Page 7 of Love at First Slice
“I’m Mark Cosecha.”
“Harvest,” I weirdly translated, and his lips twitched.
“Yeah. That’s what it means in Spanish,” he agreed. I swallowed.What are the odds of that?“And you are?”
“Oh!” My eyes widened. “I’m Abby.” I extended my hand, and he took it despite holding a bag of wine and my food trays. His hand was big and warm and strong with a few callouses at the palm. Callouses I wanted to feel all over my body. What? Where had that come from? There was something familiar about his touch, too.
“Abby,” he repeated. I smiled up at him with a nod, feeling like I was about to drown in his gaze and not having one problem with it. “Abby,” he said again. I liked him saying my name. Just the sound of it in that deep manly tone made me feel likemelted butter on the insides. All liquid heat. “Pretty name,” he murmured, his tone velvety smooth against the chilly autumn night.
“Thanks… Mark,” I whispered. Something in his gaze flared to life. I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but despite just having met, we started to sway closer to one another. I felt like I knew him somehow. Suddenly, we were close enough that our arms brushed against one another. The cool breeze was the only thing that saved me from sweating as I studied him, and he did the same to me. Not in a way that made me feel self-conscious, though. No. I wanted to lean into him. Maybe go up on my tip toes and rest the palm of my hand on the middle of his chest before leaning in and letting our lips meet. As if reading my mind, he moved, and my hand rose. My heart started to pick up speed as I stared into his beautiful eyes. Was I about to kiss a complete stranger?
“You’re late!” Tabby laughed as she swung the door open, and both my gentlemanly stranger and I froze before we did something we might have regretted.
I wouldn’t have, though, I thought to myself. I knew it like I knew the sun would rise the next day. I tried not to make it obvious I was disappointed she’d opened the door when she did.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” I cleared my throat. Her soft brown eyes bounced between me and the man next to me with gentle curiosity before she smiled and her eyes connected with my sexy stranger. My sexy stranger? I couldn’t think about him like that. He wasn’t mine.
“Hey, boss.”
“Boss?” My eyes bounced from Tabby to Mark.
Shit. Mark Cosecha was the new principal at the elementary school.
The one Tabby wasn’t certain would stick around, since he’d moved here from a big city. Los Angeles? Seattle? Did it matter?I had been so wrapped up in his charming presence, I hadn’t even wondered how he knew my friends that he would be joining us.
“You brought more than wine.” She grinned, her eyes suspicious as she glanced at the two of us.Shit.Guilt started to grow inside me. Had I just been about to kiss my best friend’s boss?Is there a rule about that?
“I was just helping Abby out.”
“A gentleman,” I whispered, glancing at him, knowing very well that Tab’s eyes were probably about to pop out of her head.
“Well, let me help you out.”
“Oh yeah, me too,” I hurried to say. Tabby took a bag of wine and walked into the chaos of the busy living room.
“Let me help.” When I reached for the other bag, our fingers brushed against one another. His touch was electric. Searing hot. It called to me in a way I’d never felt before. Not once. Not ever. I was, after all, probably the last twenty-eight-year-old virgin not just on our mountain but in the world.
“Sorry, umm…” Nerves got the best of me, and I could have sworn he sensed that. His free hand touched mine.
“Breathe, Abby.” He winked. “I’ll follow you.” He jutted his chin towards the door.
“Right,” I whispered and moved past him. I had no idea how, but I could have sworn I felt his gaze on me.
Those deep, dark, bottomless eyes were checking out my every step; I felt in in my veins. Something that with anyone else would have made me feel self-conscious, to the point I would have glared at them. What with my curves and butt I swore made my pants at least one size bigger than they needed to be, there was a lot happening back there. But with Mark Cosecha watching me?
I didn’t mind.
And maybe, just maybe, I even swished my hips a little than I normally would have.
4.Mark
Everything in my body was yelling, shouting at me to go over and talk to her.
Make a move.
But I didn’t.
I might not have gone to talk to her, but that didn’t mean I stopped staring at her from across the living room. The large cabin’s open floor space allowed me to pretend to sit and talk to my realtor who, small world, happened to be Miss Nuñez’s man while I watched her talk to her friends.
