“We’re working the convention as volunteers,” Lexie said proudly, forgetting just a few hours earlier she wasn’t all that excited to do so.
“It’s such a good thing,” Craig said. “That’s why I came. I’m attending it with a few friends I met online. I’m actually speaking on one of the panels.”
“Really? Which one?” Stefani asked.
“My friends and I thought up a couple of cool ideas for games to promote a peaceful solution at the end of the day to make things work between people that don’t believe the same ways.” Enthusiasm edged into his voice. “They’re the kind of games we like, very action packed and with lots of shooting, but at the end of the game, only the peaceful solutions the teams think of will help.”
Malichai thought maybe the game sounded a little conflicted, but he hadn’t heard the full presentation and it was an ideas convention, so any ideas were welcome. They would be thrown out to those attending to expand on and hopefully improve on. In any case, Craig had come out of his shell and interacted with those at the B and B in order to go to the convention.
“That sounds so cool, Craig,” Lexie said, looking up at him and batting her lashes. “Do you want some of the hot fudge for your ice cream?”
He nodded and she scooped the dipper into the melted fudge and then poured it into his bowl. She smiled full-on at him. “Tell me when.”
Craig looked as if he might faint at her attention. “That’s perfect, Lexie.” He hesitated before he said her name, half expecting her to protest.
Malichai smiled at Amaryllis and reached under the table for her hand. He pressed her palm to his thigh, his thumb sliding over the back of her hand. “I’ll help clean up tonight. I have a surprise for you.”
“I can clean up,” Marie stated firmly. “You go have fun.”
Malichai shook his head. “We wouldn’t be able to have fun knowing we left you with the cleanup. It will go fast with the three of us doing it together.”
“That sounds so dirty,” Burnell said, winking at Jay. “The three of you doing it together.”
“We got it,” Malichai said, trying not to laugh.
Amaryllis and Marie exchanged a long look. Both were also attempting to keep a straight face.
Malichai gave them a fierce look. In an overloud whisper, he reprimanded them. “No laughing. That will only encourage him.”10The stars were out in full force, so much so that the sky, in places, looked almost milky. Malichai stretched out on the thick futon mattress he’d gotten from Marie earlier. He had two pillows and a blanket, just in case his woman got cold. More likely she would have cold feet now that she’d had time to think about the things he’d told her. She had to know he was going to ask her to marry him. Well, not ask. He was already her fiancé.
He found himself smiling as he gazed at the stars. Amaryllis turned over onto her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows so she could look down at his face. “You’re smirking.”
“It’s a smile, not a smirk.” He might be smirking. He was already her fiancé and didn’t have to actually ask her the big question. That was definitely worth a smirk.
“It’s a smirk. But the futon mattress is wonderful, so I’m letting the smirk go. Tell me what happened after I left this morning. It was really difficult to leave, by the way. If I’m ever in trouble for anything, that’s a pass right there.”
He scowled at her. “You can’t negotiate that on the fly. That’s an entire discussion.”
“No, I think it’s one of those things that just makes sense. If I do something really difficult that I don’t want to do, I should get a pass the next time I screw up.”
“Does it work both ways?”
“That would depend.”
“Depend?” He turned toward her, one arm curling around her waist and dragging her body in close to his. Tightly. She felt warm and soft and all his. “What does that mean?”
“You can’t say you don’t like taking out the garbage, but if you do it, you get a pass.”
“I don’t like taking out the garbage. At. All. It smells, and the women are all about saving the damn environment, and that means sorting crap. So yeah, I take that out, I get a pass.”
She started laughing. He was watching her face carefully and he saw it first in the curve of her lower lip, and then her lips parted, and the smile climbed to her eyes, lighting them a deep blue. Her face lit up and she was laughing, throwing her head back, uncaring about anything else but the two of them and their ridiculous conversation.
He shifted his weight, curled his hand around the nape of her neck and brought her head down to his. The moment his mouth made contact with hers his world transformed. Fire licked at his skin. Electricity danced through his veins. Heat rushed to his groin, settled there and grew into a firestorm that fast. He pulled her tighter against him, his mouth commanding hers.