Chapter 3
KANE
She’d love to.
Sammie would love to have dinner with me.
Even though she said that several hours ago, her sweet voice is still echoing through my head like a song on a loop.
I pull up in front of the old Darville house and spot her peeking out from the curtains for a split second before she opens the door.
I rush to greet her, and am met with a smile that hits me like the first morning sunbeam. "Hi," she says softly. Then she points to her floaty sundress. It's a muted blue and green pattern that looks like a painter's brush strokes. "Is this okay for…wherever we're going?"
"It’s perfect. You look…" A tornado of adjectives whirls through my mind, leaving me grinning like an idiot. "Stunning."
After we’ve started driving, I ask, "What are you hungry for? There are several great restaurants in West Stoneburg."
Sammie shrugs. "I'm so hungry for a meal that’s been cooked in a proper-sized kitchen that I'll eat anything.”
"The kitchen in that house is really that small?"
I glance over to see her rolling her eyes. "It's not quite a dollhouse, but it's definitely like one of those New York apartments. You know, the ones that are the size of a closet?"
It feels so good to laugh with her. Even though I can tell she's a bit nervous, I already know that tonight is going to be magical.
"Well, we could go for pizza, French, Italian, burgers, Mexican—"
Her eyes light up. "Definitely Mexican." She flashes me a warm smile. "And I’m glad it’s a casual place. I mean, it must be, since we don't need a reservation, right?"
The truth is, I could probably walk into any restaurant on the mountain and people would trip over themselves to get me the best table, but I don’t feel like telling her that yet. It's a weird treatment that I've never asked for or wanted.
"So, you said you have four brothers. Which one are you?"
My hand darts out to tap hers almost of its own accord, and I can barely stop myself from holding it. "I'm the middle child. My brothers say normally that would mean I would be forgotten about, but I'm just too damn big…even though I'm only slightly larger than the rest."
Sammie laughs. "Five giants at the table for dinner. Your poor mother must have looked up recipes in army cookbooks."
"Mom is an amazing cook, thank goodness.
Plus, she trained us to be her assistants.
I can't cook very well, but I can prep like a champ.
" Sammie grins. "Seriously, if you need an onion sliced, diced, or minced, I'm your guy.
" Even though I'm just kidding around, referring to myself as Sammie's guy hits my heart with a special little tingle.
She laughs lightly. “Plus, I doubt onions would make you cry. With those long arms, your hands are too far from your eyes!”
Funny, sweet, and so quietly sexy she’s already making my heart race. This girl is a dream.
We reach Herbie's Hideaway, a fantastic low-key place serving a mix of authentic Mexican food based on the chef's grandmother's recipes plus some regular pub grub. As soon as we walk in, the newish hostess perks up. "Welcome – oh, you're one of Kai's brothers, right?"
I lean in and lower my voice, hoping she'll follow suit. "Yes. Kane."
Her blonde ponytail swishes as she glances nervously around the restaurant. "I'm so sorry. Someone was just seated at the table by the front window. I could...um…”
I give her a shake of my head. "Anywhere you can squeeze us is just fine. Somewhere quiet. A back corner booth would be perfect."
She seems relieved. So does Sammie. "Right this way, sir."
As soon as we’re seated, sparkling water with lime and chips with fresh salsa and guacamole appear within seconds. Sammie gives me a strange look. "The service here is amazing. Do you come here a lot?"
"I go everywhere a lot. But I think Kai comes here more often than I do."
We agree to split a beef enchilada and an order of chicken tacos.
Meanwhile, I can't stop thinking about future dates, when I'll be comfortable enough to slide closer to her on the leather seat and place my hand on her knee as we laugh together.
I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I want to believe this is the first of thousands of dinners we’ll share.
"So, you said your brother is older. How much older?"
Her bottom lip wobbles for a second. "Seven minutes."
I snort a chuckle. "So you're a twin? Why didn't you mention that? It’s…kind of more than the average brother."
Her gaze drops to examine her hands on the table. "Twins are…I dunno, people always stare like we're some sort of curiosity. I sometimes feel like an animal on display at the zoo."
My hand hovers over hers for a moment before settling gently on her wrist. "I think I can empathize, to a degree. Five boys who look quite similar. We were stared at a lot."
"But you had five different names. You weren't just known as the twins."
My fingers lace through hers. "Ugh. Yeah, I could see that being annoying." I trail my thumb gently along the side of her hand. "Please tell me your mom didn't dress you alike."
She laughs. "Only for our birthday photo every year. And a few times she’d get us the same winter coat, but his would be blue and mine would be pink or purple." She hesitates. “For us it was bad enough. I can’t imagine how people would stare at identical twins.”
When our food arrives, Sammie looks at me carefully before taking a bite. Then her eyes fall shut appreciatively. "Mmm. This is amazing."
"By the way," I say, "if you haven't been eating properly lately because the kitchen is difficult to cook in, please don't be shy about scarfing all of this down. We can easily order more. Heck, we can also grab some takeout, so you have breakfast in the morning?"
She places her hand lightly on my forearm in a subtle but sweet gesture that lights up my heart. "Thank you. I'm ravenous but was worried about having to eat like a lady."
I turn to grin at her as I set my hand on top of hers. "Sammie, you don't have to do anything like a lady around me if you don’t want to. Wear dirty jeans and army boots. Curse like a sailor. I can bring my biggest truck next time, if you’d like to drive it?"
Her eyes light up as if I’d just handed her a puppy. "I assume you're kidding, but I've never driven a truck before. I've always wanted to, though."
"And you will. But only if you finish every single taco on that plate, cutie."
Sammie’s eyes dance. Her nerves are settling and she’s becoming more comfortable around me the more she eats. We chat about favorite foods, restaurants we loved as children, then somehow end up talking about grocery stores.
“It was always so weird there,” she laughs. “It’s where all the moms would stop and chitchat, even with total strangers.” Her smile fades. “It was also a place where people loved to play a round of stare at the twins.”
“That sounds irritating.”
She shakes her head. “It was downright creepy sometimes. Like… why do total strangers need to stare like that? And why do mothers have to share every detail of their children with strangers?”
“Because families are weird?” I suggest. Then I chuckle. “I can just picture you in pigtails, glaring at people to make them stop looking at you.”
“Tried it. It never worked. People just thought I was tired and told me to take a nap.”
“I remember being at the grocery store when I was around seven, and Mom sent me to get a few things from the fruit section. A woman was staring at me like I had three heads – maybe because for once I wasn’t with my brothers.
So I picked up a banana like it was a phone, said hello, then held it out to the woman, saying the call was for her. ”
She tries to hold back a laugh. “And what did she do?”
“Backed away as if it were a grenade and ran to the next aisle. The next time I saw her there she avoided us.” I laugh so hard that I’m grateful that we’re not at that window table.
“So, that’s the way to scare people off? Be a lunatic?”
“Apparently, yeah.”
Sammie laughs, then nods. “Maybe I’ll have to take lessons from you.”
“I’d be honored.”
We both look down. When did we start holding hands? Something locks into place when our eyes meet again, a brand-new sensation that feels like a waterfall of sparks down my spine, pooling in my heart.
Leaning closer, my lips barely miss hers as they move toward her ear. “I thought you were beautiful when we first met, but seeing you laughing like this is like food for the soul.”
She leans in slightly, so my mouth brushes her cheek. I kiss softly along her cheekbone, then pause. “Is it wrong for our first kiss to be in the back of a restaurant? I feel like I should be a proper gentleman and take you to a moonlit beach or something.”
“Hey, I don’t have to be a proper lady. Why should you have to be a proper gentleman?”
“Touché.”
I’ve tasted fine food from all over the world, yet the taste of Sammie’s soft lips against mine is more delicious than any of it. Her warmth, her gentleness, her airy sigh as we shift, my arm around her… The incredibly light kiss hovers, neither of us wanting to let this perfect moment go.
As we part, her shy smile burning into my mind, I feel like I’ve learned something.
We belong together. Simple as that. I’ve never had this sort of hunger for anyone or anything else.