Read Online Taste of Romance by Darlene Panzera - Free Book Online

passport, which she
     had renewed and kept current . . . just in case.
    Finishing the champagne, she handed him her glass and took the delicious-smelling
     gourmet beef and cheese sandwich on golden crusted bread he held out to her.
    “It must be hard for you to be so far away from the rest of your family,” she said
     and took a bite of the sandwich.
    “My parents are coming for my brother’s wedding, and then I’ll be leaving with them
     for home three days later.”
    Kim coughed, sputtered, but managed to squeeze out the words “You’re leaving? ”
    Maybe it was better if he didn’t kiss her. She didn’t need a repeat of the past, didn’t
     need Nathaniel to leave her behind like Gavin. Sitting at the airport. Waving goodbye. Alone .
    “How long will you stay?” she asked and set the sandwich down in her lap.
    “Forever if my mother has anything to do with it.” Nathaniel shook his head and gave
     her a rueful grin. “My mother never wanted me to come here in the first place.”
    “What about your roses?” she asked. “Sjölander’s Garden Nursery?”
    “My brother will take care of her,” he said and smiled. “Now, what do you think of
     your first balloon flight?”
    Kim’s stomach churned. “I—I think I need you to take me down.”
    Nathaniel frowned. “Just a moment ago I saw the excitement in your eyes, heard the
     longing for adventure in your voice. I don’t think you’re afraid of flying, Kimberly.
     I think you’re afraid to fly, to let go, to take hold of your dreams. Perhaps afraid
     of where they will take you.”
    She wouldn’t look at him, wouldn’t let his warm, lilting, musical voice penetrate
     her heart. “That’s ridiculous.”
    “Is it?” Drawing her close, he brushed his mouth against hers and kissed her.
    Kim resisted at first, but his lips were so soft and gentle, that her eyes closed,
     and she found herself lost in a world of enchantment, of wonder, bursting through
     the air, soaring . . . flying . . . higher and higher.
    “Open your eyes,” he whispered, holding her tight.
    She opened her eyes slowly, her lashes fluttering against her skin. Then she looked
     up into his face, just inches from her own, and her heart signaled she’d just taken
     the trip of a lifetime.
    “Don’t hate me,” he said, his mouth twitching as if to hide a smile. “But I may have
     let the rope slip a bit further.”
    Kim glanced around her and tightened her grip around his waist. “We’re high. Like,
     fifty feet high!”
    “More like seventy-five.”
    Kim gasped. And smiled. And laughed. “I’m flying .”
    “I love your passion, Kimberly. You put your passion into everything you do. It’s
     in the way you paint, the way you decorate your cupcakes, and . . .” He grinned, his
     mouth drawing near hers again. “It’s also in the way you kiss.”
    She prepared to kiss Nathaniel again, when a sharp ring sounded from her pocket. Her
     cell phone.
    Nathaniel drew back, and she answered the call, hoping she hadn’t lost track of the
     time. Had she been gone from the cupcake stand for more than an hour?
    “Grandpa Lewy is missing!” Rachel shouted through the phone. “He was sitting in the
     chair behind me, and then he was gone. I left Meredith in charge of the booth, and
     Mike and I have been all over the place but can’t find him. Where are you?”
    “I’m up in a balloon.”
    “A what?”
    “A hot air balloon.”
    There was a pause on the other end, then Rachel asked, “You’re kidding, right?”
    Kim laughed. “No, I’m serious.”
    “I’ll need details later,” Rachel said, “but right now I need to find my grandfather.
     Can you see him?”
    Kim looked about and whispered to Nathaniel, “Rachel’s grandfather is lost. Can we
     go up higher so I can try to spot him?”
    Nathaniel nodded and took them up to one hundred feet. They peered down at the crowd
     below, hoping to spot the old man, but it was hard to tell one person from another.