Page 9 of Tiger's Voyage
“Did I?” He rubbed his jaw. “I don’t even remember the waitress.”
I snorted. “How is it you always know the right things to say even when you can’t remember anything?”
He grinned. “Must be a gift. So about the waitress … was she pretty? Tell me more.”
I described our date and how we’d fought over dinner. I told him about how he’d ordered a feast and tricked Mr. Kadam into bringing me there. I described how handsome he looked, about how we’d argued, and how I’d stomped on his foot when he winked at the waitress.
“What happened after dinner?”
“You walked me back to my room.”
“And?”
“And … nothing.”
“Didn’t I at least kiss you goodnight?”
“No.”
He raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound like me.”
I laughed. “It’s not that you didn’t want to. You were punishing me.”
“Punishing you?”
“In a way. You wanted me to admit my feelings.”
“And you didn’t?”
“No. I’m pretty stubborn.”
“I see. So the waitress flirted with me, huh?”
“If you don’t stop grinning at the thought of the waitress, I’m going to punch your arm and make you physically sick.”
He laughed. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would.”
“I’m too fast for you to even come close.”
“Want to bet?”
I crawled across the bed while he watched me with an amused expression. I leaned over the side, made a fist with my good hand, and swung, but he quickly spun away, got to his feet, and was now standing at the foot of the bed. Getting off the bed, I walked around the side, trying to corner him. He laughed softly and motioned me closer. I stalked toward him slowly.
He stood his ground with a soft smile of confidence and let me approach him. When I was five steps away, he lost his smile. At three steps, he grimaced. At one step, he groaned and staggered. He moved several feet away and clutched the back of the couch for support as he took some deep breaths.
“I think that’s all I can handle tonight. Sorry, Kelsey.”
I took several steps backward and said softly, “I’m sorry too.”
He opened the door, and gave me a small smile. “I think it was worse this time because I touched your hand for so long. The pain built up too quickly. Normally, standing next to you doesn’t affect me so strongly.”
I nodded.
He grinned. “Next time I’ll just have to remember to touch you at the end of the evening. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
