Free Awakening Kiss (Watcher's Kiss Book 4) by Sharon Kay Page B

The heat wave had broken, but the food area of the festival was still hot. Next to them, a Thai barbeque booth did a brisk business grilling chicken, pork, and veggie kabobs. On the other side, a burger place cooked their flame broiled specialties. Enza fanned her face. “I hope I don’t look like a sweaty mess when he gets here.”
    “Well, you had flour on your clothes last time he saw you, so he may not care.” Meena smirked. “Coat yourself in sugar next time and he’ll want to lick it off you.”
    “Meena!” Enza took a long gulp from her water bottle. The day had flown by, but she hadn’t been able to resist an occasional scan of the crowds to see if Rhys had shown up early.
    She, Meena, and Ben, one of the baristas, worked seamlessly together in the small booth. When the crowed lulled, Enza sat on one of the tall stools they’d brought from her kitchen. “Whew.” She surveyed the case of pastries, fully restocked for the fourth time. “Think we’ve made enough to cover the festival fee?”
    “If not, then it was close.” Meena’s brows furrowed in concentration as she tallied the numbers. The woman’s brain was like a calculator. “We’ll make it up by the en—oh! Hello…” Her brown eyes widened as she looked over Enza’s shoulder.
    Enza turned as if pulled by a magnet, knowing exactly who was approaching. Rhys. He strode toward their booth on long legs encased in perfectly-fitting jeans, and the women that he passed turned to stare in appreciation. A navy blue T-shirt stretched across his chest and biceps. Aviator sunglasses shielded eyes that she already knew could be playful or dangerous. And that held an oddly mesmerizing glow. Or had she imagined it, back at The Arboretum? That night seemed so long ago.
    She stood and smoothed her black T-shirt. Java Genie’s name was emblazoned on the pocket with their logo, a winking, ponytailed, female genie hovering above a bottle and holding a mug of coffee. Maybe one of her own shirts would’ve been cuter, but she was proud of her business with Meena and, anyway, there was nowhere to change. She felt her lips curve into a smile as he neared. “Hi.”
    “Hey.” He took off his shades and grinned. “Had a good day so far?”
    “Yeah, busy.” Enza untied the half apron at her waist.
    “Yes, I can part with her now.” Meena sighed dramatically, but her eyes twinkled. “You came at a perfect time.”
    “I’m Ben. Nice to meet you.” Ben stuck out his hand. “Thanks for being there for Enza, the other day.”
    Rhys shook Ben’s hand. “Of course. I’m glad I was there too.” His eyes slid to Enza. “You ready to go?”
    “Yeah.” She waved to Meena and Ben and ducked out the side of the booth. She met him at the front and they moved through the crowd, away from her co-worker’s curious eyes. At one end of the block, a band made its best attempt at covering Eric Clapton songs.
    “It’s good to see you.” The corners of Rhys’s sexy mouth tilted upward.
    “You too.” Her words came out too breathy, but there was no way to calm down the heady anticipation of this moment.
    They stopped to let two moms pass, each one pushing a double stroller containing a set of babies in matching outfits. Enza peeked at Rhys and found his twinkling eys locked on her. So intense, as if they were the only ones there. She took a greedy moment to savor the attention, feeling one part giddy, one part lucky, and to be honest, a little powerful. He wanted to be with her .
    “Any place here you want to check out?” He made a quick scan of the restaurant booths.
    “I’m kinda hungry.” On cue, her stomach rumbled.
    He glanced at her as if he’d heard, though the surrounding crowd noise should have covered it. “You get a chance to eat?”
    “No, I didn’t. And the Thai barbeque next to us smelled soooo amazing all day.”
    “Then Thai barbeque is what you’re about to get.” He steered her to the booth, where she picked out a pork and veggie