On The Ropes (Tapped Out 3)

She tugged at the thin gray cardigan sweater she’d pulled on after her set and bit her lip as she studied the booths and rides. “Actually, I’d like a caramel apple. And cotton candy.” She laughed softly and shook her head. “My dad used to take me and Ame to the Field Days every year. We’d try to outdo each other on the ringtoss, and Ame would always win at Whack-A-Mole. But no matter who won, Dad got us both caramel apples and cotton candy.”

“Then a caramel apple and cotton candy it is.” I led the way to the booth that had both.

“Don’t you want any?” she asked once I’d ordered just for her. Then she made a face. “Oh, you’re training. You’re no fun. Just like Ame and Fox.”

“I’ll have some of yours.”

“Pfft.”

I handed her the caramel apple and cotton candy as we started to walk, smiling at how her eyes widened at the size of both. She was so expressive, never hiding a thing from me.

Until recently.

She took a bite of the apple and handed it over to me so she could tear into the bag. Before I could deflect it, she was shoving a mouthful of orange and cherry cotton candy into my mouth, and I ate it because she was laughing and that was all I’d wanted.

“I bet that busted your diet,” she teased, thumping me in the stomach.

“I’ll live.”

Just like that, her face closed off. She took another bite of her apple, but her momentary relish was gone.

“What about a game?” The question came out sounding desperate as we walked past the balloon booth again. I gestured to the prizes in puffy plastic bags waving in the breeze from the eaves of the booth. “I’ll win you a big stuffed animal.”

She frowned. “No one ever wins the big stuffed animals on this game. You have to pop about a thousand balloons to get anything more than those tiny ones.”

“I can do it.” It wasn’t much of an offering in the scheme of things, but dammit, I could give her this.

“You’re just going to waste your money,” she called as I rolled up my sleeves and walked over to the guy manning the booth.

It took twenty minutes and about twenty-five popped balloons, but I won her choice of the house’s prizes. At my side, she stared up at them, her eyes as large as moons.

“No way.” She pointed to a huge panda. “Even those ones in the back?”

“Even those.” The guy didn’t seem too pleased about it. From the looks of things, he hadn’t moved too many of them today.

I expected her to go for the panda, but she surprised me by pointing to a giant Dalmatian wearing a red fire hat. “That one, please.”

“You won’t be able to carry it.” I laughed and shook my head as she offloaded her candy to me. “It’s bigger than you.”

“I can so carry it.” She swished her long hair back and grabbed the Dalmatian away from the guy, hugging it to her with a zeal that made even the carnival worker laugh. “See? Mine.”

Amused, I smoothed the hat into place on the dog. “You’re welcome.”

Once we’d walked past the booth, she leaned up on her tiptoes and surprised me with a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” she murmured. “I love it.”

I slid my hand into her hair and turned her face, capturing her mouth before she could slip back. I needed her taste inside me again, like an alcoholic craves his last drink. There was no twelve-step-program that could erase the softness of her glossy lips parting, or her candy-sweet tongue slicking over mine.

Too quickly, the kiss turned from gentle to hungry. I reached down to pull her against me, only to feel a large dog nose jamming into my throat.

“Oops.” She giggled and pulled the dog down out of the way. Sort of. He was too big to tuck anywhere.

“Sorry.”

“Did you buy him as a kiss deterrent?”

“Yeah, right. As if anything would keep us from kissing.”

You did. You haven’t touched me all week.