by Lola Kidd
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and smiled exhaustedly up at him. He laughed and fell down next to me in the grass.
“I’ve been watching you for a while now. Never thought in a million years that would happen,” he said.
“What?” I must have heard him wrong.
“You've come here every weekend now for about three years. You started coming with a tall fella. Your boyfriend, maybe?” he asked.
“EX-boyfriend, yes. You’ve been here for THREE years and I just noticed you today?! How is that even possible?!” I didn't ask how someone like him could notice someone like me for that long and not come talk to me. Hysterical laughter bubbled in my chest. HE had been watching ME for three years. Surely the gods were playing some kind of trick on me? Maybe I had gotten into an accident on my way to the farmers' market and this was heaven. That made much more sense.
“Well, I’m pretty inconspicuous when I want to be. You had no reason to see me. I mostly set the stuff up and wait in the back of the booth while Grandpa makes all the sales. I’m the muscle and Grandpa’s the brains behind our whole little craft shop.”
“You don’t make any of the woodwork?” I mentally berated myself for asking the stupidest question possible. Woodwork, I asked the man about woodwork.
“Well yeah, I do make some of that stuff, but it’s just a hobby, really. I work as a helper at the farm down the road from us for real work. Grandpa got the idea to sell our little works after coming here a few times.”
We sat in silence while my heart rate returned to normal. Once it had, I climbed into the back of the truck to grab my dress. I looked around for my hat and found it under the truck. I pulled the dress and hat on as quickly as I could. I didn’t want to risk anyone coming to their car and running across me naked in the unforgiving sunlight. As come dried on my inner thighs, my senses were coming back to me. I barely knew Luke, yet I had just had sex with him in the open without any kind of conversation beforehand. I didn’t even know his last name! I could only imagine what he thought about me after all that. I was sure he was kidding about watching me for all this time. He probably thought I’d be an easy lay since all big girls were desperate and he was trying to make me feel better. Gosh, I was feeling more idiotic by the second.
I shoved my sopping panties into my purse and turned to him red-faced “It’s been nice, Luke, but I need to get going.” I started walking off toward the non-vendor parking.
“Hold on!” he called, trying to pull up his pants and come after me at the same time. He wasn’t very coordinated with the effort and ended up in a tangle on the ground. I took the opportunity to put more distance between us. I was almost at a jog.
“Elle!” I heard him call behind me. Heavy footsteps followed behind me and, for the second time that day, wished I had kept up my running schedule that summer. He caught up to me easily, pulling on my arm to slow me down and force me to turn around and look at him. There was anger and hurt in his black eyes.
“Hey, why’d you run off like that?” he asked.
“I assumed we were done here,” I said, coolly. I instantly regretted it. He let go of my arm and pulled back.
“I wasn’t done. I wanted to know if you wanted to come have dinner at my house tonight, or tomorrow if you already have plans for today? Hell, I’m open all week. I had a hell of good time back there. I’d like to see you again, but if I’m bothering you, no worries. I’ll keep away from you if you want to come back to the market.”
That was not what I wanted. I took a deep breath and put my big-girl panties on, “I had fun too. I would love to have dinner with you. Sorry, I don’t normally do this kind of thing. I was embarrassed and wanted to get out of here as fast as I could.”
“Oh.” He smiled. “I’m glad you don’t do this often. I don’t either. I’m just really interested in you.”
I was taken aback again by his honesty. He was declaring his infatuation with me in a very public place. I know we had just had amazing sex in a very public place, but his statement was still a little over the top.
He was just so good looking. We had been standing there for less than five minutes and already seven women and three men had given him a double-take. I saw a few of the women shooting daggers at me with their eyes for being the center of this gorgeous man’s attention. On one hand, I was still very skeptical about this whole thing. But on the other hand, it felt damn good to have a beautiful man telling me how beguiling I was.
“What time for dinner tonight?” I asked.
“What about 7 o’clock? I’ll cook.”
My eyebrows rose, “You cook?”
“Yes, I cook. Don’t look so surprised. It's just Grandpa and me and lord knows he isn’t fit to boil a pot of water. I pull some recipes off the web and follow the directions. It’s pretty easy really.”
“Your Grandpa and I have something in common then, because I once forgot about a boiling pot of water and nearly burned my damn kitchen down. No use pretending I’m some kind of domestic goddess,” I shrugged.
He pulled me close and put his mouth right next to my ear, “Maybe not. But you are a sex goddess. I think that makes up for anything you think you’re lacking.” He growled and kissed me hard. Leaning back he pulled his phone from his pocket, “Give me your number and I’ll text you my address and directions to the house.”
“Sounds great. I don’t have any allergies and as you can see I’ll eat damn near everything. I look forward to whatever you want to cook tonight.”
“Glad someone will appreciate the skills I can bring to the kitchen,” he smiled.
“Well I’m hoping to appreciate all your skills in the kitchen tonight.” I called over my shoulder as I walked toward my car.
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Other Books by Lola Kidd
Mail-Order Mates
Loving the Lion
Wolf Seeks Wife
The Bear’s Bride
Taming the Tiger
A Wife for the Wolves
Surrendering to the Stag
Pursuing the Panther
The Leopard in Love
Blood Royals
The Vampire’s Claim
Holiday Mail Order Mates
The Mountain Lion’s Valentine
Lucky Lion
The Bull’s Bride Hunt
Safari Island Shifters
Rhino You Love Me (Book 1)
Other books in the series:
Between Two Crocs
Elephants Never Forget
Once a Cheetah
Don’t Kiss and Gazelle
Black Oak Shifters
Taken by the Shifters
The first novel in the Black Oak Shifter series. This is a standalone novel with a HEA ending.
Curvy girl Elle Quinn gets more than she bargained for when she goes out with Luke Rivers. The gorgeous stranger is hiding a secret that will change Elle’s life forever.
Other books in the series:
Captured by the Shifters
The Shifter's Wife
The Shifter's Surprise
The Shifter's Choice
Witch and Wolf Universe
The Witch and the Wolf
Werewolf shifter Cross Hemlock has to protect witch Aurora Silver when her life is in danger. In his quest to keep her safe, Cross hopes he can also convince her to entrust him with her heart.
Also included, the short story, A Very Witch Wedding.
Other books in the series:
The Vampire and the Bear
The Lost Tribe
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