I dug my heels in before I could leave the cave and stared openmouthed at him.
Arden snickered and ducked back, leaning in almost close enough to kiss. “I want to kiss you?—”
“The cave is the perfect spot,” I interrupted, already trying to pull him toward the hiding spot.
“But I’m afraid that once I start, I won’t be able to stop. I don’t want another interruption.”
I huffed. “Okay.”
It wasn’t a great excuse, but I’d accept it. For now.
As I followed Arden out of the cave, he shifted his hold to thread our fingers together. “Do you mind?”
“Nope.”
I’d never been much of a hand holder. Fuck, I was pretty sure my mother had been the last person to hold my hand. But it felt good to hold Arden’s hand. It felt right.
“Arden?”
The surprised voice cut above the rush of the falling water, and we turned to see a short, slender, dark-haired man standing on the other side of the bridge with a tall broad-shouldered blond.
“Tim?” Arden choked out.
Fuck.
4
ARDEN
Tim…washere.
Seeing my ex knocked the breath from my lungs while my brain scrambled to reboot. This was the first time I’d run across him since we’d separated. We didn’t have a lot of friends who overlapped, so I’d never heard where he moved to or how he was doing.
Apparently, he’d started dating again.
Fuck. So had I!
Sort of.
Well, I hoped I was dating again.
The interesting man who’d tempted me from my very first glimpse as he approached the art museum now stepped in front of me. I caught a tight smile and something in his narrowed eyes that made me both nervous and excited.
He couldn’t be…jealous, could he?
Possessive?
Protective?
If even half of that were true, I was taking Kaylan home and screwing his brains out.
“Hi, I’m Kaylan,” my date introduced, sticking his hand out to Tim.
My ex stared at it for a second with wide eyes and then at me in question before accepting the handshake. “Hello. I’m Tim Lunken.”
“Oh, like the old airport,” Kaylan cheerfully replied.
I bit the inside of my cheek, holding in my goofy grin. Kaylan had not actually put emphasis on “old.” I was just hearing things.