Sticking to the Plan

Chapter 16

It hadn't taken Kaley long to voice her concern over whether or not his family might resent her. After all, contrary to Bam's insistence, she was partially to blame for the whole situation that had led to his sham arrest. It was all an innocent mistake but she played just as much of a part of it.

"Are you really going to make your family wait on the boat for a whole day?" Kaley snuggled down deeper into Bam's lap as fat, heavy rain started to splatter across the wide windows that wrapped around the facade of the shop. The sky had darkened to an almost lightless grey. The rain fell in buckets, but it's resonances was comforting, making the little corner of the coffee shop seem even more intimate, "You know they are going to find out...about all of it, don't you?"

Bam sighed, the noise coming out in almost a hum as he leaned his head back against the arch of the back rest, his eyes peering at her through his signature specs.

"Yes." He said it simply and without supplement. He could tell she was hanging on the word, wanting to hear his reasoning, but he had none. He had no more reasoning than this moment - no more reasoning than her sitting in his lap, sharing a moment of calmness, a moment of levity in an otherwise whirlwind of encounters. He locked his eyes with hers as he finally continued. "They can be patient. God knows I've done my fair share of waiting on them. Besides, I have somewhere more important to be." His long fingers slid up her leg and while it made her whole body tingle, she smiled as those fingers sought hers, intertwining.

"Oh? And where exactly is that?" She knew she was being facetious, but she couldn't help but feel a little playful in the moment. She felt more relaxed by the second and easily let her body melt against his solid form. His grin at her sarcasm made her stomach flutter.

"Right. Here." He stated. She tried not to arch her back as his other hand trailed up her spine, her neck, to the back of her head, but she didn't resist in the slightest as he brought her head closer to his.

His kiss was whisper soft. She felt her cheeks burn, realizing they were still in public but it was unlikely they had anyone's attention. The few remaining patrons were otherwise occupied with their own pursuits; their noses were either buried in a book or a laptop. She had to consciously fight the urge to pry his lips open with hers and tangle their tongues together, but she was fairly sure she could feel him restraining as well.

He parted from her lips only for a moment to look into her eyes, he swore under his breath as he saw the want in them. He'd feared that his desire had been one-sided, that he was perverted by his want. But by her ragged breath from such a soft kiss, he knew she was fighting desires as strong as his.

"Should we...should we slow down?" Bam licked his lips as if pining for the taste of her kiss. Her grin did little to quell the stirring in his loins.

"If we want to keep this chair respectable, we should." She teased. He couldn't help but laugh, his chuckle rolling out in a deep rumble that she could feel as her chest rested against the side of his. It was infectious and she couldn't stop her own smile from growing.

"Yeah I don't need a second arrest today for indecent exposure in public." He winked at her, sipping his coffee as if somehow the warm liquid would cool him down.

He asked more about her, enthralled by the idea that they'd both grown up on boats and perplexed as how they never had crossed paths as children since their fathers had both fished for some of the same game. They'd frequented the same bays near Ketchikan, Port Protection, all over southeast really.

She warned him that it was unlikely her brothers would have let them near her, laughing as she remembered some cocky local boy being knocked into the water off the dock as he'd tried to lay on some smooth moves. She promised she'd introduce them sometime. She said she hoped he'd come visit her after she went home.