“I want to make you happy, Haylee.”
I giggled. “I think you’re doing pretty good so far.”
“Oh yeah?” His palms patted a rhythm on the countertop, giving me the impression that he was nervous. Somehow that made me less nervous.
I’d been worrying about myself and how opening up to someone left me vulnerable, without even considering Luke’s perspective. He’d been making confessions left and right, throwing caution to the wind. He’d done it again by wanting to make me happy. Who said things like that? Luke, that’s who. Every time he opened his mouth, he offered up a piece of himself, while I’d been hiding myself behind walls higher than Big Ben.
“What about you? What makes you happy?”
“You didn’t even answer me!” Luke protested.
“I need time to think about it. You go first.”
“You need time to think about what makes you happy?” he asked incredulously.
I hid behind my hands, and he reached across the counter to pull them away from my face.
I smiled and shrugged sheepishly. “Other than you and chocolate custard? Yes, I need to think about it.”
Luke’s lips twitched. “Now you’re just flattering me.”
“And you’re far from just looking at me.”
To be fair, he was only holding my hands in his, which was much less contact than our hug had been. His touch wasn’t unwelcome, either, and I tried to convey it with a shy smile, but he cleared his throat and shifted back to his side of the counter.
“Hmm... What makes me happy, huh? Certainly good food, my family, seeing you smile. A sunny day, hearing you laugh, cooking. What else?” He tapped a finger against his chin, thinking about it. “Good conversation. When something succeeds. Hugging you felt pretty darn good. Should I go on?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
His eyes were drawn to the movement. “I bet kissing you would be total bliss.”
“I bet you would be really good at it.” Was I playing with fire? Sure. But if he was willing to speak his mind, so should I. It didn’t mean I would blurt out absolutely everything I was thinking, though I had most definitely been thinking about kissing him, too. I just wanted to offer him reassurance that, even though I was as awkward as a baby foal in showing it, his advances were not totally unwelcome. Luke’s smile was worth it.
“You’ll have to be the judge of that.”
“When is the trial? I might need to go over my law books to be fair and just in the verdict.”
Luke laughed. “I’m ready when you are, Haylee.”
“It probably doesn’t work like that,” I mused. “There are rules and such that one must follow. Set dates. I don’t really know.”
“We can set a date if that makes you feel any better.”
I shook my head. “Oh no, please no. That would only serve to make me nervous. It’s best to be spontaneous with such things.”
“Is it safe to assume I have the permission to be spontaneous about such things?” he asked with a grin.
“Are we still talking about kissing or—” I tapped my fingers against the now empty tea cup, not sure why I had to say ‘or’ at all, since no words came out after that anyway.
“I was, unless there are other things I stand on trial for.” His cheeky grin made sure I knew he was joking. He was joking right? “Maybe you can enlighten me about what else you’d like to give me permission for.”
Oh my goodness. I did talk myself into this one, for sure. Maybe I was the only one thinking about sex. More like worrying about it. How many dates did one go on before that became a thing? We’d had supper twice now, plus all the times I’d run into him accidentally. We hadn’t even kissed yet, but he said he wanted to, and I kind of wanted to, too. After that there was only one place this could lead.
“You’re not really on trial,” I said to get out of answering.
“Good, because I’m rather terrified about what the punishment would be should I not pass the evaluation.”
I shook my head and giggled. “We are preposterous.”
