Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
My stomach plummeted hard, even before I registered the guy standing by Diesel’s elbow.
Stewie, the greasy little lawyer who was supposed to be helping Diesel get custody of Marigold, stood between Diesel and Paul Siegel. He stared at me and then behind me at Tucker, then up at Diesel, like he expected some kind of reality TV throwdown.
I swallowed. Stewie worked for Diesel, right? I was pretty sure Diesel had said Stewie was the best he could afford. But was Stewie required to go report what he’d seen? If he had doubts about the stability of my relationship with Diesel, would he report them to the caseworker who was coming next week or to the judge who’d make the final custody decision?
Would I really trust Marigold’s future to a man who’d wear a polyester suit to an orchard?
And why, oh why, hadn’t I thought about any of this before agreeing to this stupid date?
Because I was an idiot and a coward who was afraid of getting his heart bruised, that was why, and so it was my responsibility to fix this shit.
“It’s not what you think,” I blurted. “It’s a… a town tradition.”
Stewie glanced up at Diesel, who still wore that terrible, blank expression on his face, and raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Kissin’ other guys? If you say so, kid.”
“It’s the Lickin’ Kissin’,” I lied desperately. “It’s a… a traditional way of greeting your close friends. Only observed here in the Thicket. On select Sundays. In September. In this orchard.” I swallowed. “It’s fallen out of fashion in recent years, but I say we bring it back.”
There was a moment of stunned silence where eight pairs of eyes stared at me and at each other, and a lone voice in the crowd called out, “I thought the Lickin’ Kissin’ was in December?” then…
“He speaks the truth!” Ava proclaimed from Diesel’s other side. She turned toward Mal so fast her blonde ponytail swung out behind her, clasped his face in her two hands, and pulled him down to press an enthusiastic kiss to his lips.
Mal made a startled mmmph noise.
“Joyous Pickin’ Tidings, Malachi!” she said as she released him.
“Uh. Okay?” he mumbled. “Joyous Pickin’ Tidings?”
“Good God,” Brooks muttered, shaking his head and hauling his fiancé back against his side.
“Brooks,” Ava prompted insistently. “Don’t you have a closest friend to kiss?”
He stared wide-eyed across the group of us at Ava’s husband, Paul, who smiled a big, cheesy grin.
“Come on, Brooks,” he said, making a gimme gesture with both hands. “It’s been a year since the last time you laid one on me in a field.”
“It was you who laid one on me, and—” Brooks broke off as Ava’s glare grew more insistent. “I have no idea what’s happening here, but fine. Fine.” He brought both hands to his mouth, kissed them, and blew them toward Paul. “Joyous Pickin’…” He looked at Ava expectantly.
“Tidings,” she supplied.
“Right. Yes. Of course. Silly me. Joyous Pickin’ Tidings,” he recited.
Paul jumped in the air exuberantly, catching the kisses. “Back atcha, Big Daddy.”
“You solemnly swore you’d never use that name again,” Brooks sighed.
Ava Siegel winked at me and tilted her head toward Diesel significantly. “Go on,” she mouthed.
I stared at Diesel and swallowed as I took a cautious step toward him. Diesel stared back, and the whole world outside the two of us went fuzzy around the edges like it had completely ceased to matter, ’cause it kinda had, at least to me.
I lifted a hand to touch the golden-brown hair I’d been wanting to touch since I saw him at the courthouse that day, and I almost expected him to pull back at the last second, but he didn’t. And when my fingertips slid into the silky strands, his eyes half shut in pleasure.
My heart rate galloped a mile a minute as I pushed myself up on my tiptoes, my free hand braced on his shoulder for balance so I wouldn’t squish Marigold. He leaned down the rest of the way and wrapped one arm around me to splay at the small of my back, and then Diesel Church kissed me.
Holy shitballs of fire. Within the first second, my hand was clutching his hair like it was the only stable thing in the universe and I’d forgotten how to breathe. His tongue licked into my mouth like it owned the place, and his teeth clacked against mine a little. There was no finesse in this kiss, simply raw power and hunger that made me want to sob with relief. I’d wanted this and hadn’t thought I could have it. I hadn’t known he wanted it too.
And it occurred to me that other guys might know how to kiss just fine, but Diesel Church knew how to kiss me.
Marigold made a soft little noise, an indication she was awake, and I forced myself to step back.