Chapter Twelve #3
Hannah was laughing too hard to say anything, and he laughed with her. They were almost to the base of the waterfall, and she wished it was possible for them to walk even slower. She loved listening to him talk about his family, and she didn’t want the story to end.
“I should ask Mom to send me a copy of that Christmas card.”
She put her hand on his arm, sure she’d heard him wrong. “Wait. She actually got the picture taken? In that cold?”
“Oh, she took the picture that day...more or less. She took a picture of us all grouped together in the back seat of the minivan—from the waist up because Brian wasn’t wearing pants—and we’re all sweaty because we’re wearing those red sweaters and she’d jacked the heat up to about ninety, but we were all laughing because Dad had just grumbled about having to do the speed limit all the way home because if he got pulled over, the cop would see he wasn’t wearing any pants, either. ”
“I would love to see that card,” she said, and then she focused on the water rushing over the rocks, close enough so she could feel the mist on her face.
Rob made his way across some rocks in the brook until he was standing on an outcropping of granite right in front of the waterfall. He held out his hand and helped her across. It wasn’t a big slab of granite, so they had to stand close together.
And again, she didn’t mind at all.
“I can see why she wanted to take the picture here,” she told him. “It’s a gorgeous spot.”
“It is. A black-and-white photo I took at this spot was used for the cover of one of my uncle Joe’s books, actually.”
“Really? That’s amazing!”
He shrugged, but the pink that tinted his cheeks gave away how pleased he was. “He writes horror, of course, so they made it grainy and added some atmospheric mist, along with a super creepy shadow figure in the trees.”
“Do you have a copy on your phone? I’d love to see it.”
After sliding his phone out of his pocket and tapping a couple of times, he handed her his phone. “I printed a copy of the photo for him to hang by his desk while he was writing, for inspiration, I guess. He brought it to his publisher when it was time to do the cover.”
“It’s a great picture, even with the bonus creepiness.”
Could he hear the way her breath caught when his hand brushed hers as he took the phone back? Or the shakiness of her slow exhale? Hopefully not, with the rushing of water over the falls acting like a natural white noise machine.
As he slid the phone into his back pocket, his arm brushed hers. She didn’t pull away, and a few seconds later, the back of his hand rested against her hand. Hannah shifted hers slightly, and his fingers threaded through hers.
They looked at the water falling in front of them and despite the chill in the air and in the mist from the falls, so much heat was coursing through Hannah, she was surprised steam wasn’t rolling off of her.
“This feels like a great place for a first kiss, doesn’t it?” he asked quietly, and Hannah looked up at his profile, her pulse racing.
Her body trembled, and she knew Rob could feel the shaking in her hand, because his fingers squeezed hers.
But she ignored the voices in her head urging her to think about what she should do, and instead let her heart—or her body, at least—take the lead for once.
“It’s a perfect place for a first kiss.”
When he turned to face her, resting his free hand at her waist, every thought in her head that wasn’t about desperately wanting his mouth on hers was silenced.
Rob’s hand slid halfway up her back. “For our first kiss.”
“Yes.” It came out as a whisper, and then his lips were on hers.
There was no hesitation or gentle exploration. Rob claimed her mouth as though he’d been wanting to so badly that he couldn’t take the anticipation another second. It was the same way she felt, and Hannah parted her lips, letting his tongue sweep over hers.
He let go of her hand and cupped the side of her jaw, while his other hand pressed against her back to hold her close. Not that she wanted to go anywhere. Her entire world was the warmth of his hands and the hunger in his kiss.
A breeze kicked up suddenly, and the amount of mist it brought their way was like a cold shower from Mother Nature. They broke apart, and Rob chuckled as he wiped the wetness from her cheeks.
“It’s still a little chilly to get wet,” he said, and when she nodded, he made his way back across the rocks.
This time, when he took her hand to help her across, he didn’t let it go. They retraced their steps down the path, at a little less leisurely of a pace this time because the wind was cold.
And they were both quiet. Hannah thought it was an easy silence, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was thinking the same thing she was. What does this mean? What comes next?
She told herself to relax and enjoy the moment. She’d shared a first kiss with the first guy she’d liked in a very long time in what had to be one of the most romantic spots in the state. Tomorrow would be a good day to worry about tomorrow.
They were almost back to the truck when his phone chimed, and it was in the pocket he could reach with his free hand, so he pulled it out. Hannah didn’t get more than a glimpse of the text message—and that was an accident, since she tried not to be nosy like that—but she saw that it was from Brian.
And she also saw her name.
Rob made a low growling sound and shoved the phone back in his pocket without replying. “Work stuff.”
“Involving me?” she asked, and he sighed. “I wasn’t trying to look, but I did catch my name on the screen.”
“He wants me to come back and help him with something. Where your name came in was the added not-so-subtle reminder that I’m not supposed to fraternize with the campers,” he said, complete with half a set of air quotes, since he still hadn’t let go of her hand.
“Then we should probably keep this little field trip to ourselves,” she said.
“Pretty sure that ship sailed when I drove out of the campground with you in the passenger seat.” He squeezed her hand. “But they don’t need to know everything.”
Yet, she thought. They didn’t need to know everything yet. She suspected it wasn’t easy to keep secrets in the Kowalski family.