“This was so much fun. Thank you for bringing me out here.” Natalie knew she was gushing but it had been the most perfect date she could ever have fathomed. She’d dreamed so many times about being a normal woman who went on dates with Aaron Weber like it was no big deal. Tonight, she’d done just that.

He was having fun too. She could tell.

“You’re so damned beautiful.” Intensity was once again alive in his eyes as he stared at her in the lights of the Midway. His right hand gently cradled her face. His thumb traced along her cheekbone. She loved when he did that and couldn’t quite catch her breath. Her stomach leapt to her throat and then bottomed out and tumbled toward her feet. His touch was better than every single roller coaster they’d ridden.

“I am not,” she scoffed. “I don’t even wear makeup, just Chapstick.”

“You don’t need makeup. And I know you’re not ready for all of this but if you keep saying shit like that the first kinky thing we try out will be me paddling your ass,” he whispered in her ear.

With all of her stubborn might, Natalie tried not to be intrigued. Another rush of wet heat soaked the crotch of her panties. Her nipples puckered against the lace of her bra.

The lift of his right eyebrow said he’d noticed. Great. “Do people really do that?”

“Lot of people really like it.” He wrapped his arm over her shoulder and pointed to the cotton candy booth. She’d said she wanted some.

“My sister likes it when Dec does it.”

“That’s more info than I needed, babe, but why’d you ask if people really do that if you know they do?”

“I thought maybe they did it because they’re both sex therapists. I figured they do a lot of stuff other couples don’t do. They’re… adventurous.”

“Nothing wrong with being adventurous as long as you’re both in agreement on what’s going to happen. Pain and pleasure run very close together. Enjoying a little of one and a lot of the other makes the whole experience better for most people.”

“So, you are a masochist,” she teased.

“I won’t lie to you. There’s definitely a high that comes when you get inked. That’s not why I do it, but it’s there.”

“You do it because there are things you want to remember don’t you?”

“I’d say it’s more like there are things I refuse to forget.”

Biting her tongue to keep from asking what it was he refused to forget, Natalie inhaled the sweet, sticky air surrounding them and memorized the feeling of this night. He wanted to remember. She wished she could forget. Maybe those two things were like pleasure and pain. They ran oddly close together.

Not wanting their pasts to interfere with this date, she debated.

“What are you thinking about, sweetness?”

“Reading my mind again?”

“Trying my damnedest.”

“What happens if I end up liking being sp—?”

Before she could quite get that last word out his lips were on hers. She gasped as his tongue dove past her lips. A soft moan slipped out next as she allowed her body to melt into his. When he pulled back, he gave her that half-smirk. “Let’s maybe not ask that surrounded by kids at a fair.”

White hot embarrassment, singed through her. She covered her face. Sweat broke out across her forehead. How had she forgotten where they were? There was a family with four kids all under the age of ten in front of them and a line of preteens clutching dollar bills tight in their fists behind them. Aaron was chuckling.

“I’m an idiot.”

“You are sexy as hell. Griff and T-Byrd keep telling me I’m falling hard.”

“Are you?”

“Oh yeah, baby.”

“Me too.”

“You can ask me anything you want once we’re back in the truck. Want to skip the cotton candy and get out of here?”

“Definitely.”

Guiding Natalie away from the innocent ears of children, Aaron wrapped his arm over her shoulder and tucked her against his side. Her warmth spread through him, easing him, healing him.

“I can’t believe I almost said that back there. I really should see a doctor. I left my jacket at the Hi-Way last night. I think you’re making me crazy.”

Aaron vowed to himself that someday soon he would tell her T had lifted her jacket. He hated lying to her. “I thought it was my job to drive you crazy.”

She stared up at him with her lips pursed and the light in her eyes more alive than he’d felt in a decade. He tried to memorize their exact color and the glow, her full pink lips, the teasing look stamped on her features. Lifting his phone from his pocket, he snapped a picture instead.

“Why did you do that?” She laughed.

“I told you, you’re beautiful.”

Pops of gunfire crackled behind them. “Shit. Get down.” Aaron wrapped his arms over Natalie and pulled them behind a ticket booth. Pushing her head down he kept her surrounded by his body as another round sizzled closer this time.

The orange flares of the machine guns lit in his mind.

“Aaron,” she whimpered.

“Shh, I’ve got you.”

I’ve got you. The words wrapped around his neck, strangling him and dragging him backward in time. “I’ve got you, Josh. Just fucking stay with me. Don’t you die on me. Not you, too! You stay with me. You hear me?” He grabbed his own gut. Blood filled his hands.

“Aaron!” Another voice shattered through the sand-drenched wind. His body shook. Shit was he hit again? His stomach clenched. Reaching, his hands encountered soft flesh. The world morphed around him. His vision blurred.

“Aaron! It’s me! Please!” she shouted. “You’re okay.”

She? His eyes blinked rapidly.

“Aaron?” Her voice wavered. Was she crying? He held her tighter. Who was she?

“Aaron, it’s Natalie. It’s okay. Open your eyes.”

Her hand touched his cheek. His fist closed around her fingers, a lifeline.

“Aaron? It’s me.”

She came into focus. He gasped for breath.

“Nat?” Why was she there? She shouldn’t be there. He had to keep her safe. He had to get her out of there.

“It’s okay. We’re okay. Stupid fireworks. I’m right here. We’re okay.”

He nodded though he didn’t fully understand.

“We’re getting out of here,” she vowed. When she tried to stand, he moved with her. Keeping her safe was the only thing that made sense to him.

She grabbed his hand and started to run. Running was good. Running made sense. He caught up with her.

Another round of pops shattered the darkened sky. Something inside him shook. He couldn’t make it stop.

“Faster,” she shouted over the crackle in the sky overhead. “Fly with me.” She took off. He’d follow her anywhere. His boots pounded against the ground until he’d overtaken her. Scooping her up into his arms, he flew with them both.