Page 98 of One Small Spark
“Oh. I’m almost there.”
He doesn’t sound too sure, but this probably isn’t the time to grill him.
“If cold plunges help with anxiety, do hot springs make it worse?”
His gaze locks on my mouth. “I might have an elevated heart rate right now.”
“You cheeseball.” I stretch out to poke his leg with my toe. “I might, too.”
“Come here.” He grabs my foot and pulls me closer, sliding me across the pool and into his lap. I wrap one arm around his shoulders, the other floating in the water in front of us.
“Careful,” I say softly. “There’s no PDA at the hot springs.”
“That’s not a rule.” He glides one hand over my back, finding my free hand with the other. He runs his thumb over my knuckles, and I shiver. How can a person shiver in a hot spring? “What’s your verdict?”
The crazy part of me thinks he’s asking what I think abouthim. As if he read my mind and wants to know if I’ve sifted through my tangled feelings and come to a conclusion or not. If I’m ready to slap labels on both of us and dive into something more.
The logical part of me knows it was an innocent question about the hot spring. And is frankly alarmed at how loudly the crazy part of me wants to screamyes.
“I thought I would hate it, but I kind of don’t. It’s peaceful. Really beautiful.” Our fingers intertwine in the water. “Smelly, but…I don’t mind it here.”
His hazy, soft smile makes the fluttering in my chest go wild. His dark brown eyes shimmer with light reflected off the pool as he gazes at me. One tiny push is all it would take to send me tumbling over the edge of a cliff into the unknown.
“I have some good ideas now and then.”
I can’t bring myself to ask about the rest of his good ideas. Even if I really want to know.
“Do you come here a lot?” He’s such a nature nerd, he made it sound like he’s a regular.
“A few times a year.”
“I bet you bring all your dates here.” Not sure why that came out of my mouth. I don’t want to imagine him here with anybody else. Definitely not with Rose, cuddling up exactly like this. Soft, sweet, gentle Rose. A bit of a buzzkill, that Rose.
He kisses me, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“I only wanted to bring you here.”
And there I go. Right over the edge.
TWENTY-SEVEN
SHEPHERD
I should have knownit would be a mistake to bring Wren to the hot springs. I sometimes come here to relax and clear my head. It’s peaceful, if I time it right, and the waters soothe me. Now, the vision of her in this pool will be so ingrained in my memory, any visits without her will be a poor imitation.
And, honestly, not especially relaxing.
I run one hand along the smooth lines of her back as she sits on my thigh, my other hand holding hers beneath the surface. The sound of the water bubbling from one pool to the next muffles any conversations from above.
“So you usually just come here by yourself?” she asks.
One of her hands splays across the nape of my neck, caressing my hairline so lightly, it’s driving me crazy. Her fingernails scratch over my scalp as she massages, setting my nerve endings on fire.
Now that I’m in the middle of it, I’m realizing this entire scenario was probably a bad idea.
“I’m usually on my own. Charlie used to come out with me, but she’s been bad at taking time off lately. Leo’s joined me a couple of times.Thatone getsnaked.”
Wren giggles against me. The sensation is both a delight and a torture.
