Page 42 of Fruit and Flash

Without waking fully, Kai moves in his sleep to nestle into my body like he was made to fit there. I squeeze him closer and he throws a leg over my thigh, sighing with contentment.

He doesn’t know it yet, but Kai has become everything to me. Tomorrow, I’ll ask him out. And on our date, I’ll ask him to stay.

Chapter twenty-nine

Kai

Thesoundofchickensclucking, a donkey braying, and the breeze blowing through an open window isn’t new to me anymore, but I smile to myself at the rightness of it all the same. Not only the homey feeling of the now-familiar sounds, but also how I feel inside.

Hayes cooked me dinner and picked me flowers last night. He goes out of his way to make me feel special. Then we made love. Well, we had sex. I’m not sure I can call it making love when we’re not there yet. But it was really, really, really good sex. The kind of sex that makes me wish I could wake up and crawl on top of Hayes’ body to do it all over again.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” a deep, gravely voice has my eyes popping open to find Hayes looking at me from six inches away. The rising sun is barely peeking through the lace curtains, so I know it’s super early, but I didn’t expect him to stay.

This would be the first time we spent the whole night together. Despite a little worry at my morning breath, I like waking upto Hayes all sleep rumpled and shirtless. I find his farmer’s tan oddly hot.

“Oh, good morning. Did we fall asleep?”

Hayes actually looks nervous when he replies with a shy smile, “You did, and I decided to spend the night cuddling you. Hope that’s alright?”

“Very alright,” I grin back at him, twirling fingers through his chest hair and wondering if he has time for a blow job before getting up to feed the animals. “You’re always welcome in my bed, Farmboy.”

“Do you want to go on a date with me?” Hayes blurts and I spend a few moments blinking at him as I try to process his words through my morning fog. “Tonight I mean. A real date. Off the farm. Not just me cooking for you.”

“You cooking for me was a pretty great date, if I remember correctly,” I wink, reminding him how our dinners often end in mutual orgasms. “But you also don’t have to go out with me in town. I understand you need time.”

Hayes shakes his head against the pillow. “I don’t want more time. Well, I want more time with you.”

The unspoken message that he wants me to stay longer hangs in the air between us. I’ve been wanting the same, but saying it out loud is a whole other thing. Hayes being seen with me, a man, possibly holding hands or even showing affection around the people he’s grown up with, means he’s serious about me. That’s scary as fuck for someone who’s never been in a real relationship. Even though he’s ten years older, I know he’s also never seriously dated anyone.

People will talk.

This is Hayes, though. The man who offered me a place to stay in his own house, a project to work on with no expectation of compensation, and who shows me with every action he’s a manof his word. He treats me like I’m special with everything he says and does. I can do the same for him.

Swallowing past my fears, I prop myself up on one elbow and cup his face. “I’d love to go out on a date with you. What do you have in mind?”

“Can I surprise you?” Hayes asks, and I get the feeling he stayed up late or woke up early thinking of this plan. Despite his occasional blurting, it comes from a place of deep thought and long contemplation.

“I love surprises. Go for it,” I tell him, leaning in to steal a kiss. He pulls back and I realize he has slept in for me but needs to get outside. “Do you want help with the farm chores?”

Hayes’ face lights up at my suggestion, and I know I’ll be offering to help again. Heck, if he keeps wearing me out with sex after dinner, I won’t even mind the early morning wake-up.

After I help feed the animals and pick out some ripe watermelon and cantaloupe, Hayes goes to the fruit stand and I head for the tiny house to film some more. By the time mid-afternoon rolls around, I decide Hayes deserves to have someone pick flowers for him as well.

Holding my makeshift bouquet as I enter the kitchen, I find Hayes packing a picnic basket. “Ooh, a picnic?”

“Wait and see,” Hayes grins over his shoulder at me and then spots the flowers. “Are those for me?”

“They are.”

Hayes strides over to take them with a watery smile and pulls me into a deep kiss, neither of us caring about the crushed flowers between us. Maybe I could start preserving dried flowers to save this memory forever?

Before I’m ready, Hayes steps back and tucks the flowers into the old-fashioned wicker basket I want to take a picture of to share online about how cute it is. Instead, I feed Shadow while Hayes finishes collecting things and I follow him out to thetruck. Shadow is let outside after eating, but Hayes doesn’t let her join us.

“Good girl, stay and protect the farm,” I tell her and I swear she grins at me with her tongue lolling out one side.

Hopping up, I wait for Hayes to round to his side before sliding over to sit right beside him. We both grin like teenagers sneaking out for a first date, but I sort of feel like we are. This is our first public date.

My first surprise is heading west instead of toward town. “Are we going to the Big Butt Lake I keep hearing about?”