They were stopped at a corner when he turned to her. “Okay, I’ve got to say something,” he blurted out.

  “Um…okay?”

  “This feels a little strange to be walking around with a stranger, and I don’t want you to be uncomfortable in any way.”

  All she could do was nod.

  “So when we’re done here at Ghirardelli, we’ll get an Uber if we want to go anywhere that’s not within walking distance. My car isn’t far from here, but…”

  She completely understood what he was saying, and it made her like him even more. “I appreciate that,” she interrupted with a smile. “And just so you know, I don’t usually just go off walking around the city with strangers. I’m daring, but not like that.”

  The boyish grin he gave her was just plain adorable. It was obvious Will was raised to be a gentleman, which was refreshing.

  “I kind of figured you were a little daring,” he commented as they started walking again.

  “Oh?”

  “Well, you only came over and introduced yourself because you were dared.”

  “Yeah, it’s sort of a thing with me. I’m the youngest of five, and it was my way of getting them to play with me. I had to be bold; otherwise, I’d get left out of all the fun.”

  He chuckled softly. “I don’t even know what to say to that. I’m an only child, so…”

  “I know some would say they envy you, but I adore my siblings. They’re loud and crazy and sometimes utterly ridiculous and overbearing, but…” She shrugged. “I love them and can’t wait to go home and hug them all.”

  At that moment, Arianna realized why returning to Laurel Bay was the right option. Her family would make it totally worth not living in a big city.

  “You’re very lucky,” he said gruffly as they approached the row of shops.

  She was sure they would go into the first one when Will stopped. “Um…Will?”

  Turning toward her, he grinned. “Truth or dare?”

  Arianna almost squealed with glee. “Truth!”

  “I really thought you were going to say dare,” he said with a wink. “But…what is the most childish thing you still do?”

  “I still watch Disney movies,” she replied proudly. “And I’m not talking streaming them and watching them in secret in my house. I go to the movies, sit in the theater, and love every second of it!” Studying him for a moment, she knew this was going to be a fun addition to the day. “Truth or dare?”

  “Truth.”

  “Same question,” she challenged.

  “Hmm…” They started walking again. “I still like to run really fast. Like stupid fast, as if I’m in a race with everyone around.” Chuckling, he added, “Most of my friends have stopped jogging with me because I always turn it into a race.”

  Laughing, she looked up at him. “Just a little FYI, I will not be racing with you anywhere. So if you get the sudden urge to run, have at it, and I’ll catch up with you eventually.”

  “Duly noted.” They strolled along, looking in the shop windows for a few minutes before he asked, “Truth or dare?”

  Arianna smiled up at him, loving that they were going to keep doing this. She wanted to say dare, but she was dying to know what kinds of questions he’d ask. “Truth.”

  “Again?” he asked with amusement.

  “Well, we’re easing into this. Trust me. If we keep this up, you’ll get a lot of dares out of me.” Then she realized how that sounded. “I mean…”

  “It’s okay, Arianna, I swear.” He paused and seemed to think about his next question. “Do you have a hidden talent?”

  “Nope. None are hidden. I share them all equally.”

  “All? Like what?”

  “I started taking dance classes when I was five and they lasted throughout high school, so there isn’t any style I can’t do. I’m a whiz at card games—my siblings never beat me at poker. Or Uno,” she added with a laugh. “And I can touch my tongue to my nose. Look!” And then she did it and had to stifle a laugh at the shocked look on Will’s face. “Now you.”

  “I definitely can’t touch my tongue to my nose,” he said, laughing.

  “No, I mean…oh! Truth or dare?”

  “Dare.”

  “Ooo…making it interesting. Okay. Let me think for a moment…” As they continued to stroll, Arianna tapped a finger to her chin as she tried to come up with something good. She was somewhat legendary for what she dared her friends to do, but it was too early in the day to scare Will off. “I dare you to do a hundred pushups.”

  “Pfft…no problem.”

  He did and was damn near hypnotic. The man was incredibly fit; by the time he was done, he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

  Wow.

  “Okay then,” she said, fighting the urge to fan herself. “Let’s go grab some chocolate!”

  It was the most fun Will had ever had.

  They had toured Ghirardelli, eaten way too much chocolate, played a round of miniature golf, and then hopped a cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf. By that time, Will had boldly taken Arianna’s hand in his, and that’s how they walked around. Between the different shops and random conversations, they kept up their game of truth or dare.

  After the pushups, he’d been dared to do cartwheels, try to lick his elbow, and yell out the first word that came to his mind. In return, he’d dared Arianna to do several ballet leaps down the sidewalk, sing her favorite Disney song—loudly—and juggle.

  And she did them all with a smile.

  There’d been a lot of truths too.

  He learned she had her first real kiss when she was twelve, even though she kissed Jason Ryder in the fourth grade. She secretly loved reading historical romances, enjoyed listening to classic Frank Sinatra music, and desperately wanted to go to England and see Buckingham Palace in person.

  Everything about her screamed carefree, happy, and pretty much all the things Will had no idea how to be. She was breathtaking to look at, had a wicked sense of humor, and found joy in pretty much everything.

  They had stopped for a late lunch, shared a glass of beer, and were about to hop another cable car to Chinatown when an idea hit. “Did you ever take a sunset cruise around the bay?”

  Her eyes went wide. “No! That’s a thing?”

  Nodding, he said, “Yeah, and it’s pretty cool. What do you say? You up for it?”

  “Definitely!”

  Will knew the cruise might be sold out, but figured it was worth a shot. As luck would have it, they managed to snag the last two tickets, and the look of excitement on her face was everything.

  “It can get cold on the water,” the ticket agent said. “So be sure to have jackets with you or a blanket.”

  Well…crap. He knew neither of them had jackets with them, so…

  “We’ve got about an hour before the boat leaves, right?” Arianna asked him.

  He nodded and looked around.

  “So let’s go shop for some sweatshirts, jackets, blankets or…all the above!” Taking him by the hand, she dragged him away from the ticket booth and back toward the row of shops across the street.

  An hour later, they both had new sweatshirts and a ridiculously large blanket with a map of the city on it. They were in line to board the boat, and Arianna happily bounced on her toes beside him. It would be pointless to ask if she was looking forward to this because it was written all over her face. There were several sea lions near the dock, and she pulled out her phone and took a few pictures of them.

  On board, they picked a spot and got comfortable. Will wrapped the blanket around them and was pleasantly surprised when she snuggled close to him. With her head on his shoulder, they sat and people-watched until the boat left the dock. It was the perfect night for a cruise like this. The sky was clear, which meant there would be plenty of stars to see once the sun went down.

  They were heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge, and Arianna sat up a little, pulled out her phone, and began taking pictures.

  “I know I already have dozens of pictures of the bridge, but not from the water,” she said before grinning at him. “Brace yourself because I’m going to be doing a lot of this.” Then she leaned back and turned the camera on them to take a selfie. He wrapped his arms around her to hold her close, and he wanted to protest when she moved away to take more shots of the scenery.

  The sun was setting, Arianna leaned back against him, and all Will could think was how this day had turned around. This morning, all he wanted to do was find an earlier flight home and just be done with all the sadness and drama of settling his mother’s estate.

  Now he was glad he’d stayed.

  “Will?” she whispered.

  “Hmm?”

  “Truth or dare?”

  And because there was a sultry look in her eye, he said, “Dare.”

  “Good answer,” she murmured as she twisted to face him. “I dare you to kiss me.”

  It was hard to say who moved first because they met in the middle. The instant his lips touched her, he forgot all about the reasons he was in California, and pretty much everything negative going on in his life, and focused entirely on the woman in his arms. She was warm and curvy, her lips were soft, and the way she hummed as she pressed closer was the biggest turn-on of his life.

  He was incredibly thankful for the blanket around them.

  His hands moved up and down her back as she clutched the front of his sweatshirt before moving up to caress his jaw. He usually was completely clean-shaven, but in the last few weeks, he’d allowed himself to grow a beard.

  He was now cursing every hair covering his jaw because he couldn’t feel the smooth glide of her fingers on his skin.

  Someone cleared their throat—loudly—and they reluctantly broke apart. Arianna’s eyes were a little dazed when she looked at him, and Will was pretty sure his were the same. Slowly, he licked his lips and did his best to maneuver them so they were watching the sights again. Neither said a word; it was the longest they’d gone all day without saying anything.

  He wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign.

  They enjoyed the rest of the cruise, and when they docked and it was time to go, he helped her to her feet. Instead of following the crowd, she moved in close, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and kissed him again.

  Will dropped the blanket and pretty much all their stuff in his haste to wrap his arms around her. The kiss was part tame and part tempting. This certainly wasn’t the place for him to kiss her the way he desperately wanted to, but he’d take it for now. He was just settling in and enjoying all her lush curves against him when their captain came over and clapped him on the back.

  “Glad you two enjoyed the trip!” he said with a laugh as he kept walking.

  It was like a bucket of bay water had been dumped on him and he ended the kiss, took a step back, and nervously looked around. “So, um…”

  “I think that was a little rude,” she whispered as she picked up her purse and bag of chocolate. They had purchased an insulated bag for it hours ago, and he hoped it was still intact for her.

  Slowly, they made their way off the boat, and once they were off the pier, he wondered what they would do now. Was this the end of their day? Would she need to get home to finish packing? Should he suggest they pick up where they left off and perhaps find someplace private to go?

  “How do you feel about Chinese food?” Arianna asked, interrupting his thoughts. “We can hop a cable car up to Chinatown if you’re up for it?”

  The last thing he wanted was to have their night end here, so he’d go wherever she wanted to. “That sounds great!” Taking her hand, he led her to the stop where they had to wait for the next car. “So? What did you think of the cruise?”

  “That was amazing!” she gushed. “I can’t believe I didn’t do that before!” Then she blushed adorably. “Although, I don’t think it would have been as exciting with anyone else, so…thank you.” Leaning in, she got up on her toes and kissed his cheek. Will was about to turn his head and kiss her properly when the cable car arrived.

  Fortunately, it was a little crowded, so he had to hold her close as they rode, but he cursed that he was still carrying the ridiculous blanket.

  When they could finally hop off, he took Arianna’s hand and led her through the crowds until he could find a bench for them to sit on. “I haven’t eaten here in years,” he admitted. “So if there’s a particular restaurant you want to eat at, lead the way.”

  She studied him for a moment. “How do you feel about dim sum?”

  “Love it.”

  Getting to her feet, she held out her hand to him. “Then let’s do this!”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “What is the naughtiest thing you’ve done in public?” Arianna whispered hours later before nipping playfully at Will’s jaw. It was close to three in the morning, and they were wrapped up in their blanket while sitting at the top of Twin Peaks. From their spot, you could see San Francisco’s skyline light up the sky, including the Bay Lights art installation on the Bay Bridge. The view was magnificent, but kissing Will and the feel of his hands touching her was even better.

  “I think I’m doing it right now,” he murmured against her throat. They were both fully clothed, yet it felt extremely naughty to be making out like this in the open.

  “Me too,” she said breathlessly as his hands gently kneaded her breasts. Her head slowly lolled back, and when she looked up, the view was of a million stars in the sky.

  Earlier, they had shared dinner and then walked around Chinatown before finally admitting they didn’t want to walk anymore. Typically, Arianna would have felt like it was time to say goodnight and head home, but she wasn’t ready for the night to end. Throwing caution to the wind, she had agreed to go back to get Will’s car so they could come up here to enjoy the view.

  That was three hours ago, and she was still in no hurry to go home.

  People believed she was bold and uninhibited, but there were some things she’d never considered doing. Making love under the stars was one of them. But right now, it was all she wanted to do.

  It was crazy—her connection to Will was like nothing she’d ever felt before. After spending the day doing nothing but talk, Arianna felt like she knew both everything and nothing about him. They’d both been very open on a broad range of subjects and offered little personal information. For her, she knew she held some details back because this wasn’t going to go anywhere. All they had was today, so why put too much of herself out there.

  Will’s tongue teased a line from her collarbone to the shell of her ear, making her tremble, and she seriously wished they had met sooner. To have more than this one perfect day together would make the decision to sleep with him, or not sleep with him, so much easier. However, the more he touched her, the more she lost the fight to not sleep with him.

  He whispered her name before pushing up and putting some space between them. Breathless and his hair an absolute mess, he smiled down at her. Reaching up, Arianna caressed his jaw and cursed the unfairness of life.

  Swallowing hard, Will turned and kissed her palm before meeting her gaze. “In a perfect world, we would have met weeks ago, and tonight we would have spent the entire evening curled up in bed saying goodbye,” he said gruffly. “I want you, Arianna. You have no idea how much. But there’s no way I’ll make love to you in the middle of a public park.” Groaning, he leaned down and kissed her forehead softly before rolling over to her side.

  Well…damn.

  Turning toward him, she gave him a sad smile. “I know what you mean. I was thinking how unfair it was that today was all we had and contemplating how awful it would be for us to make love under this blanket.” She sighed. “Part of me reasoned it would be amazing. I mean…between the city lights and the stars and…well…you, how could it not be?”

  This time, Will was the one caressing her cheek. “It would definitely be amazing, but it wouldn’t be right. You deserve to be in a comfortable bed, surrounded by soft music and candlelight…” He kissed her cheek. “And we would make love all night long—taking our time because we want to learn everything about each other. I’d want to hear every sigh, every hum of pleasure, so I could make it perfect for you.”

  She moaned just thinking about it.

  “We’d fall asleep in each other’s arms and then wake up and do it all over again.” He let out a long breath before rolling onto his back and staring up at the sky. “You deserve more than a quickie, with our pants around our ankles, wrapped up in this blanket in the grass. I know that makes me sound old-fashioned, but…”

  Arianna rolled toward him and placed a finger over his lips. “I like that you’re old-fashioned. I like that you’re a gentleman.” Moving her finger away, she rested her head on his chest. “I like everything about you, Will, and this totally sucks.”

  He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her. “I have to agree.” Placing another kiss on the top of her head, he sighed again. “What time is your flight tomorrow?”

  “Eleven.” It occurred to her just how much she still had to do, yet…she didn’t want to miss out on these last hours with him. “What about you?”

  “Around the same.” Then, neither seemed to know what to say, so they simply lay in the grass with their silly map blanket and stared up at the night sky. Her eyes felt heavy, but her heart felt even heavier. She wanted time to stand still and give her another day—another week—with this man. Hell, she wanted him to say he didn’t have to go back to Washington D.C., and he would follow her home to her tiny town, just so they could be together.

  Whoa…what am I thinking? We just met. It’s too soon to move in together and plan a future.

  Isn’t it?

  The air was crisp and it made her shiver. Burrowing closer to him, she held him tight.

  “Truth or dare?” he whispered, and Arianna felt herself smile.

  “Truth.”

  “Do you want me to take you home?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  The list was endless, but ultimately, there was only one answer. “I want to watch the sun come up with you,” she said quietly. “Then you can take me home.”

 

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