“Calvin . . .”
“I want to see you tonight.”
“Okay.” My eyes widen; I’m surprised that I’ve just agreed so easily when I’ve been so careful about sticking to my decision to not date. His pupils dilate as my heart starts to pound. “I mean—”
“Don’t take it back,” he rumbles, and then his lips brush mine softly, causing my eyes to slide closed as my breath catches in the back of my throat. I feel him pull away, and my lashes flutter open to find him watching me. “I don’t know what has you so scared of me, Anna, but if you have the ability to rescue a little girl from the ocean, you can face your fears regarding me. We’ll talk tonight. Over dinner, you can tell me about your life before you moved here, and maybe then we can figure out together what’s holding you back. And if you’re open to hearing it, I’ll share a little about my past. You’re not the only one who’s nervous about doing this, but I feel in my gut that it will be worth it.”
My stomach rolls with nausea at the idea of him knowing the kind of person I used to be, and the lengths I was willing to go to make my parents happy. If I ever told him about my past, he wouldn’t want anything to do with me. Maybe that’s the real reason I’ve been attempting to keep him at arm’s length. “Maybe we—”
“We’ll talk tonight.” He cuts me off before I can make up an excuse to postpone seeing him. “I’ll be at your place at six.” He steps back from the counter.
“I’m not sleeping with you,” I tell him firmly, even as my cheeks warm with embarrassment. “I can meet you somewhere.”
He grins. “Anna, get your mind out of the gutter. I’m bringing dinner. We’ll eat and talk, and hopefully you’ll be able to keep your hands to yourself so we’ll have a chance to get to know each other.” I press my lips together to keep from laughing, but still my lips twitch, and a look of pleasure fills his gaze. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?”
I drag in a breath, knowing I should say no. But when I open my mouth, “Okay” comes out again.
“Later, beautiful.” He turns to the door as it’s pushed open by Chrissie, with Gus right behind her. I study her goofy smile and wonder if she was standing out front with her nose pressed to the glass, watching our exchange. Knowing her, she was. There’s no way even her husband would be able to stop her from spying on Calvin and me.
“Are you leaving already?” she asks Calvin.
Gaston shakes his head. “Chrissie, baby, let the man go. You watched them kiss. They obviously don’t need your help.”
“I didn’t watch them kiss.” She gasps in outrage, spinning around to face her husband.
“Babe.”
“Don’t babe me.” She shoves his shoulder, then turns to Calvin, who’s watching the exchange and trying not to laugh. “I didn’t watch you kiss her.”
“She kissed me,” Calvin states, and I look at him and narrow my eyes.
“I didn’t kiss you. You kissed me.”
“Did I?” He shrugs. “I don’t remember.”
“Oh my God, you’re so . . .”
“Amazing?” he finishes for me.
“No. You’re a—”
“Awesome.”
“Annoying,” Chrissie inserts, and I smile at her, even though she’s not looking at me.
“You should plan on hearing that a lot,” Gaston tells Calvin. Then he adds, “But word to the wise—never tell them they’re being annoying. Trust me. That will not go over well for you.”
“Maybe you should stop while you’re ahead, honey, because at this point, you’re working toward sleeping on the couch with LeFou.” Chrissie glares over her shoulder at her husband.
“See what I mean?” Gaston grins as he wraps his arm around her shoulders, then kisses the side of her head.
“Maybe there is something in the water, making men more annoying than usual,” Chrissie says.
“It’s probably the moon. Edie was saying something about the moon being almost full the other night,” I say, and Calvin laughs.
Chrissie snaps her fingers. “That’s it. It has to be.”
“Well, I think that’s my cue to go,” Gaston says, turning Chrissie to face him. “I’ll see you at home.” He grasps her face between both his hands to kiss her, then leans back, rubbing his thumb against her cheek. “After I drop off the flowers, I’ll pick up dinner. Just send me a text to let me know what you want.”
“Thank you.”
“Anything.” He touches his lips to her forehead, then turns to smile at me. “Later, Anna.”
“Bye, Gaston, and thanks for taking the flowers.”
“Flowers?” Calvin asks.
“Anna’s been getting flowers all day and didn’t want them to go to waste, so she asked if Gus could take them to the local senior home.”
“Max ran the story. Did she use your name?” Calvin sounds pissed, and my brows draw tightly together.