Page 83 of The Mountain Man's Mail-Order Mafia Princess

“An informal assessment.”

I caught her around the waist and kissed her.

Her arms came around my neck. She pressed against me, red dress and diamonds and all, while I held her as tightly as I’d wanted to since the SUV arrived.

The radio crackled near my hip.

“Test launch in thirty seconds.”

I pulled back. “There’s going to be a test.”

A sharp boom sounded from the launch area.

Talia jumped against me. “Thirty seconds was still inconsiderate.”

I laughed and kissed her once more before heading toward the far marker.

By twilight, families covered the grass between the food stands and the public markers.

Talia and I ate grilled sausages from paper trays.

She pointed toward the funnel-cake stand. “We’re sharing one. Ordering two would show a lack of emotional discipline.”

“I didn’t know funnel cake required discipline.”

“Powdered sugar is where civilization begins to fail.”

It landed on the neckline of her dress anyway.

I brushed it away with my thumb.

Her eyes darkened. “You didn’t need to do that.”

“There was sugar.”

“There was cleavage.”

“Both things can be true.”

She smiled.

Mabel passed with a paper fan tucked into the front pocket of her overalls.

“You two fixed breakfast,” she said.

“We completed an extended conflict-resolution process,” Talia replied.

“You kissed in the middle of the field.”

“It was part of the process.”

Mabel looked at me. “Did you understand any of it?”

“Enough.”

“That’s a miracle.”

She continued toward the water table.