“She shouldn’t have been beautiful—she was too forward, too freckled, too thin. Still… Oh, to hell with it all. He wasn’t hungry, anyway. He reached out and took her hand, drawing her to him. She drifted near, until she was close enough to kiss. Close enough for him to see the green of her eyes, widening as he turned her hand over, palm up.

“There’s something I’ve wanted to do since the first moment I saw you,” he said. It came out close to a whisper.

“Oh?” He could feel the puff of breath from that word against his nose.

“Don’t even think of arguing.”

She shook her head. Her lips opened, an impossible, inviting fraction.

He set the fork in the palm of her hand and closed his fingers tightly around hers. “I want you to eat,” he said.”