He captured her mouth in a heated kiss. Her entire body thrummed with pent-up sexual energy as she kissed him desperately.
He tugged away and leaned close to whisper in her ear, “I’m worth the wait.”
She was well aware of that, but spanked his ass for being so full of himself.
He left her standing there and went to sit at a small rattan table next to one edge of the basket.
“Are you coming?” he asked, gesturing toward the seat across from him.
“Not yet, unfortunately,” she grumbled under her breath.
But the table built for two was inviting—though not quite as alluring as its occupant—so she rubbed the chill out of her bare arms and took her seat. The table felt a bit awkward. The seats were higher than a normal chair—more like tall beanbags than anything—and when she was seated, the table was very close to the tops of her thighs. She wondered at the strange configuration until she peered out over the edge of the basket and realized she’d be able to see out while they dined. That would explain why the cushions were high, but why was the table so low in comparison?
Gary came to stand near the table. “My wife is an excellent cook,” he said proudly. “She’s gone to retrieve your meals from the warmer in the SUV. Once the food is on board, we’ll cast off, and she’ll follow us in the chase car. You’ll have to serve yourselves, I’m afraid. I’ll be keeping the balloon on course. And we have to land before it gets dark.”
“Why is the table so low?” Jessica asked.
“So your dinner doesn’t fly overboard and spook the vineyard grapes,” Gary said and then laughed.
“Oh,” she said, smiling. “That makes sense.”
“Is this your first dinner cruise?”
“Nope. My wife proposed to me on a dinner cruise,” Sed said, nodding at Jessica. “But it was on a boat.”
“She proposed to you?” Gary’s eyebrows lifted comically.
“Yeah, she was a little desperate, I think.” Sed grunted when she kicked him in the shin.
“You’ve got it all wrong. I proposed to Pes, remember?” Jessica said.
Sed laughed. “He’s my evil twin.”
“Is that why you put this together?” Jessica asked. “Trying to one-up my proposal dinner?”
“Of course not. I wanted to give you a wedding night you’ll never forget.”
She reached across the table and took his hand. “You know what it does to me when you’re uncharacteristically sweet, don’t you?”
He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “I am well aware of that, Mrs. Lionheart. I might have a few ulterior motives here.”
“Boats are romantic,” Gary admitted with a shrug, “but I think your husband might have you beat with the hot air balloon. Not that I’m partial or anything.”
“We’ll see,” Jessica said. “If so, I’ll have to come up with something even more splendid to reclaim my title as biggest romantic fool.”
“Gary! A little help, please,” a woman’s voice said from the opposite side of the basket.
Gary went to help his wife load two lightweight Styrofoam coolers into the balloon.
Sed tilted his head at Jessica while they waited. “You look chilled.”
“I have a feeling it’s going to be even colder once we take off,” she said.
“I’ll be back.”
“Where are you going?”
“Patience, love,” he said with a grin.
Next thing she knew, Sed spoke a few words to Gary and was gone. She craned her neck to watch him jog across the field to the car. A moment later he was on his way back carrying his leather trench coat. Oh yeah, she knew what that meant. He only wore the trench coat when they were trying to keep their public liaisons as clandestine as possible.
Jessica looked up and smiled at Sed when he dropped the coat over her shoulders a few minutes later.
“Better?” he asked, placing a kiss on her temple.
She snuggled into the coat and inhaled the scent of leather and Sed—a heady combination. She felt instantly warmer, more than half of it due to anticipation, not the garment. “Yes, thank you. I’m glad you remembered it was in the car.”
He took the seat across from her again, and Gary’s wife approached the table. “You’ll have to serve yourself,” she said, “but everything that’s warm is in the cooler with the red tape and everything cold is in the blue-taped one.”
“What’s on the menu?” Jessica asked, leaning over to lift the lid of the red cooler. The lid slammed shut before she could get a look at or a sniff of the contents. Sed’s hand rested on the cooler, blocking her inspection.
“Patience, baby,” he said.
“But I don’t have any patience,” Jessica said.
Gary’s wife opened the blue cooler and placed a plastic bucket of ice in the center of the table. Jessica wondered if everything in the balloon was kept light or soft to prevent injury. Either that or Gary and his wife were cheap.
Gary’s wife retrieved a bottle and forced it into the ice bucket, rattling and crunching ice as she pressed down.
“Utensils and glasses for your toast are in the basket there,” she said, pointing behind Sed. “I think that should cover everything. Enjoy your evening. And congratulations on your marriage.” She glanced specifically at Jessica when she asked her next question. “Was this really all your husband’s idea?”
Jessica nodded. “It was a complete surprise.”
“I think you have a keeper.” She winked and turned to give Gary a kiss before climbing over the basket to leave.