Page 11 of Saving Ian Pope

As the wheel lifted into the air, I swung my legs. “Ooh, I love that feeling, but especially the whoosh on the way down.”

Ian craned his neck, turning his head. “Do you reckon that guy knows what he’s doing? Did he shut the door properly? Do you hear that creak?”

I huffed out a breath and patted his shoulder. “Are you scared? Do you want me to hold your hand?”

“Mission accomplished.” Ian held out his hand, palm upward. I threaded my fingers through his, and the wheel began to turn, picking up speed. Each time we descended, Ian squeezed my hand, and my stomach dropped. I couldn’t figure out if the butterflies were coming from the motion or Ian’s nearness and attention.

He slipped off his sunglasses and hung them on the front of his shirt. “I imagine this is loads more scenic during the day or on a clear night. I think you should get your thirty quid back.”

I rested my head against his arm. “I know. I’m sorry. There’s not much to look at.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” He bumped my knee with his. “It’s not bad, though. Up here, cocooned in this fog, barely able to see five feet in front of my own face, I feel like we’re in a bubble or rather nestled in a cotton ball. It’s like we’re floating on our own, hidden from everyone and everything else. Do you feel it?”

I felt all kinds of things. Weirdly, my throat was constricted, and I was having difficulty uttering a sound.

Ian wedged a finger beneath my chin and turned my face to his. I closed my eyes as his lips met mine. He tasted of the ocean—salty, briny, fresh, and unbridled. I moved my mouth against his, parting my lips.

The tip of his tongue slid into my wetness, and I used my own tongue to toy with his. He deepened his kiss and cupped the side of my face with his hand, his thumb stroking my earlobe.

My body tingled in all my regular hot spots and some I didn’t even know I had. I smooshed my breast against his arm to get closer, as if I could climb into his kiss and get lost with him in the fog.

When he ended our connection and pulled back, my eyelids flew open. He touched his nose to mine. “Nice.”

Nice? Yeah, that word was hardly adequate for the emotions and sensations his kiss had awakened in me. His touch had taken me somewhere else—beyond reason and logic and fear, and the aching loneliness that had engulfed me the past few years.

I managed to whisper, “Nice.”

He draped his arm around my shoulders and placed his chin on top of my head. “Magical.”

As I turned my head and rested it against his chest, I saw a streak of pink on the horizon. The sun hadn’t disappeared, after all. The overcast had lifted just enough to give us a peek of the sun’s final show before it dipped into the ocean.

When we got off the ride, my knees shook, and I knew damn well the kiss and not the Ferris wheel had caused my unsteadiness. I hung onto Ian’s arm as we walked away from our private bubble and delved into the crowd.

The smell of hot dogs, popcorn, fish, sugar and grease made my stomach rumble. Woman did not live by celebrity crush alone, and that ramen was just a distant memory now. The kiss should’ve been enough to satisfy me, but it seemed to have set everything on fire, including my appetite.

As if on the same wavelength, Ian stopped and inhaled deeply. “I’m starving, and you must be ravenous since that squirrel stole your fork. Do you want to get something to eat?”

“God, yes.” I pointed to the fresh fish stand across from the tourist restaurants. “We can pick out fish there, and they’ll cook it however you want. Only downside is that we have to eat it on those picnic tables set in front.”

“Sounds good. Please tell me they take plastic. I’m beginning to feel like a kept man.”

I’d like to keep him, alright...in my bed for about twenty-four hours. “I’m sure they do. They even have alcohol, if you want to get a beer. I’m driving, anyway.”

“I’m good. Do you want something to drink?”

“Just a soda.”

We ordered our fish at the counter, grabbed two cans of Diet Coke and sat across from each other at the end of a picnic bench with another couple at the other end.

Ian immediately stretched his hands across the table to take mine. “I hadn’t been on a Ferris wheel in years. Thanks for the suggestion.”

I disentangled one of my hands from his and took a slug of my drink. Might as well get over my awkwardness right away with a joke. “I only took you up there because I thought it would be a good place to share a first kiss. I’m a romance writer. I’m always thinking about these things.”

He tapped his temple. “That’s good to know. Do you always...try things out before putting them in your books?”

“Not always.” I winked. “I have a very good imagination.”

The guy at the fish counter called our number, and Ian jumped up to get our food.

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