Page 27 of Surprise Mother Pucker

Taking my hand in his, I walked next to him. His grip was firm but gentle.

We rounded the corner, and Eli came to an abrupt stop. I glanced up at his face, which was startled, then looked straight ahead…

At the very closed, very no longer in business, Italian restaurant. It had clearly been shut for a few weeks. There were signs in the window and dust gathering on the one or two tables left inside. Even the restaurant sign was looking a little decrepit.

“Is that where we’re supposed to be going?” I asked, doing my best to avoid giggling.

Eli didn’t look at me, his gaze locked on the closed-down restaurant. “Oh, no… This place was open just last month.” He turned to look at me. “I’m so sorry, Kennedy, I should have called and made a reservation.”

I waved off his concern. “Oh, well. You know, there’s a ton of amazing cheap street food places near campus. Maybe we can grab something there?” I suggested.

He looked down at me. He clearly was unhappy that his plan had fallen through. “But I wanted to take you to a nice restaurant.”

I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “It's the thought that counts. I appreciate the plan, but I am more than happy to eat two-dollar tacos from a cart.”

Eli closed his eyes and shook his head. “You’re too damn sweet. What am I going to do with you?”

“Feed me tacos and tell me I'm pretty?” I asked.

He snorted. “Nah, I’ll feed you tacos and tell you just how amazingly stunning and sweet you are.”

“Well, I’m okay with that!”

Chapter 12

Eli

“Of all the places I expected our date to go, I never imagined the library.” I chuckled as I guided Kennedy through the automatic door into the large building.

“I’m so sorry!” Kennedy cringed. “I totally forgot I needed to grab that textbook.”

“No worries. If you want, we can stop by that shop across the street for ice cream after we’re done here.”

We had been walking all around campus, eating our cheap tacos, when Kennedy had remembered she needed a book from the library for a class first thing tomorrow morning.

I had insisted we swing by the library, so she could pick it up. It was the least I could do, considering how goddamned sweet she had been all night.

My plan to take her to a fancy restaurant had failed epically. Usually, I was better at planning things, and I had been humiliated at my failure. I had expected Kennedy to be upset because, after all, she had dressed up to go out for a nice meal, and I hadn’t had a restaurant to take her to.

Instead, she had convinced me to walk around campus, eating cheap tacos on what was ending up being the best date I'd had in a long time.

Kennedy’s eyes widened at the mention of ice cream. “That’s a good plan. That place is amazing. Ice cream is the way to an omega’s heart.”

“In that case, I’ll make sure I feed you ice cream regularly.”

We looked up the location for the book she needed and made our way back to the older part of the building. The entire time, I stayed close to Kennedy, my hand on the small of her back, guiding her.

She didn’t shy away from my touch. In fact, she leaned into it.

“I’ve never actually been to this part of the library—it’s so isolated!” Kennedy said as we wandered through the dusty old stacks.

“It's the quietest part of the library. They don't even have CCTV down here,” I said, probably knowing a little too much about it, considering I rarely came here. “It's like they've completely forgotten about it. Last year, there were even rumors of students hooking up down here.”

“Really?” Kennedy asked, turning to me with surprise plastered across her face.

Her sweet floral scent intensified, and a quiet groan escaped my chest.

Shelikedthat idea.

---