Chapter Four #2
“I didn’t say it was good for me, but it is my favorite. I never get it at home because my cook, Miz Polly, says that it’s a heart attack waiting to happen.” He chuckled.
“It is,” Monica agreed, and then added, “However, we are on vacation, and the food we eat while we are here has no carbs.”
“I like your way of thinking, and if you are really serious about making all that tomorrow night, I will fall even more in love with you, just Monica.”
Those words caught her off guard, and she had to swallow quickly to keep from choking. “What did you say?”
“What goes on at the beach, stays at the beach, right?” he answered. “If we want to be in love while we are here, then who’s going to stop us?”
“Absolutely no one,” she said, and took a drink of her soda. She liked Spencer a lot, but falling in love was no joking matter.
Spencer was not lying when he said he couldn’t cook, so the picnic on the beach was an assortment of cheeses and fruits, deli cold cuts, along with a long loaf of sliced Italian bread, dips, chips, crackers, and a six-pack of cold root beer.
Together they lay out a blanket at the edge of the water. He chilled the sodas in the ice bucket from the hotel and used the plates from the cabinet to lay all the food out in a lovely arrangement. Then he lit a couple of jar candles and motioned for her to sit down.
“If this isn’t what you had in mind, we can throw all this out into the ocean for the fish and go to a nearby steakhouse,” he said.
“This is perfect, my knight in shining T-shirt,” Monica said. “You rescued me from the castle turret and made me see the world from up high. I have no complaints about today.”
“Not even with our nap?” he teased.
She picked up a grape and fed it to him. “Especially not with that or with sharing ice cream straight from the container when naked. Now get comfortable and let this maiden, who is no longer in distress, feed you.”
Spencer had never done role-playing, but he enjoyed being her saving knight. He stretched out on his side and propped himself up on an elbow. “You may feed me, but you must take a bite yourself for every one that you give me.”
“I can do that,” she agreed, and picked up a huge strawberry. When she had put half of it in his mouth, she leaned over and shared it with him and then kissed him passionately. “Strawberry kisses are awesome,” she whispered.
He moved over closer to her and picked up a slice of kiwi. “Yes, they are, and now, it’s my turn.”
“I should be feeding you since you rescued me from a boring life in the castle,” she said.
This is so much fun. I wish I could take her home with me, Spencer thought. I wonder what it would be like to live with someone who is Zoe’s opposite? After a while would this feeling die, or would it grow?
He slid the kiwi into her mouth. “Fate brought me to this castle to meet you. I want to take care of you forever, or until the end of this week, whichever one comes first.”
When she had finished chewing and swallowing, he kissed her. “Kiwi kisses are just as good as strawberry ones.”
Monica picked up a cracker with cheese and a black olive on top and put it in his mouth. “Let’s see if savory is as good as sweet.”
Every bite of food was followed with a kiss, and each one got longer.
“I like this game.” Monica panted after the last kiss.
“Did you ever play it with one of the guys when you were a maiden in distress?” he asked.
“Oh no! Never! For one thing, there were no men allowed in the top of the castle,” she said.
“You are a strong woman, Miz Monica. Why did you not figure out a way to get out of the castle?”
“My soothsayer told me that to be truly free, I had to wait on my knight to ride up in a Silverado and rescue me,” she answered. “I listened to her and I have lived happily ever since I arrived.”
“This knight is glad you trusted your soothsayer,” Spencer said.
“She is happy, too, because now she has a very good reference for the future,” Monica said, and fed him another cracker.
“Does she make a lot of money, this soothsayer?” Spencer asked.
“Oh no! She’s just a lowly servant that the royal queen sent to take care of her ugly duckling of a daughter. But she took a liking to me, and I loved her like a favorite aunt. She was one of the very few women in the whole castle who was allowed to visit me.”
Spencer picked up a slice of fresh peach and put it in her mouth. “What did you do to keep from going crazy for …” He paused with a twinkle in his eyes. “For all those years.”
“I was locked in the top of the turret since the day I was born thirty years ago. My older sister, the beautiful one, was favored and was supposed to be married off to a prince from another country. But she left him standing at the altar and ran away to live her own life. Since she tainted the king’s name, he wasn’t willing to let me out of my quarters for fear I would further embarrass the family.
I read a lot of books, and my governess taught me the art of war, as well as how to act like a lady.
My soothsayer taught me to believe in signs and omens,” Monica answered.
“What signs and omens have you seen here?” he asked.
“The red flag flapping in the wind means to be careful, but I’m glad that I ignored it. The rest of the signs have had positive energy,” she answered.
Spencer wondered how many clues to her real life were hidden in the role-playing story. She mentioned a sister before, so he could take that as true. He couldn’t believe that parents would ever make someone as beautiful as Monica feel ugly and compare her to a beautiful sibling.
Spencer twisted the top off a bottle of cold root beer. “You had two good women in your life.”
“I definitely did,” she said as she put a slice of peach in his mouth. “I am going to kiss you and see if peach kisses are as sweet as strawberry, kiwi, and savory ones.” When he chewed and swallowed, she shifted her body into his lap and began a string of kisses that made him need a cold shower.
“What’s the verdict?” he asked when the kisses ended.
“It’s a tie, with maybe the peach winning by a tenth of a point.” Monica waved her hand in front of her face in what looked like a futile attempt to cool herself. “But you should know that it would take more than ice cream to cool me down.”
Spencer stood and scooped her up like a new bride and waded out into the waves with her. “I need an icy shower, or else to go back to the hotel and work this heat off in another way.”
A big wave washed over them, and Monica’s hair got wet. She came up sputtering and said, “Well, darlin’, that did not work, and unless we wanted to make the ocean boil, we better go back to our blanket.”
“Or to my room?” he asked.
“Take me back to the hotel or lose me forever.”