“I’m getting better at picking up on it, I think.” Jacqueline slipped up to him and kissed him gently on the lips. Arlo’s whole body thrilled.
“I’ll tell you after,” he promised.
“After…?” Jacqueline was practically glowing. Arlo gestured to the table.
“Dinner?”
He held out a chair for her. She sat down, a smile dancing around her lips. When he whipped the cloth off the table, she laughed with delight.
“Since you missed out the first time,” Arlo said gruffly.
Dylan had timed Jacqueline’s arrival perfectly; the delicate fish and fresh bread were still steaming, making small beads of moisture appear on the chilled bottle of wine. Arlo sat down opposite Jacqueline, hiding the box in his lap.
“Is this what you were doing out on the boat this morning?” Jacqueline asked as he filled her glass.
“Some of it.”
“Ooh. Color me intrigued.” Jacqueline flashed him a smile that made his skin thrill.
Arlo cut her a slice of bread and buttered it. The butter melted into the warm bread almost immediately. He felt Jacqueline’s eyes on him as he added fish to her plate and handed it back to her.
“Thanks,” she whispered, her voice warm. “Oh, my God, this is delicious.”
“I wasn’t going to steal you away from Caro’s summer barbeque for bad cooking,” Arlo pointed out.
“Good. Mmm. I can see why Tally hoovered her way through all of mine that first night.”
Arlo watched Jacqueline eat. His heart felt so full, there wasn’t room for it in his chest.
How did I get this lucky? he asked himself as they ate, savoring every bite.
“Dessert,” he said next. Tess had delivered a batch of specially made ice cream earlier in the afternoon. He pulled it out of the cooler now and Jacqueline cocked one eyebrow.
“From Tess? Should I be worried?”
“She promised no experiments.”
Jacqueline closed her eyes as she tasted the ice cream. “Oh!”
Arlo’s skin warmed. “Good oh?”
“Yes.” Jacqueline opened her eyes and gazed at him. “Here.”
She held her spoon to Arlo’s lips. He tasted it, not breaking eye contact with her.
“It’s the same as the chocolates we had on our first date. Do you remember?”
Thank you, Tess. Arlo sipped his wine.
“I am sensing a theme,” Jacqueline said cautiously, her eyes sparkling.
“Don’t worry. I haven’t arranged for Tally to start screaming in the distance,” Arlo joked.
“Thank God.”
Arlo let himself sink into Jacqueline’s smile. He’d never imagined that having a mate would be like this. Thrilling and easy at the same time.
It was hard for him to think back to what his life had been like before Jacqueline and their pack were in it, but he had to.