Her laughter delighted him. He enjoyed every second he got to spend with her, no matter what they were doing. She was easy to talk to and quick to laugh, which brought lightness to his life that had been sorely lacking before he met her. Alex was beginning to think that the instant her tomato connected with his back would turn out to be the most fortuitous second of his life.

The movie was a comedy that had been released on the mainland months ago.

Jenny’s eyes were fixed on the screen, while his were on her. He was like a lovesick fool hoping the girl would turn her attention to him rather than the movie. After a particularly funny exchange between the characters, she glanced at him, smiling at the joke, and found him staring at her like a crazy stalker. But he couldn’t help it. If she was close by, he’d much rather look at her than watch a movie he had no interest in.

“Pay attention,” she whispered.

“I am paying attention.”

“To the movie.”

“You’re much more interesting than the movie.” He gave her shoulder a gentle tug and brought her close enough to kiss. Her lips were salty and sweet from the popcorn, and one taste was nowhere near enough.

“Now I know why you wanted to sit back here.”

“May as well make the most of our dark corner,” he said as he went back for more of her.

Her hand on his face was all the encouragement he needed to drop the nearly empty popcorn box to the floor and dive into the tongue-tangling kiss he’d been dying for all night. It only took about fifteen seconds for the kiss to spiral almost completely out of control.

Alex drew back from her, dragged in a deep breath and buried his face in her hair. “Can we please get out of here?”

“But you paid for the movie.”

“I don’t give a fuck about that.”

Because he was holding her so tightly, he felt the shudder ripple through her. She was so sweet and her responses to him so genuine. She made him wish he were a better man, someone more worthy of her—someone more refined than he’d ever be. But she didn’t seem to care that he could be rough around the edges. If anything, his coarse language seemed to turn her on.

“Let’s go.”

Alex launched out of his seat and led her by the hand from the theater, cursing his lack of foresight in leaving the bike parked at the Surf. On the sidewalk, he put his arm around her and steered her back the way they’d come through town. He was so into her that he didn’t notice they were about to slam into someone coming the other way until it was nearly too late.

“Well, isn’t this cozy,” a male voice said.