had not come from the person who’d been kissing her.
Horrified, Maddy jackknifed upright, knocking Kaleb off her chest in the process.
A police officer stood over them, the string from the errant kite dangling from one hand. “Missing something?”
Yes! Her good sense. She glanced over at Kaleb to see that he wasn’t bothered at all. He sat up and took the item from the man. “Thank you. We did try to rescue it.”
The officer made a noise that wasn’t quite a scoff, but it was close. Maybe it was just a cough. He motioned to an area a hundred yards away. “I’m afraid your kite didn’t survive its landing. Nice job, though. Your design?”
“Yes. I have a few adjustments to make before it’s perfect.”
Maddy felt paralyzed, unable to say anything that would make any sense at this point.
“I think you might want to work on those...adjustments somewhere else,” the policeman said with a smile.
Heat flamed to her cheeks and boiled up through her forehead.
Kaleb simply stood and shook his hand. “Much appreciated, and we will.”
They would?
Oh, Kaleb was talking about the kite, not their make-out session.
Okay, it hadn’t been a make-out session. It was just...just...
Words failed her. Because the officer had thought it was, if she wasn’t mistaken. He’d basically told them—in a nice way—to move along.
More heat poured into her face. Kaleb reached down to help her up. She gladly let him, although she wasn’t sure her legs were going to hold her up. She tottered to the side a step or two.
Yep. Shaky as hell.
“I’m so sorry,” she started, only to have the police officer cut her off.
“Don’t be. It’s a beautiful place.” He glanced up at the sky. “But the rain is coming. I didn’t want your kite to be completely ruined, in case it can be fixed.”
“Very much appreciated, Officer.”
Maddy was happy for an excuse to flee. “I’ll go get the kite. Thank you again.”
Nodding once, the policeman headed on his way. She went after the downed kite only to find Kaleb dogging her heels, winding the string as he went.
She glanced back at him, mortified, and repeated her earlier words. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” She trudged forward. “Kissing you. I haven’t been so embarrassed in—”
“I think you have that backward, Maddy.” He stopped her with a touch to her arm.
“Maybe. I guess...” She blinked. “Oh, I don’t know. I just didn’t expect to be rolling around on the ground with the first available man who—”
“Who said I’m available?”
For a horrific moment, she thought he was serious. Then she