He couldn’t get that far ahead of himself. Dinner first, and then let tomorrow evening play out however Madison wanted.
They discussed the perfect s’more, how gooey the marshmallow had to be, and whether it was better to stick the marshmallow close to the flame or keep it at a distance but for a longer time. “We should do some experiments,” he said, grinning when she laughed.
“We’d have to use different chocolate too.” Her tone was serious as she smiled. “To see how that affects the taste. But for our first experiment, we should use the same brand of marshmallows. Different marshmallows can wait.”
“Oh, finding the perfect marshmallow.” He stroked his chin as if in thought. “Very good question, Doctor Adams. We’ll have to gather more data.”
She laughed again and gave him a s’more. “We can’t do proper research unless we have a hypothesis, though.”
“A what now?”
She was silent for a moment as she skewered another marshmallow. “It’s a fancy way of saying ‘statement I want to test’. For example, s’mores with milk chocolate taste better than ones with dark chocolate.”
“No way, dark chocolate’s better than milk.”
She gave him a mock-glare. “You’ve been eating s’mores with milk chocolate all evening.”
“And they would’ve been better with dark.”
“I guess that’s your hypothesis, then. You can test that,” she replied. “I propose that for the right amount of gooeyness, you need to hold the marshmallow further from the flame, but for a longer time.”
He clinked his beer bottle against hers. “I look forward to tasting the result.” That reminded him of another question. “How long exactly will you be here for?” He hoped she wasn’t packing up soon.
“Oh, um, it’ll depend on how things go with your mayor, obviously.” She pulled at the label of her bottle. “But ideally four weeks. I want to give the PhD students plenty of time to learn fieldwork techniques.”
Four weeks. He could work with that. It’d give him time to get to know her better and have more dates. “And when do those students get here?”
“The four of them will come down the day after tomorrow.” She glanced at him. “I came early to set some things up and find suitable spots for the nets. And maybe a little to enjoy the peace and quiet.”
“So much for that,” he murmured, leaning closer. She sounded like she needed peace and quiet. He wanted to make sure she got it. They’d finished dinner and he knew he couldn’t stay with her all night. But he also really wanted to kiss Madison, just once.
Her cheeks flushed. “You’re excused.”
“I was interesting enough, then?” He watched her closely for any hint she didn’t also want to kiss him. But she’d leaned closer, her eyes darting down to his lips.
“Definitely!” Her cheeks reddened more. “I mean I—”
He kissed her and never wanted to stop.
Just pressing his lips against hers sent desire pulsing down his spine, and that was before she deepened the kiss.
How had he thought kissing her once would be enough?
He moved to wrap one arm around her, feeling her body underneath her baggy hoodie. His other hand rested against her cheek, and then he ran it through her hair.
She moaned into the kiss, their knees bumping when she tried to get closer. Her hands landed on his thighs, and her touch burned through the fabric.
He pulled her in, and when he was about to pull her into his lap, he realized they had to stop now, or he wouldn’t want to anymore.
And going by the way her fingers dug into his thighs, neither would she.
He pulled away with some difficulty, his hands still lingering on her body and in her hair. “Um.”
“Yeah.” Her slow smile made him want to kiss her again.
He swallowed hard. “I should probably leave… we’ve got a big day tomorrow talking to the mayor.”
One eyebrow rose. “We?”
“Of course.” He took both her hands. “I’m coming with you.” He wouldn’t let her do that by herself. “I want to help.”
“You want to come with me?” She sounded genuinely puzzled. “You don’t have to. I can handle it and you have more important things to do.”
He squeezed her hands. “I want to help you.” Besides, right now the only other important thing he had planned for tomorrow was making her dinner. And cleaning up around the house. His place had to be perfect for her.
“Okay.” She smiled. “I need your help anyway, since you haven’t even told me where you live.”
Oh, right, he hadn’t. He’d been so focused on making sure not to spill any other secrets that he hadn’t realized it was ridiculous to keep it from her now. “Kirkwood.”
Her eyes widened. “I was there this afternoon to buy food and supplies! I never even—everyone there was a shifter like you?”
“Maybe not everybody.” Some people in Kirkwood were humans married to shifters. “But most of them, yes.”
“I never even had a clue…” She looked down at her feet, at the marshmallows left in the package.
“That’s kind of the point.”
Her eyes met his again. “So that’s how you knew I was here. The guy at the check-out asked if I was here to hike, so I explained things to him.”
“Yeah, small town grapevines work like that.”
She was silent for a long moment. “That sounds exhausting. Constantly having to be on your guard around visitors like that.”
“It’s not that bad.” He squeezed her hands reassuringly. “We’re used to it.”
“It still sounds exhausting.”
He couldn’t deny that. “All the more reason for us to work together, right?”
“Right.” She looked determined. “I’ll call your mayor tomorrow morning for an appointment, if you give me the number to her office. I hope she has time.”
“I’ll look it up tomorrow and text it. She’ll make time for you.” He knew Kathleen would want to talk to the ornithologist herself. “I wouldn’t worry about that. She probably won’t be able to meet you until the afternoon.”
“All right, that should give me time to get things in order around here.”
“And
