Seth sprung forward and caught her in his arms. Breeze clung to his solid forearms and stared into his blue eyes, rasping out, “New shoes.”
He smiled and helped her stand up straight. Breeze didn’t care that she’d tripped, all she cared about was that he didn’t release her.
Sliding his hands around to her lower back, he tugged her in closer. Breeze’s hands worked their way up his arms to his shoulders, and she gave a breathy sigh. Seth bent down close and tenderly kissed her. He pulled back slightly and said, “Hello.”
Breeze laughed unsteadily. “That’s more the hello I was hoping for.”
“Were you now?” He grinned and then kissed her more firmly, taking his time and doing a beautifully thorough job of the hello she’d been dreaming of since they said goodbye three weeks ago. San Francisco had never been so perfect.
He tilted his head and smiled at her. “Breeze, would you …”
Her heart slammed against her chest. “Would I …” She moistened her lips and wondered if this was the day that all of her dreams came true. Sure she would. Would she ever. Anything he asked, she definitely would.
“Go to dinner with me?”
“Oh.” All her hopes of him asking for some large commitment fizzled and died. Dinner? She liked food, and she liked him, and she’d like to eat dinner with him, but dang, she’d been hoping for a lot, lot more. “Of course, sure.” She pulled free of his arms and pulled her key from her purse. “I’m just, um, a little overdressed.” She gestured to her silky blouse, skirt, and high heels. She liked that she could say that. She’d never been overdressed before.
Seth’s eyebrows rose. “I think you look incredible. But you can change if you want to.”
“Where are you wanting to eat? That might help me decide what to wear.”
He looked slowly over her face. “You know the sad thing is, I don’t even know what kind of food you like.”
Breeze thought it was sad. She wanted to know everything about him as well. “Mostly just regular American food, but that’s probably because I’ve never tried anything else. Well, I guess I’ve tried pizza and crappy Chinese but that’s pretty much American too, right? What about you?”
He smiled. “I like everything, but I would say Asian food is my favorite.”
“Oh! Like the Thai food we had with your family in Jackson Hole. That was delicious. There’s a Thai restaurant just a couple blocks down. Should we try it?” She’d wanted to try it after her experience eating Thai in Jackson Hole, but eating out wasn’t something she had ever spent money on.
“Sure.” He extended his hand but then cocked his head to the side. “Do you want to change then or …”
“It looks kind of fancy, so I’ll stay dressed up.” She’d found that she liked being dressed up, feeling feminine. She especially liked it right now with Seth looking at her like he was and saying he thought she looked incredible.
He grinned and took her hand. “So, I’ll be the underdressed one now. I see how it is.”
She smiled as they walked along the balcony and down the stairs. She knew he had more money than the big-time potato farmers, but he didn’t put on airs by wearing a fancy suit around all the time. “You look amazing in those jeans,” she said, then put her free hand to her mouth. “Sorry that was kind of brash.”
He chuckled and squeezed her hand. “I don’t mind. You might have to watch that lovely mouth around my mom though.” He winked.
They reached the sidewalk and meandered toward the restaurant. “How is your mom? Your whole family?” She got reports from Mar but wanted to hear it from him.
“They’re all great. Rachel seems to be recovering well. Everybody else is busy and happy. You see Mar, Luke, and Cosette more than I do.”
“Probably.”
“And you’re living the dream?” he asked. “Working for Mar.”
She tilted her head to look at him. He’d come to see her, he’d kissed her, but she wasn’t sure if he had any intentions beyond a casual dinner date. “You put Mar up to it, right?” She’d been wondering about that. The timing was just too coincidental.
“Excuse me?” He stopped walking on the slanted street and turned to her. As this street was off the tourist path, it was pretty quiet.
“You asked Mar to hire me, to create a job for me.”
His mouth pursed but he shook his head. “No. I called her asking for advice on how to hire you myself. I need a social media manager and someone to help my main manager with scheduling and a hundred other things he can’t keep up on, but you didn’t seem open to that idea. At the park, you know? I didn’t want to leave you in Idaho alone and without a house and without Ridge. Mar fought with me; said you should work for her so you could retain your pride. Mar says you’re amazing … Breeze, what? What did I do wrong?”
Breeze bit at her lip to keep her emotions under control, but a traitorous tear still rolled down her cheek. “Nothing,” she managed as she started back down the sidewalk.
“Breeze,” Seth’s voice had a warning note in it. “This isn’t nothing.” He tugged her to a stop again and pressed the pad of his thumb softly to her cheek. “Talk to me. You didn’t want to work for Mar?”