Page 41 of It's a Brewtiful Day
A moment later the ground shook, and I knew it wasn’t from the kiss.
Chapter Eight
Eminem’sLose Yourselfechoed out of the metal bowl. Fitting especially given the moments we’d just emerged from. Personally, I was just about to truly lose myself, but for an entirely different reason.
Elliot dropped his hands, but held me close, pulling me tightly. “I saw the remnant of the flash. I thought you had, too.”
I shook my head. How foolish would it be to admit I’d been lost in the moment? Probably very teenagerish, so I refrained from speaking.
“Do you want something to drink?” His voice rumbled in my ears and sent shivers down my spine.
“Yeah, please.” My mouth had gone as dry as a desert suddenly.
He placed the water bottle in my hand, but it was fairly light, being almost empty. “Let’s grab some more.”
“I’ll add it to our running list.”I was a half-step behind him to the counter. He grabbed two more bottles from the display case.
“Of course.” He cracked the lid on his and chugged it down. “Thank you.”
I nodded, then chugged half the bottle.
“You all good?” His brow arched.
“Maybe if you keep kissing me like that, I won’t even notice the storm.” I shook my head and covered my face in shame. What the William Shatner of over dramatics was I thinking? “That was… Oh my gosh…”
He pulled my hands down and stared into my eyes. “I’m more than happy to try if that’s what you want.”
But then it would be forced, and not natural like it had been. We’d both been caught in the heat of the moment and somehow, I sensed he knew it too.
A flash of lightning beyond the window stilled my soul, and I felt the heat from the dancing and the kiss rush out of my body in a land speed record.
Elliot searched my eyes but, for whatever reason, he didn’t lean down to kiss me. Just as well, as my lips turned to ice. It would’ve been like kissing a fish. Instead, he held me tight and inched us over to the metal bowl where his phone continued to play. Pocketing it into the back of his jeans, with the music still playing, he picked up the bowl. Just like in the movieTheShawshank Redemptionwhen the thunder threatened to rip my heart from my chest after the sky flashed, he banged the metal bowl against thestainless-steel counter.
He looked absolutely ridiculous, but it worked. The thunderous sound Mother Nature produced wasn’t so bad; it was tolerable and certainly not as loud as Elliot’s clanking. He reminded me of a toddler who bangs the bowls onto the floor and giggles with glee, and if I wasn’t mistaken, there may have been a small smile pushing out to the corners of his lips. There certainly was on mine.
“I adore seeing that,” he whispered, pointing to my face and encircling it with his finger.
Like a schoolgirl, I blushed big time. “Thanks.”
“Did that help?”
I nodded and pulled my stringy hair over my shoulder. “Amazingly enough, yes.”
“Perfect. If it helps you, I’m totally on board.”
Silly Mother Nature for having intervened in what had been a magical moment. As I stood again on my tiptoes and brushed my lips over this sweet, sweet man, he kissed me back, but it wasn’t as passionate as it had been.
Mother Nature had indeed killed what had been brewing between us.
“You are…” Despite all the romance books I’ve read, I didn’t know the right word to describe him. He was… amazing, but that didn’t seem perfect enough to suit him. “Thank you for that.” It was all I could muster out. With the moment gone, it was back to reality, and that meant back to wondering what else wasin store for us. “Did you time the flash and the thunder?”
“No, I was momentarily distracted.” A wink came my way, and my soul fluttered back to life knowing that all was not lost.
“I see.” But I was thankful for his distraction.
“I can keep an eye and an ear open and report back to you with my findings.” It was said tongue in cheek, but I was okay with it. He wasn’t making fun of me in the least. “Do you want something to eat? Are you okay to eat? We still have banana bread and a bear claw to destroy.”
I inhaled sharply and tossed my gaze out the window. It was still dark as night as the town hadn’t yet regained power. “Let’s wait until the storm has passed, then it’ll be safe to eat.”