Page 25 of Blue Moon

And with those words, a sense of calm washed over me. I couldn’t figure out Sawyer. Was this sweet man his true persona or was he really the cocky jerk from the other day? Maybe he was just the best smooth talker ever.

I decided to call him out.

“You know, you try to act all street-smart and rough, but you aren’t like that at all. You’re actually sweet and kind.”

He laughed. “Are you saying I’m fake?”

“No. I’m not. I’m just trying to figure out who you are. What you stand for.”

“Here’s a tip, babe. Stop trying. What you see is what you get.”

Right. It was stupid of me to try and psychoanalyze him. I just needed to relax and live in this moment.

I gazed at the stars for the rest of our journey. We lapsed into a comfortable silence before we finally arrived at the small parking lot. He grabbed the blanket, opened the door for me, and led me by the hand up the popular trail I’d been exploring since I was a child.

After we arrived at a beautiful clearing with a good view of the moon, he spread out the blanket, and we both sat on top of it.

He pulled me into his arms, close enough that I could see our breaths comingling in the air. “I used to stargaze all the time back home.”

Yes, he was finally opening up to me. I was desperate to know more about him, details that weren’t on the Blue Angels website.

“In Iowa?”

“Yeah. My buddies and I would head up to the Eden Valley Refuge when we could—go hiking and camping. We’d go to the observation tower and look at the stars.”

“That sounds amazing. I’ve never been to Iowa. Do you like it?”

“Yeah, but it was cold in the winter. Good people, though. Real. Honest. Hardworking. How about your friends?”

Friends, what were those? I only had followers. “Well, I’m not close to my college friends anymore. And my family travels all the time, so I rarely see them. The only person I really talk to is Kelli, my PR agent.”

He tilted his head and made intense eye contact. “That sounds lonely. At least I always have my fellow pilots.”

Ugh, he was so right. I was lonely despite having all my followers on Instagram. A million followers and not a single one knew the real me.

But enough about me, I wanted to know more about him.

“Do you have a big family back there?”

“Nope.”

He quickly shut down the subject of his family. I wanted to ask more questions but didn’t want to pry. Sawyer obviously valued his privacy, and I wanted to respect that.

His gaze turned to the moon, big and beautiful, tinged with a hint of blue. “Do you know what makes the moon appear blue?”

“No. Do you?”

“Yeah. I learned about it at Annapolis. The moon appears blue when the atmosphere is filled with dust or smoke particles, which scatter red light. This moon is probably blue because of the recent forest fires up north.”

My heart sank. So much devastation in my state. So many California residents had lost their homes, and an entire town had been pretty much wiped out.

“I didn’t know that. You must be brilliant to be a pilot.”

He grinned. “And you must be really smart to have graduated from Stanford. And to have built your following to millions. Though I’m sure everyone follows you because you’re so beautiful. If I had an Instagram, I’d stalk you.”

His hand cupped my face, and he pulled me into him. My heart was beating faster than it had ever before. He was going to kiss me. Did I want him to? Sure, I’d fantasized about him fucking me, but that wasn’t even realistic. I was not going to lose my virginity to a man I would never see again. But kissing this man under the Blue Moon struck me like something deeper. Something more intimate. Something scary.

I closed my eyes and gave myself over to the moment. Our moment. His lips touched mine, and the scrape of his stubble scratched my chin. I opened my mouth as his hot tongue penetrated mine. Softly at first, but quickly turning rough. Hunger grew inside me, and I kissed him back, desire seeping through my pores as I ran my hands along his body. This was a kiss to end all kisses. He tasted like warm wine and lust. Forbidden yet so inviting. Passionate but loving. And none of those contradictions, those feelings, those thoughts made any sense. This was just a kiss in the moonlight with a man who would never be anything more than a casual fling. A man who I would probably never see again after the end of this weekend, or if I did, only be once in a Blue Moon.