“Yes,” he smiled. “Yes, we certainly did.” His hand moved under her chin and tilted her face up to his. Then he leaned toward her and bent down to touch his lips lightly against hers. He kissed her upper lip and then her lower lip, sucking it gently into his mouth. “You taste so good.”
“It’s Ginger Crinkles,” she said.
“No, it’s you. You taste good. You smell good. I love everything about you.” He returned his mouth to hers, gently kissing her lips. She felt an ache in her heart. He’d almost said he loved her—almost, but not quite. Then her mind became a blur as he deepened their kiss, tasting the inside of her mouth with his tongue, sending electricity down her spine. He played with her tongue and enticed it into his own mouth. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears and feel the thud in her chest. Abruptly, he broke the kiss and pulled away.
“I don’t know if I can make it a year,” he teased. “I’d really like to do a lot more than kiss you.”
Her face must have looked as stricken as she felt at his words, because he quickly backtracked. “I’m just kidding. I can wait. Please don’t cry.”
He bent down to kiss her again. His lips caressed hers gently. “Emily...” he moaned and then he was kissing her forcefully, bruising her lips with his passion. “Emily, I...” he breathed the words across her lips.
The door cracked as Claire flung it open, and they sprung apart, sporting guilty expressions. “We’re gonna play charades,” she announced. “Come on.”
Spencer rubbed his elbow where he’d slammed it against the arm of the glider. “I guess our talking time just ended.” Then he whispered in her ear, “But I enjoyed it while it lasted.”
*****
Anne watched Emily pushing her food around on her plate. She and Steven had decided to keep their news a secret from the general population for a while. But they’d agreed to tell the family members when the time seemed right. Anne had thought tonight might be a good time to tell Emily, so they’d invited her up for dinner. It was Wednesday, and they hadn’t had a chance to chat since the previous week. But now, watching her distracted movements, she knew they needed to talk about other things instead. There was something wrong, and it was probably an affair of the heart.
“So, how’re things with Spencer?” she probed.
“Fine. They’re fine.”
“You’ve been going out a lot lately, right?”
“Well, we had been until recently. But he’s been busy every night this week.” Her voice whined even as she attempted to appear nonchalant.
“What’s he busy doing?”
“How should I know? He doesn’t tell me,” she snapped.
“Sorry. I just wondered.”
“Can’t you ask him what he’s doing?” asked Steven.
“Oh. He always has an excuse. Tonight, he’s volunteering at a homeless shelter. But when I offered to go with him, he didn’t think it was a good idea.”
Steven frowned. “Well, it might not be safe for you. He’s pretty protective.”
“No. He’s lying to me. I know he is.”
“Are you sure?” asked Anne. “That doesn’t sound like Spencer.”
“I didn’t think so either, but I think he’s changed.”
Steven couched his words in a stern tone. “I don’t like this at all. If he’s lying to you, you should definitely break up wit
h him. You deserve better. Do you want me to talk to him?”
“No, I’m in love with him—at least, I think I am. Why else would I feel this miserable?” Her lower lip trembled.
Now Steven started laughing. “As best I can recall, you’re probably right. It made me pretty miserable at first. And that probably also means you’re jumping to all kinds of wrong conclusions.”
“He’s right, Honey,” said Anne. “You two probably need to talk. I’m sure he’s in love with you. He sure looked it when you were in the hospital.”
“But we talked, and he didn’t say he was in love with me.”
“He said he wasn’t in love with you?”