Chapter 15
Shanti fled to the living room to find a movie. Any movie. Anything that would give her a minute to recover and wonder what on earth she thought she was doing, making sly comments about 'snacking.' Or maybe who on earth she was, making comments like that. Shanti did not 'snack.'
She slowed in her examination of movies, suddenly aware of how true that was.
She'd had a few short-term boyfriends, but nothing that had gone anywhere.
She'd always told herself it was because she was much too busy, but the truth was she'd never felt enough of a connection to want to…
snack. Hopefully Peter would understand, and not think she was… well, weird.
Because he was snackable. He was easily the most snackable man Shanti had ever met, with his dark eyes and warm smile and amazing hair that she bet would sift through her fingers like silk.
Oh, yes, this had to be magic, because Shanti never had thoughts like that. She gave the movies a nervous smile, like she'd confided in them somehow, then took a deep breath and called, "I hope you like movie musicals or romcoms, because that's basically what we watch in this household."
"I haven't seen many musicals," Peter called back, over the first sounds of popcorn starting to pop. "Do you have a favorite we should watch?"
"Do I have a favorite," Shanti said under her breath, as if he was asking an outrageously silly question. Then her eyebrows drew down and she studied the titles, finally mumbling, "Do I have a favorite?"
Of course she did. She took out the tape and put it in the machine, thinking nothing of it until Peter came in with the popcorn and let out an amazed laugh. "Is that a VCR? I haven't seen one since I was about five!"
Heat rushed Shanti's face and she said, "My grandparents understood how to use it, so we never upgraded to DVDs," defensively.
"No, no, I love it, I just don't think I know how to use it.
It's retro. And it works, which is really cool.
Can you even still buy video tapes?" He put the popcorn on the coffee table and went back into the kitchen, returning a few seconds later with glasses of orange juice.
"There wasn't any soda so I figured juice would do for drinks. "
"Good idea. And you can get them second-hand, but I've been starting to get DVDs of my favorites.
But I only think of it when I want to watch something, so it's a slow process.
" That, and even though most of her favorite movies were old ones that didn't cost too much, it was an expense that added up.
"I love it," Peter said again. He sounded sincere and not judgy, and Shanti's shoulders relaxed a little as he asked, "What are we watching?"
"Only the best movie musical of all time." Shanti climbed onto the couch.
"Oh, okay, I've seen that one." Peter sat down beside her.
Not too near, like he wanted to make sure she had the space she wanted, but not far, either.
Shanti hit play with the remote, and after the studio and copyright stuff played, within the first few seconds of the movie, Peter said, "Wait, this isn't The Sound of Music. "
An unreasonably smug sensation rose in Shanti's chest. "Nope.
This one's better." She picked up the popcorn bowl and put it between them so they could…
snack…and shivered every time their fingers brushed when they both reached for popcorn at the same time.
She'd seen the movie dozens, maybe hundreds, of times, so even as she smiled and lip-synched along with the songs—and who was she kidding, most of the lines—she could think about the big warm comfortable man sitting just a couple of feet away from her.
Magic. He was magic, and what she felt was something she could trust, even though it had come on so suddenly.
Shanti thought of herself as a cautious person, but she longed not to be, and the magic of what Peter was gave her a funny little space where she felt as if she could throw herself headlong into something for the first time, because she knew it would be safe.
She knew that a genuinely brave person wouldn't need the safety rails of what he called fated mates, but to her, it felt freeing.
She could let herself take this risk because it would turn out well, and maybe that would let her find a way to take other, real risks.
Like getting on that train out of Virtue and never coming back.
Before, she hadn't had any kind of destination in mind, not really.
That, as much as anything else, would have meant she would turn around and come back to Virtue.
But now she had a destination: Peter Baranov.
Where he was, Shanti could go, and if he never looked back, then she didn't have to, either.
Emboldened by the thought, she picked up the popcorn bowl and scooted closer to Peter, putting the bowl back down in her lap instead of on the couch.
He murmured pleasantly and after a quick glance to make sure it was okay, put his arm around her.
Shanti nestled in, suddenly warm and half-lost in his scent as she tingled with their closeness.
It was an unfamiliar sensation, but an exciting one, little sparks shivering through her and coming to hot points that made her very aware of her body.
A little overwhelmed, she let her eyes drift shut as she listened to the movie while feeling her body in a way she wasn't used to.
"Okay, I know this scene," Peter said after a while, and she pulled her eyes open to smile contentedly at one of the most famous, joyous scenes in movie musicals. "I liked what's his face's version of it, too, from the lip sync thing."
Shanti laughed softly. "The what? Whose?"
"Oh my God. You haven't seen…okay, I'll show it to you after the movie. This TV is too old to stream anything, isn't it?"
"Whatever gives you that idea?" Shanti asked, amused.
It was newer than the VCR, but Shanti didn't remember ever seeing a different television in her grandparents' house, which meant it had to be at least twenty years old.
"I do have a computer upstairs, but the house…
it's a little bit of a time capsule, isn't it?
Part of the reason I haven't finished clearing things out is I don't know what to do with some of this stuff. Sorry, the movie."
She made a show of zipping her lips, but Peter reached for the remote and paused the film. "Like I said, I've seen this scene, so it's a good place to pause for a minute. I'm sure you could sell a lot of the stuff here, if that's what you wanted to do. Vintage collectors would snap it up."
Shanti nodded. "I keep thinking that, but then it's too much.
I can't bring myself to sell their things, but throwing it all out is even worse.
Especially since it's all in such good condition.
I think my grandparents kept the one VCR repair guy in town employed for the past twenty years.
He worked with all their stuff, actually.
He'd come out once or twice a year and just make sure everything was running.
" She took a deep breath, recognizing something she'd probably known all along.
"I guess he'd be the person to go to about selling it, maybe. He's really a vintage repair guy."
"I'll go with you if you want to make an appointment and have some support," Peter offered.
Shanti wrinkled her nose and smiled up at him. "He's probably not available on Sundays, which are the only day you're not working, right? Although…" He had said this job ended soon, and that he could stay around afterward, but even with magic involved, Shanti didn't want to make any assumptions.
Peter made them for her. "The rail line should only take another couple weeks to finish, and what's two more weeks? On the other hand, if you want to be on that first train out of town, then yeah, maybe you don't want to wait for me."
"I'll always wait for you," Shanti murmured, even though she knew that wasn't exactly what he meant.
It was worth it, though, with the way his eyes softened. He ducked his head toward hers just a little, whispering, "I'd like to kiss you, if that'd be okay?"
Shanti's entire body went on fire at the thought, which was an entirely new and completely unexpected response. She gave a shivery little nod, and Peter lowered his mouth to hers, soft and warm and…
…and earth-shattering, Shanti thought hazily.
Even just the first brush of his lips against hers, so gentle as to be almost ticklish, did things to her that she'd never felt before.
He lifted his hand to her jaw, tracing his thumb along her cheekbone, and she melted into the touch, willing and eager to go where he guided her.
He tasted of salt and popcorn and orange juice, all of which was more delicious than she could have imagined, and the curve of his mouth against hers suggested he was smiling as he discovered she also tasted like all of those things.
He drew back a little, examining her from so close that both of their eyes nearly crossed.
Shanti breathed a laugh and Peter's eyes sparkled as his eyebrows quirked up, seeming to still want to make sure everything was okay.
She nodded again, lips parted, and this time his kiss was much more serious, though still exploratory.
Shanti thought she might have forgotten how to breath as his mouth covered hers and the whole world became nothing but Peter and herself.
When it ended she gave a high, soft little laugh. She felt like she was shining, like she'd become a star in the night sky, bright and beautiful. "Wow."
Peter's voice was always a delicious rumble, but it dropped into an even deeper register now. "Yeah. Wow. Wow."
"I could listen to you read a phone book," Shanti blurted, then felt her face heat yet again. She wasn't a blusher, but boy did Peter bring it out in her.
His grin lit up with sheer delight. "Really?"
Shanti squeaked, "Really. You have a gorgeous voice. Everything else, too, but wow, your voice."