Priceless (Forbidden Men #8)(50)

“Brandt Gabriel,” I growled. “You have food in this truck.” He’d better be planning on feeding me because it smelled really, really good. I might do him bodily harm if he made me smell that all the way to our destination and then denied me a taste. “What is it?”

“Garlic herb rotisserie chicken,” he answered as he started the engine. “I picked it up on the way here.”

I nearly whimpered. “Are you going to give me some?” Perking to attention when he turned toward the university, I wrinkled my brow. Where the heck was he taking me? “Where are we going?”

My confusion amused him. He just couldn’t seem to stop laughing. “Patience,” he was finally able to say. “We’re almost there.”

We wound through buildings on campus, past the library, tech center, and football stadium until we reached a small body of water that everyone called the campus lake. The grass around it was mowed short, and it was surrounded by benches and a couple of walking trails. A small bridge led into the center, where there was a tiny island with a monument dedicated to the first president of Ellamore University.

I glanced at Brandt curiously, wondering why he’d brought me here. We passed this lake almost every day on the way to class.

Watching a fountain out in the middle of the water, he told me, “Last week when we passed by here to pick up our graduation gowns together, you saw a couple having a picnic out on the island and you said it looked nice.”

Slowly, he turned to me, and when our gazes met, something warm and liquid flowed through my veins, something that made me feel more alive than I’d ever felt with any other person.

“You’re taking me on a picnic?” I asked, touched to the core.

“I’m taking you,” he murmured, “on a real, live, honest-to-God date.” Reaching into the backseat, he grabbed something and drew it up to the front before handing me a single, long-stemmed pink rose.

“Oh my gosh,” I gasped, reaching out with shaking fingers to collect my rose. Closing my eyes, I pressed it to my nose and inhaled its sweet fragrance. Roses were my favorite. “I think I’m going to cry. Brandt...” I opened my lashes. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“You wanted to experience a date, so you’re going to experience a date.” He leaned in to peck a quick kiss to the end of my nose. “And no crying. Only smiles and laughter are allowed for the rest of the night.”

I sniffed at his command. “But what if they’re happy tears?”

“God.” He shuddered and made a face. “No. Those are worse than the sad ones.”

“What?” I exclaimed, beyond confused. “How are they worse?”

“I don’t know. They just are.”

I threw back my head and laughed. “You are so weird.”

“Laughter. Good.” He pointed at me and winked. “Just keep that up. And stay here while I haul the picnic basket out to the island real quick. I’m carrying you to our spot. No wheelchairs allowed tonight, either.”

I shook my head as he threw open his door and popped from the truck before he opened the back extension and pulled out a wicker-covered basket by the handle.

“You can’t carry me that far,” I called, making him pause.

Glancing across the cab of the pickup at me, he lifted a single challenging eyebrow. “Watch me.”

As he shut the door and took off, I watched him through the window, smilingly giddily. I don’t know why I followed his demand and stayed like a good pet, but I was having fun, and besides, it gave me a moment alone in his truck to squeal out my excitement.

So I guess our kiss hadn’t scarred him too badly. That was good. I had no idea it would prompt him into this, though.

I still wanted to drop a couple happy tears because, wow, this had to be the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. After the debacle with Seth, I was kind of thinking I was done with the whole dating business. It had been a stupid pipe dream, anyway.

But Brandt giving me my first kiss, and now my first date, all because I told him how much I wanted one...well, it made my mind whirl with how many other things he’d be willing to give me...just because I wanted them.

Damn. No! I shouldn’t go there.

I was beyond honored he was doing all this for me. I wasn’t going to hope for more. God, I was such a greedy bitch.

Yet, even as I watched him out the window, strolling back to the truck after depositing the picnic basket, my body coiled with tension deep in my womb. A part of me craved that more he might possibly be willing to give. I swear I could still taste him on my tongue, feel his teeth on my earlobe, smell his scent as he slid his hand under my shirt.

“Oh, God,” I breathed, slipping down the visor to check out my hair in the mirror.

Hmm, didn’t look too bad. Reese had curled it for me before I’d left for classes this morning, and surprisingly there was still some bounce left. Biting my lips to make them redder, I popped my teeth from the bottom one just as he reached the truck and opened the passenger-side door.

Turning his back to me, he bent slightly, saying, “Climb aboard, my lady, and get ready for the ride of your life.” He grinned over his shoulder at me, wiggling his eyebrows.

I laughed. “You are such a goof,” I said, while actually his words heated me in all the right places. My breasts went heavy, and electricity sparked between my legs.