“Hey.” He cupped my cheek and gave me a quick kiss. It surprised me and he only laughed. He grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s go watch the egg toss and place bets on who is gonna crack first.”
I laughed and allowed myself to be pulled along by him. “I do love puns.”
He turned back just long enough to give me a wink. Damn, he smelled good. Like fresh laundry and sandalwood and justhim.
“Where’s Rosalie?”
“Like four hours away being spoiled on a weekend trip with her boyfriend.”
“Bummer.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Why do you say that?”
“I thought we could have a double date. Another time then.”
We sat on a bale of hay, one of many scattered about that acted as benches and watched as teams of two lined up in two lines, teammates facing each other. Then we watched as the teams began to toss the egg back and forth, a few dropped it or broke it in their hands early on. But as the announcer called for it, the teams grew further apart.
“A wager for you,” Trask said. “If the guy in the blue coat drops or cracks the egg, I win. If his teammate breaks the egg, you win.”
“And what are we wagering?” I asked, staring at the team throwing the egg.
“A secret.”
I smiled at him because it was easy to smile with him. “It’s a bet.” I lost twenty seconds later.
I grumbled, and Trask laughed. “Tell me your secrets, woman!”
I searched my brain, looking for something that would satisfy him yet nothing too deep. The boots conversation would wait. Same with the whole probation reasoning. “I can’t leave the state because of the conditions of my probation.” I searched his face and body language when I utter the last word. But to his credit, he didn’t flinch or falter.
“Well, I figured that out. I put two and two together after our little conversation last week. Try again.”
My mind went blank. I couldn’t think of anything. Well, I could think of a million things I wanted to keep from him. He must have sensed my frustration because he grabbed my hand and said, “But you want to leave the state, right?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’ve never actually been out of the state.”
“Really? Never? Where did you go on vacation? Never a road trip, anything?”
I shook my head. It was nearly involuntary, but I reached my hand up to fix his hair. I ran my fingers through it and he closed his eyes—was that a moan?
“Oh baby, we’re going to change that.” He stood and pulled me up with him, leading us through the crowd and to the elephant ear stand. “Name the state. Name them all! We are going!”
I laughed and leaned into him. This was too easy, being with him, interacting with him. It made me equal parts nervous and excited. “My official last day of probation is the end of the school year.”
“Summer road trip. It’s happening.” Trask pulled out several bills and paid for the elephant ears. I followed him to a bench and sat close to him, our thighs touching.
I munched on the elephant ear. “Thank you,” I held it up, “for this.”
He laughed and ate some of his own. He looked like he was about to say something but the announcer over on the stage near us cut him off. It was an announcement about a pumpkin pie-eating contest.
“Duty calls,” Trask said.
“Good luck,” I laughed, still surprised he was going through with it.
He leaned in and kissed me. This was different, it wasn’t a chaste kiss. It was soft at first, consuming, rough and my breath hitched when his tongue swept along my bottom lip, probably tasting the sugar and cinnamon lingering there. My face flamed, and I was certain he could feel the heat of my blush radiate off my skin.
He leaned into my ear, whispering, “Oh Eliza, you have me wondering if all of you tastes that sweet.”
If my face was red before, it was crimson now. Flaming hot. He stood and looked down at me. “Yep, no doubt about it, my favorite hobby is seeing how red I can make Miss Eliza Walsh. Wish me luck.” He left with a wink and joined the crowd gathering at the stage.