by Lia London
“I’m not,” she insisted, resting her hand on his arm as she slid onto the stool. “This is really good.”
Barth froze, feeling a little foolish with his flop-jawed grin, but he didn’t dare shift while her hand lingered on his arm.
“Did you get some, too?” she asked, letting go of him to pick up her spoon again.
“Nah, I ate before I left home.”
“Here,” she said, holding up a spoonful of oatmeal with a banana slice on top.
He wasn’t hungry, but it offered an excuse to bend toward her. As he closed his lips around the spoon, their eyes locked, sending a fiery tingle up and down his spine. Again, he held still, afraid to break the spell of her nearness. At length she slid the spoon free, and he was left with hot lips that longed to savor her mouth.
Had Chieko put on lip gloss? Were her eyes always this deep? Could her cheeks possibly be a sweet as the food on his tongue?
“Good, huh?”
“Beautiful,” he whispered, swallowing hard.
Chieko’s lip quirked. “Beautiful oatmeal?”
“I mean berryful. Yeah, it’s good. Eat up.” He pulled back, bonking his head on the cabinet.
“Oh, ow for you?” Chieko’s hand went to the side of his head. “Did that hurt?”
Barth melted into her touch. “Nah, I feel fine. I get hit harder than that all the time.”
Chieko’s thumb smoothed over his skin. “You should be careful. Your head’s full of great ideas, and I’d hate to see them knocked out.”
Forcing his eyes to stay open, Barth nodded, locked in place by her touch. This was getting ridiculous. If she kept grazing his skin with her fingers, he’d never be able to move again.
“I should show you the vid.” He fumbled for the laptop and swiveled it to face her. Straddling the other stool, he slid closer, so their arms pressed against each other. When she didn’t pull away, his heart skipped.
“Let’s hope your version of sleep-deprived work is better than mine.” She scooped more oatmeal into her mouth and focused on the screen.
Barth’s stomach churned a little. What if he’d done crappy work, and she hated it? “If it’s terrible, I guess we’ll have our work cut out for us today, huh?”
Chieko grimaced. “And then you’d see again how useless I am at this stuff. Let’s hope it’s brilliant, and then we can spend the day doing something else.”
“We?” Could she mean she’d spend the day with him even if they weren’t working on a segment?
She nodded, making eye contact as she took a sip of her orange juice. “If you’re not too tired to hang out.”
Barth opened the file and clicked to start. “Oh please, let this rock. Oh please, let this rock.”
Chieko’s body vibrated with silent laughter, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. “It will. It’s you.”
Touchdown. Hopefully the refs wouldn’t dispute the call after they saw the playback.
“So?” Barth’s puppy dog eyes were almost too adorable, and Chieko restrained a sudden desire to rub him behind both ears and coo silly words at him.
“So, I think Parker’s going to love this. As far as I can see, the only flaw is it’s three minutes over time, but let her figure out what to cut because I sure couldn’t do it.”
“You mean that?” Barth turned on the stool, so their knees touched. “You’re not being nice?”
“Since when am I nice?” teased Chieko.
“Aw, now don’t say things like that. You only blow up under extreme provocation, like when I’m pounding your back for no reason and making you spill your quiche.”
Chieko laughed. “Oh my gosh, I forgot about that.”
“You did?” Barth straightened, and his dimples deepened. “See? You are nice!”
Chieko leaned forward, her hands on his knees. “And so are you. And you’re talented and funny and not a conceited jerk.”
His palms closed over the top of her hands, and he nudged her forehead with his. “You ain’t seen me when I’m on my home turf during football season. I can strut with the worst of ’em.”
Chieko didn’t know much about football, but a part of her ached to be tackled into a kiss. How crazy could she be to open her heart again? But he’d been so kind to her. Allowing herself to rock forward so their cheeks almost touched, she murmured, “Football is only one of your talents, Barth. You’ve got a bright future ahead of you no matter what you pursue.”
She closed her eyes, wishing he would pursue her. A kiss didn’t happen, but he smoothed his hand over her hair, sending a rush of warmth through her.
“Aw, thanks for believing in me. You don’t know what it means to have someone excited about what I can do off the field.”
Chieko bit back an innuendo. If he wasn’t interested in her, flirting would make her look stupid.
Still, she couldn’t let go of the longing to be with him.
“So, are we serious about doing something today? I mean, that isn’t work?” she asked.
“I’d love that. Let’s get out and move.”
“I can’t believe all your energy, but I’d love it. I’ve got until about three o’clock, and then I should probably check in with Ryan.”
Barth’s face fell so comically that Chieko snickered. “Who’s Ryan? I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”
“Oh, gross. No. Ryan Tyler, my co-host. We’ll have to go over scripting for Saturday—at least the general stuff.”
Barth’s shoulders relaxed, and Chieko realized they still sat knee-to-knee, his hands atop hers. “Oh right. Him. Don’t you have to wait until the news happens to report on it?”
“Yes, but there are no big events coming up this weekend, so unless something really unexpected happens, we can at least map out some ongoing stories. We’ll adjust once we get there in the morning.”
“You like working with Ryan Tyler?” asked Barth, his searching gaze tinted with worry.
Chieko squeezed Barth’s knees before turning her hands palm up to hold his. “Not as much as I like working with you.”
His eyes flickered to her lips, and Chieko stopped breathing. Wasn’t he ever going to kiss her?
“I got to admit I like working with you almost better than working with the whole Duck line.”
She raised her brows in mock offense. “Almost?”
He drew a deep breath and softened his grip. “What would you like to do, Miss Chieko? All my ideas probably wouldn’t suit you.”
A frown crept to the corner of her mouth. Her plans involved a significant lip lock, but if that wasn’t one of his ideas, she’d be forced to come up with something else.
“Somebody gave everyone at KGW passes to OMSI the other day. Is that a dumb idea?”
“OMSI?” Barth hopped off his stool, breaking their connection. “I love that place! I went on a school field trip as a kid. Are you serious?”
“Holy cow, Barth, you’re like a little kid.” She chuckled. “Are you really excited about going to a science museum?”
“Heck yeah! Let’s go. I’ll drive.”
Chieko grinned at his boyish enthusiasm. Maybe she could sneak a little closer to him on the truck bench. She’d try one more time to see if he took the bait, and then give up. No point in letting her emotions take off if he didn’t want to be a co-pilot in the adventure.
All the way to OMSI, Barth told himself not to go crazy. She might look flirty, but she’d told him not to, so obviously, he misread her.
But all those touches. All those glances. All those smiles.
Hopeful energy wriggled inside of him, bursting forth with a jittery leg shake as he opened the door for her.
Chieko saw this and giggled. “You need to go for a run first?”
“Oh, you know. I’m not used to holding still so long. I like being active.”
“Well, it’s a hands-on museum,” she said, smiling. “Maybe we should start in the ball room.”
“Ballroom? You mean like dancing? I thought you didn’t—”
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br /> “Ball. Room,” said Chieko deliberately. “With little blue balls you can shoot all over the place with the air pipes and stuff.”
“I remember that place!” Barth jumped in place. “Is it still there? We should do that!” He grabbed her hand and all but jogged through the parking lot, over the brick-paved gathering area, and through the big glass doors.
Inside, Chieko showed her passes to an attendant, and they held out their wrists to receive stamps.
“This way,” said Chieko, hooking her thumb at an entryway to a wing of the museum.
“Wait a minute. Wait a minute.” Barth stopped and stared at the bustling commotion of the Turbine Hall. “This place is intense.”
Directly in front of him, a model of a space capsule stood beside a water-rocket launching platform. To the right, automated arms performed dexterity tasks inside a giant, glass showcase. Beyond, he saw places to design flying paper airplanes or spiral floating cups to test over air vents. “We could spend the whole day playing here!”
Chieko’s hands wrapped around his wrist. “I thought you wanted to play in the ball room. Come on. It’s my favorite.” She led him past a laser lab, a 3D imaging lab, a chemistry lab, and massive cranes that crowded the first half of the hall. They stopped in front of a side room.
“After you, Miss Chieko,” said Barth, gesturing with a flourish.
She pushed through the floppy, vertical blinds, and he followed. Miraculously, only a mother with a toddler occupied the space. Obstacles and colorful wire cones hung from the two-story ceiling, and tracks along the upper walls provided a race course for steady flow of tangerine-sized blue, fuzzy balls. All around the perimeter, large PVC pipes with valves and detachable junctures beckoned budding scientists to experiment with the physics of air pressure.
Chieko bent over one pipe with her eyes closed, and the air blasted her long black hair upward like windblown wild grass.
“That looks better on you than me,” said Barth, leaning over another pipe with no dramatic effect.
Chieko chuckled and stooped to pick up a handful of the balls. “We can still make it interesting. Let’s see if you can hold steady while I fire these at you.” She gingerly held a ball over the airflow beneath his face and let go. It flew upward on the stream of air and bounced off his nose.
“Oh yeah, you’re the funny one,” he said wryly. Adjusting the valve, he braced himself for another assault. “Try again.”
This time, the ball rose to hover an inch below his chin, rolling on the current of air.
“Ooh, hold that pose,” said Chieko.
“Huh?”
“Keep the ball there. Don’t move.” She pulled her phone out and held it up to take a picture. “Put your game face on.”
Barth stood straight and squinted at her. “What are you doing?”
“Trust me. Get back down there. Look mean.”
Shrugging, Barth lowered his face horizontally over the ball that still rolled on the air. With a growl, he crouched beside the pipe and glared at the ball as if it were an opposing lineman trying to break past him.
Chieko nudged the valve with her toe as she held up the camera, and the ball dropped to the ground.
“Aw, you messed up! Were you trying to hit me again?”
“No, look.” She beamed triumphantly and knelt beside him.
His toes went numb while his cheeks burned. Huddled so close, he ached to wrap his arms around her.
Chieko tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and tilted the phone, so he could see the display. Turned 90 degrees, he saw the effect. It looked as if the ball flew at his face and then stopped and retreated in fear when he scowled.
“Great game face,” she said, grinning at him.
Barth’s heart seemed determined to create seismic activity, and he lost the balance of his crouch. Rocking forward onto his knee, he grabbed the pipe to keep from bowling her over.
For a moment, neither moved—or breathed, or blinked—as their bodies pressed fully together. Chieko’s eyes gleamed with unfamiliar mischief, and her sweet lips pulled up into a smile.
Her lips had to be sweet, right?
The commotion of the busy Turbine Hall blended into the white noise of the air vents in the ball room as he dropped his chin closer to hers. He could smell banana and blueberry and peppermint on her breath, and he opened his mouth to breathe in the scent.
With a hungry sigh, Chieko gave in to the impulse and clutched Barth’s strong jaw, pulling him into a kiss. In a flash, his massive arms enveloped her, and his velvet lips pressed against hers with surprising passion. She felt the wind blissfully knocked from her by the feel of him all around her, and her fingers smoothed over his head and tickled the soft lobes of his ears.
Barth let out a gentle moan and deepened the kiss even as he managed to lift them both to their feet. With athletic agility, they spun and glided down a ramp to a more secluded part of the ball room, coming to rest in a corner. Delighted by his daring moves, she devoted every bit of her attention to the exploding sensory magic of Bartholomew Jefferson’s kiss.
When at last she came up for air, she burst into giggles, clutching the front of his shirt in her fingers and gazing up into his brilliant eyes.
“Oh my gosh, Barth! Touchdown!”
His smile twisted adorably to one side, and he shook his head. “Not just any touchdown, Miss Chieko. That was a Rose Bowl 90-yard interception run. Totally unexpected and amazing!”
She squealed and bounced on her heels, rolling up onto her toes. “Did we win?”
“I’m pretty sure we’re going into overtime,” he said, his dimple growing as he sealed their lips together again.
Chieko’s emotions slipped out of their locked closets, and attraction, fear, desire, and hope started a brawl. Pulling Barth closer, she vowed to worry about controlling her runaway feelings later. Right now, she was free. This wasn’t a kiss of mere physical attraction. She wanted him to feel what was inside her heart, even though she couldn’t identify it yet herself.
“Mommy, there’s two people kissing down there! Are they supposed to do that?”
A high-pitched voice with a lisp shattered the moment, and Chieko pressed Barth gently back. Glancing up at the top of the ramp, she saw a heavyset woman with a disapproving sneer yank a lanky little boy away.
“No, they’re not supposed to do that,” said the woman, obviously speaking so Barth and Chieko could hear. “They’re supposed to do that sort of thing in private.”
The intruders disappeared around a corner, and Chieko returned her gaze to Barth. His eyes still shone, and his lips tempted her so much she trembled, but she knew they should move away.
Clasping his hand with both of hers, she gestured with her chin for them to leave.
As they passed through the vertical blinds and back into the boisterous noise of the main Turbine Hall, Barth slipped his arm around her waist and bent close to her ear.
“My science question is how a little bitty thing like you can kiss a big ol’ guy like me so I fill up and spill over with …” He let out a breathy laugh. “Dang, girl! I don’t even know what you just did to me.”
Fear nudged her ribs. Had she been too forward? “I’m sorry,” she muttered. “I don’t know what came over me.”
Barth let go of her hand and combed his fingers through her hair, cupping her face. “I’m not sorry, Chieko. Please don’t say you are. That might not have been the most romantic place in the world for a first kiss, but apparently you don’t need a fancy setting to take me to the moon.”
Liquid lava poured into Chieko’s chest and the thrill pushed a giggle from her again. “Really?”
Barth tucked her head against his chest. “You hear that? Louder than this room, isn’t it?”
Chieko nestled her ear against him, breathing in the smell of his skin, his clothes, his faint deodorant. She could feel his heart beating urgently, and it made her grin. “Uh-huh.” She laced her hands behind his neck. “You should hear mine.�
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“I think if I tried that in here, I’d get arrested.”
Chieko blushed at the thought of his ear pressed against her chest. “Yeah, maybe later.”
His eyes widened. “Why, Miss Chieko!”
Hiding her flushing cheeks, she turned away and frowned. A massive open-faced clock on the wall churned its gears and declared the time with spindly brass arms. “I’ll need to head home in a couple of hours if we’re going to beat traffic in time for me to meet up with—for work.” Guilt pinched her stomach. Ryan Tyler meant nothing to her, and she didn’t want Barth to think she was racing off to see another man.
Not after that kiss. Not when she’d rather stay entangled in Barth’s arms for the rest of the day. Holy cow, what an adrenaline rush!
She mentally tried to beat back the flourishing emotions. One rose to the top, and it scared her. It always led her astray. She couldn’t fall in love.
Not love.
Barth squeezed her hand. “All right then. You tell me what you want to do, and we’ll do it. I’ll get you home on time.”
Chieko knew he meant what they should do at the museum, but she hesitated. What did she want? A crazy little crush? Or something much more?
She smiled up at Barth’s warm expression. “Why don’t you decide?”
“If I’m holding your hand, Miss Chieko, I don’t really mind where we go. Let’s see where our feet take us.”
Chieko nodded. “Our feet and our hearts,” she whispered.
Chapter 9 ~ Man of Fortune
“Wait a minute. Chieko’s still doing the news?” Grammy MarLee pushed her glasses back up her nose, doubling the size of her eyes in the thick lenses.
“Yeah, Grammy. But only on the weekends,” said Barth, gluing his gaze to the screen.
“She must be tired, running around all week with you and then going in to work on the weekends.”
“Aw, Grammy. I make the weekday time fun for her. It’s not so bad.”
Grammy cast him a sideways smirk. “You making work fun for her, or she making it fun for you? What you two been doing on those long days together?”
Barth chewed the insides of his cheeks, trying to hide his grin. “Making videos, Grammy. You know that. This is my big break, I think.”