Page 31 of The Encounter
“That’s my favorite bakery!”
He winked at her. “I know.”
“How did you know?”
“I’ve got my sources.”
She raised an eyebrow, curious who his sources were. The guy could know the owners of the bakery for all she knew. It wouldn’t be hard for him to ask them if she was a regular. But she suspected Kayla had something to do with it.
He handed her the chocolate cupcake with the marshmallow frosting, her favorite. She immediately unwrapped it and took a bite, closing her eyes to relish the flavor. He quietly laughed, so she opened her eyes and looked at him.
“What?”
“I’ve never met someone who loves dessert as much as you.”
“Dessert is the best part of the day.” She laughed and took another bite to make her point. Her nose touched the frosting, and she was about to wipe it away when he grabbed her hand.
“Allow me,” he said softly.
Jace reached his hand out and lightly brushed the tip of her nose with his fingers before they skirted down her cheek and lightly held her chin. He leaned in slowly, his eyes on hers, and her heart rate sped up.
Finally. He was finally going to kiss her.
She closed her eyes just as their lips were about to touch when she felt it. A warm blob hit her forehead. Rain.
But his lips never met hers. She opened her eyes as he stared in horror at her forehead.
“What?” she asked.
“Um,” he said. “You’ve got a little...” He gestured at her forehead.
She went to swipe at it, but he caught her hand and shook his head.
“What? Isn’t it raining?” She looked up, but there wasn’t any rain coming down. Suddenly, she was aware that the drop on her head was much bigger than a raindrop. And then she saw it—the bird in the tree above her head.
“Is that...?” she asked.
He nodded. “It’s bird shit.” He stated it matter-of-factly as if it were a normal, every-day occurrence.
She stared in utter embarrassment at him as he searched around for a napkin.
“It looks like I forgot to pack napkins.”
She dug through her jacket pockets and pulled out the only thing in there—a dog poop pickup bag she had put in her pocket before they stepped out of the car. Putting her hand into it, she used it like a glove to scoop the poop off her forehead.
He cringed as he watched her. “Um... I feel like I should be the one doing that.”
“I’ve made it worse, huh?”
“Stand up.”
When she stood, he picked up the blanket and stepped toward her. Using the corner, he wiped at her forehead. Then he went to a clean corner of the blanket, dumped some water from his water bottle onto it, and wiped her forehead again.
“Let’s go.” He gathered all of their stuff and crammed as much as he could into the picnic basket.
Maddie took Roxy’s leash and walked with Jace toward his car. So much for a great evening out. She was now walking with bird shit residue on her forehead that he had to wipe off.
Is it in my hair? She reached a hand up and tentatively touched her head, only to feel something wet. Fan-fucking-tastic. And now she had bird shit on her hand. She clenched her fingers into her fist to avoid touching anything else until she could wash her hands.
