Chapter 33
In exchangefor Jasper eating the criadillas, I had to go to the Harvest Moon Festival with him. No hardship there. The part that surprised me was that he added, ‘as my date’ to the request.
He wanted to take me on a real date, not something just for show or to maintain our ‘fake relationship’ status in public, or even as business partners. No, he made it clear that this would be an actual date. A real one. And the kiss he gave me when he walked me to my car…well, there was nothing fake about that.
Or the fact that I could have gotten pulled over for driving while intoxicated from his kiss alone. How would I have explained that to the highway patrol?
Maybe Paige was right, and things had shifted for him as it had for me.
Could we really make this real when it was based on a lie?
The doorbell jolted me out of my musings and back to the present. He was here. And I wasn’t ready. “Just a minute,” I hollered, hoping he heard me through the door.
I quickly applied my mascara and lipstick. Blotted. Then smiled in the mirror. This would have to do.
Opening the door for Jasper, the sight of him leaning against the wall stole the words right out of my mouth. How could this gorgeous man be waiting for me?
He pulled a bouquet of daisies, mums, and sunflowers from behind his back. “For you milady.”
“Why, thank you, kind sir.” I brought them to the kitchen and dropped them in a jar of water. I’d cut and arrange them when I got home. Slipping my arms into my jacket, I returned to the door. “Alright, let’s go.”
“Not quite yet. There’s something I’ve been thinking about all day and will be bothering me all night if I don’t do something about it.”
“What’s that?”
He wrapped his around my waist and brought his lips to mine. “I know dates are supposed to end with a kiss, but we aren’t exactly conventional. And there was no way I could wait that long.” He trailed kisses along my jaw all the way to my earlobe and neck. I moaned at the exquisite tingles it gave me. With my arms around his neck, I pulled his lips back where I needed them most, on mine. Kissing this man was becoming my absolute favorite pastime.
When we finally ended the kiss, both of us were breathless. I straightened my clothes and smoothed out my hair. “Well, I’m glad we got that taken care of, so you can enjoy your evening.”
“Any time with you is the favorite part of my day, but I have to say, that kiss didn’t do what I’d hoped.”
“What do you mean?”
“Instead of satisfying my craving, it just made me want to keep kissing you. But I promised my princess a real date, so please drag me out of here, before my resolve weakens any further.”
I chuckled and pushed him into the hallway, then locked the door. “Come on, Prince Charming. You promised to take me to my first fall festival, and I’m not about to give that up. Someone told me there would be home-made apple fritters and pies that are to die for. I don’t want to miss those.”
“We can also take an eating tour of Food Truck Alley. That’s my favorite part.”
As I climbed into the passenger seat of his car, I asked, “Has the Moonstruck ever had a booth at the festival?”
“Not that I’m aware of. We might want to think about that for the future. Great for community outreach, reaching new people, and giving them a chance to try some of our new dishes.”
“Exactly what I was thinking. It’d be the perfect way to bring attention to the changes we’ve made and get them to come back.”
“There are so many things we can do to grow this business. We’re just getting started.”
Imagining what Jasper and I could accomplish with the restaurant sent a thrill through me. We really complemented each other perfectly.
Oh, how things had changed between us since we’d been thrown into this partnership.
Jasper opened the car door for me and took my hand to lead me to where the crowd had already gathered. There were vendor booths lined up like houses on a city block. Musicians sat on hay bales playing folk music. Kids giggled as baby goats in the petting zoo nibbled their fingers, looking for food. The smell of fried food filled the air, making my stomach grumble.
“What do you want to do first? Walk around and see everything, get some food, or go on a hayride? There’s also pumpkin carving, carnival rides and games. I could win you a prize to lug around all day.”
My stomach growled again. I pressed my hand against it to quiet it down, hoping he didn’t hear it. “I didn’t eat anything yet. I knew there’d be good things to eat, so let’s see what we can find.”
“Alright, my princess needs to eat, so eat we shall.” He guided me to the food court, as such. He dropped my hand but moved in closer. I felt his hand move to my low back. It seemed he always had to be touching me, which was fine with me. “What are you in the mood for, princess?”
His words in my ear shot a tingle down my spine. I almost forgot he was asking about food. I looked around at all the food stands. Caramel corn. Funnel cake. Deep fried cheesecake. Corn on the cob. Then came the apple stand with home-made pies, apple crisp, and apple fritters. “I’ve heard great things about the apple fritters. Might as well check that one off my list first.”
“You have a list?”
I tapped my temple. “Just right here. People have been talking about this festival for a few weeks, telling me what I can’t miss.”
We got in line for the fritters, which was already quite lengthy. You can always tell what is good by the length of the line waiting for it.
“So besides the apple fritter, what else don’t you want to miss?”
“Well, the hayride and corn maze sound fun. And Skye told me there was a dance later—might be fun to check that out. I wouldn’t mind seeing your dance moves again.”
“Your wish is my command. All of those were things I wanted to do with you as well.” He pulled me closer and kissed my forehead. He clearly didn’t mind public displays of affection. That had never been my thing. I usually preferred to save that for private, but with Jasper, I was surprised by how I didn’t mind it and, in fact, wanted more.
“How about we share a fritter? Then we’ll have room to try other things.”
He laughed and shook his head. “Rookie mistake. That may sound like a good idea, but you haven’t had one of these before. You’re not gonna want to share. Believe me. And as much as I like you, I’m not sharing my fritter with you.”
“Oh really? I see how it is.” I elbowed him in the side and tried to move away jokingly, but he just pulled me closer.
“Hey. I’d share anything with you, Princess. But I’m not kidding. If we got one to share, we’d have to get right back in line to get more. Unless you want to share more than one fritter. I’d be down with that.”
Jasper placed our order and handed me one of the fritters, but then ripped a bite off his and held it out for me. I opened my mouth. His eyes locked on mine with such heat, I forgot all about food. As the bite hit my tongue, my lips closed around it and his fingers. My breath caught and my heart raced. The warm apple fritter melted in my mouth, but I didn’t even notice what it tasted like. All I knew was that I wanted more.
I broke off a piece of my pastry and fed it to him. As the warmth of his mouth closed on my fingers, a jolt of warmth moved through me. I brought my finger to my mouth and licked the frosting off as Jasper watched. Our gaze remained fixed on each other as if nothing else existed.
What would this taste like from his lips?
I leaned closer. The urge to kiss those lips was overpowering. Who would have thought sharing a dessert at a festival could be so sensual? And in public, no less.
We were only a breath apart when a jingling voice reminded us we were still standing in the middle of the town festival.
I turned my head to see Tillie headed our way. She sure stood out in a crowd, wearing a brightly-colored track suit, hot pink gloves, blue straw hat, and purple over-sized horn-rimmed glasses with sparkly jewels in the corners. “There you are, my favorite lovebirds. I’ve been looking all over for you. The event is about to start. You need to get over there, lickety-split.”
“What are you talking about, Tillie?” I asked.
“The Harvest Moon Sweetheart Showdown, of course. I knew you two would probably be too busy to think of it, so I signed you up. I knew you wouldn’t want to miss it. You’re likely to win it all. And just think of the publicity the restaurant will get when the two of you win.”
Jasper looked over at me. His brow arched and his mouth pinched apologetically. Of course, he knew what this competition was about, but also understood there was no arguing with Tillie. She’d outmaneuvered us again. I shrugged. “Alright, what do we need to do?”
Tillie’s face lit up like she’d won the lottery. “Just hurry on over to that tent over there, and they’ll fill you in.” She clapped her hands. “I’m so excited for you both. This is going to be a competition this town will never forget.”
That was what I was afraid of.