Speaking of Love (Perfect Kisses) by Ophelia London

later, he was holding a soda can in one hand and the other arm was balancing several items.
    “Where did you find beef jerky?”
    “The expiration date has probably passed,” Rick said, dumping the provisions on the seat between them, then shutting his door. “But I’m sure it contains enough preservatives that you’ll be safe.”
    “And a Snickers bar,” Mac said. “A very frozen Snickers bar.”
    “Leftover from camping last summer,” Rick explained. “Here.” He reached out and took her hand, laying the brown bar on her palm. He placed his own hand over the top of hers, cupping them together.
    “What are you…” Mac began, her heart jumping into her throat.
    “We’re making heat,” Rick explained.
    We sure are , Mac almost inserted, but she kept her eyes on their hands.
    “So you won’t break your teeth when you bite into it,” Rick added.
    Mac laughed quietly and then lifted her eyes.
    Rick was staring down at their hands. A moment later, he repositioned his fingers to curl them around Mac’s hand. Mac couldn’t breathe, feeling the heat of his skin. When Rick lifted his eyes and looked at her, something in the air crackled.
    …
    After a moment, Rick drew back his hand and cleared his throat, leaving the candy bar in her hand. “The chocolate was probably melted before it froze, but the molecular structure hasn’t changed.”
    “Molecular structure?” Mac repeated. “Are you a physicist in your spare time?” She tore open the wrapper. “What else don’t I know about you?”
    Rick looked at her, deciding if he should take a moment to really share with her. “What would you like to know?” he asked.
    Mac shrugged. “Anything.”
    Rick thought for a moment. “Well, Snickers is my candy bar of choice,” he said. “I ran the New York City Marathon but had to stop halfway through, and in my freshman year of college, I decided to skip my birthday. No one even noticed.”
    “You skipped your birthday?” Mac said softly. “I didn’t know that.”
    They held each other’s gaze for a moment, then Rick reached for the beef jerky.
    “We’ll split the Snickers,” he said. “But you can have all of this.”
    “Wise decision.”
    “You may not know me, Mackenzie Simms,” he said, “but I know you.”
    Suddenly, Mac became very still. He hoped she hadn’t read into what he’d said. It was almost a joke, really, how much Rick did not know about her.
    “So,” Rick continued after taking a bite. “Now that we have some time to kill, how are things at school?”
    “Good,” Mac answered. “I’ve got two classes doing impromptu speeches next week. That always terrifies them.” She lifted a grin. “But that also means nothing for them to prep—no homework. They’re all seniors, and I happen to know they have major composition papers due that same week, so I figured I would give them a break.”
    “That’s thoughtful of you.”
    Mac smiled. “I haven’t forgotten what it feels like to think that every teacher is ganging up on me at the same time.” She shrugged. “Some of the other teachers are totally oblivious to the work load outside of their classes. But I figure, why stress the kids out unnecessarily? They have to do impromptus at some point, why not when they’re the busiest with other work?”
    “That makes sense. How do the impromptu speeches work? If there isn’t time for prep, how do they know what to speak on?”
    “It’s a very advanced system,” Mac said. “I have a bowl at my desk with scraps of paper in it. Each piece has a topic or scenario written out on it. One at a time, each kid draws a piece then goes out into the hall for sixty seconds. That’s all the time they get. When they come back in the classroom, they have to speak about that scenario for five minutes.”
    “Harsh.”
    “I know.” Mac leaned back. “And I don’t make it easy on them. The topics I choose…” She paused to grin then toyed with the ends of her hair. “Well, let’s