“Healthy snacks not your thing, doc?”
“Not really. Besides, you seemed down when you messaged me, so I bought comfort food.”
I dug into the marshmallows. Closing my eyes, I popped one in my mouth, enjoying the exquisite taste on my tongue. I only blinked my eyes open when Cole made a low sound in his throat... like he’d tried to subdue a groan or a growl. His pupils were slightly dilated. The grip on his own marshmallow was so tight that he’d changed its shape. My sexy date was on fire. And I’d managed that just by humming in delight at my marshmallow? Hmm... well this was an easy tactic to take his mind off the unpleasant meeting he’d had. I mean, I had this whole plan mapped out where after dinner I lured him to his own apartment (I was betting he had the same plan) and tried one of those full-body massages on him. I was sure that I was going to take his mind off everything. But if I could start distracting him during this picnic, all the better. I just had to bring my inner siren out to play. Easier said than done, since I was used to scrubs and zero flirting. But now I was wearing jeans and a black top with a decent cleavage. I could put that to use.
“Want to talk about your day?” I asked, trying to lean forward and press the sides of my arms into my bra somewhat clumsily. The idea was to push up my boobs a bit.
Cole swallowed. “Laney, if you keep doing that, there will be no talking at all. Fucking hell, woman, do you want to drive me crazy?”
Heat coiled through me. I instantly relaxed my arms. Clearly, my flirting and seduction techniques needed work.
“Well, yeah. But maybe not right now,” I said quickly.
Cole chuckled, and his expression brightened a bit. Okay, so I’d accomplished my mission anyway. That was good enough for me.
“Nah, it’s fine. I got over it. Gabriel’s an asshole, and let’s just say I don’t like bullies,” he said.
“That’s understandable. So what’s going to happen now?”
“Schmuck thought I’d just cave in to his demands to avoid all the hassle of going to court. He was wrong.”
He clenched his jaw. His shoulders became rigid.
“Okay, I see you’re getting tense again. The idea was to help you relax.”
“Trust me, Laney. This is relaxing. That day in Rome was the first time I just completely shut off my business brain. Whenever I’m with you, I just forget about everything else.”
“I like the sound of that. Let’s see if I can manage that now too. I have an idea. Why don’t you lie down? I can feed you,” I said confidently.
He lay on the bench, head in my lap, looking up at me. I grinned, shoving a marshmallow in his mouth. I threw the next one in the air and failed to catch it. Cole burst into laughter.
“Maybe not,” I muttered.
“I like where this is going. Your breasts are right over my mouth when you lunge for it.”
“Hey! I thought you didn’t want to be tempted.”
“I know, but you put them right in front of my mouth. What am I supposed to do?”
I giggled, just taking out more marshmallows before remembering the bag of chips I’d bought too. I liked watching Cole relax in my arms and forget about his troubles.
We stayed on that bench right until sunset, but after that, it got chilly.
“Shall we move a bit?” I asked. Cole pushed himself up from my lap, rising from the bench.
“I have a better idea. I’m kidnapping you,” he announced, pulling me up by one hand. His voice was a delicious mix of seductive and conspiratorial.
“Where?”
“We’re going to this amazing place known as my apartment. It’s really close.”
“That’s true. I didn’t realize that.”
“I confused that compass badly with that kiss, huh?” He playfully tapped my temple.
I pinched his shoulder lightly. “Stop being so full of yourself because of that.”
“Impossible.”