“And look at that screen! It’s so big!”
An unbidden smile came to Kevin’s face. While this girl said some questionable things at times, her enthusiasm when experiencing something new was astoundingly child-like. She just acted so innocent―at least in matters that didn’t involve him, her, no clothing and a bed… or the dinner table. It was one of her more endearing traits.
The innocence, not the matters relating to her sexual desires and fetishes.
“ There are a lot of theaters that have larger screens than this.”
Lilian turned in her seat to pin him with an expression that shimmered with unrepressed excitement.
“ Really?”
“ Oh, yeah,” Kevin nodded. “This is one of the smaller theaters. There’s a much larger one in Arizona called the Capri de Grande. It’s pretty far from here, though, like, all the way down in Scottsdale. Otherwise, I would have taken you there instead.”
“ So this Capri de Grande is the largest theater around?”
“ The largest one here in Arizona, sure. There are much, much bigger ones in states like California and New York―and France has the largest theater in the world.” Kevin’s smile turned nostalgic as fond memories replayed in his mind. “I remember one time when my mom took me to France. It was the only time she and I spent any time together during that trip. The place was amazing. It was this gigantic skyscraper that towered over everything, and it had spotlights and viewing screens that played movie trailers all over the outside. There were a lot of small theaters in it, but the largest one was this massive room that looked like something straight out of the Renaissance period. It was incredible.”
“ It sounds amazing.” Lilian smiled gently at her mate. “I wish I could see it one day.”
“ You might be able to,” Kevin replied absently. “I’ve been to France a number of times, more than any other country I’ve visited. I think it’s because France has one of the largest fashion industries in the world. Anyway, I’ll take you to see it whenever we go to visit.”
Lilian’s breath hitched and her heart skipped several beats. She could practically hear her blood pounding in her ears.
“ Do you mean that?” she asked in a soft voice.
“ Of course,” Kevin said, then paused. Several seconds passed as the words he had just spoken replayed in his mind, his face swiftly growing red as it underwent spontaneous combustion.
“ Kevin?” Her questioning tone startled him into action.
“ W-what I mean is… I mean that, uh, i-it’s, well, we could, you know, if you, mom and I…” Kevin tried several more times to say something, anything that would explain away his words in a non-embarrassing way. He couldn’t, so he did something else. “Oh, look! The show is about to start!”
Did he just make a horrible attempt at changing the subject on me?
Lilian stared at her mate in silence. Several seconds passed before she realized that, yes, he had indeed changed the subject, and yes, he had also done an awful job of it. Then again, this was Kevin she was thinking about. What else should she have expected?
Why is he getting so embarrassed, though?
His behavior had been quite odd for the past two days―ever since Lindsay had turned him down, now that she thought about it. It was almost like his behavior had reverted back to when they’d first met, though it clearly hadn’t resulted in something she had done. After all, she hadn’t tried to seduce him or walk around his house naked since her battle with Kiara, and those were the only times he acted this way around her. Strange.
Either way, Lilian allowed her―hopefully―future mate to have his peace of mind, and turned back to the screen.
The lights dimmed as the screen went black. Words soon appeared and, not long after that, several movie trailers came and went. As the movie began playing, Lilian became fascinated with the phenomenon that was American comics being turned into
Stephanie Hoffman McManus
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation