Chapter 6
SIX
KARL
I swear to God, if she ever says yes, I will buy two tickets to Vegas immediately. Or maybe we’ll just drive to Niagara Falls. It’s closer.
“I may be an early riser, but I’ve got staying power.” I clock the minute she recognizes the innuendo and doesn’t even bat an eye. Fuck, I need her to say yes.
She leans back, stretching, and I take the opportunity to drink her in. The shirt is indeed a little too big for her, definitely enough room to do a little shimmy. I can’t stop myself from thinking that it would look way better on the floor of my trailer than on her body.
I don’t look away fast enough when she straightens and throws a knowing smirk my way.
“How old are you?” I ask, trying to recover my composure.
“Twenty-three.”
“Recently, or are you about to be twenty-four?”
“Not into older women?”
“Right now? Nancy, I’m not into any other women, period.” I keep my eyes on her, watching as my words sink in. The more crass remark did nothing, but this one sure does. There’s a slight hitch in her breath and a barely noticeable widening of her eyes.
And I mean it; Liv Tyler could walk up to our table, and I wouldn’t even look at her.
She clears her throat and breaks eye contact, straightening the items in front of her. “You’re awfully free with your feelings, Karl.”
“Not always,” I admit.
“No?”
I shake my head. “Nope. You’ve opened up something apparently.”
She looks at me for a few beats, fighting and ultimately failing to hide a smile. “Lucky me.”
“Can I interest you in a dumpling?”
“What’s a trip to the fair without an apple dumpling?” she chirps, standing and gathering our garbage.
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve basically had one every day I’m here since I started coming as a kid.”
“My sister and I used to sneak one to split.”
“Split? That’s sacrilegious,” I gasp.
“It was that, or we couldn’t have one, or at least that’s what we convinced ourselves.”
“Does your family think apples are just for horses or something?”
“Or something,” she says quietly, dumping the trash in the bin. “Let’s go!” She reaches out and takes my hand, guiding me in the direction of the famous Apple Dumpling stand.
I have the urge to drag my feet and prolong this walk so I can hold her hand for as long as possible.
But her enthusiasm cancels out my need to slow this down, and I keep pace with her until we arrive at the famous dumpling booth to find two teenagers cleaning up.
A single dumpling sits on the counter, under a heat lamp.
“Excuse me, do you only have the one left?” I ask hopefully, knowing full well that they aren’t hiding anymore somewhere.
“Sorry, dude, that’s the last of them tonight,” the guy says, eyeing our hands. “You could always share it.”
“What do you say, viscountess?” Nancy rolls her eyes, but the tiny grin she’s sporting tells a different story. I’m starting to think she enjoys these little names.
“If I must share one, I suppose I could find someone worse to share with,” she admits. “Even if sharing an apple dumpling is sacrilegious.”
“Ice cream?” The teen asks.
“With extra caramel sauce, please.” Nancy bats her eyelashes at the kid, and his skin under his patchy facial hair rapidly turns red.
I toss a five-dollar bill on the counter and wave off the other employee as she holds change out for me. “For the caramel,” I say, picking the hot dumpling up and reaching down to lace my fingers with Nancy’s again.
She lets me, but when she starts toward the dining hall, I gently pull her to a stop. “Care to eat somewhere a bit more private?”
Her blue eyes widen. “Oh?”
“My place?”
“I think the ice cream may melt,” she counters, looking down at our dessert that’s already beginning to swim in a sea of dairy and caramelized sugar.
“My temporary place,” I amend. “It’s not much, but it’s home for the week and a half we’re here, and it doesn’t smell like livestock, I promise.”
“Sure, take me to Casa Karl.”