“I can see where this is going,” Thessaly says with a smile.

“Are you picturing me in suspenders and a big hat?”

“Tossing the hay around with a pitchfork.”

“You’d enjoy me tossin’ the hay, wouldn’t you?” Levi taps his forehead against Thessaly’s head and continues. “So the old couple on the farm didn’t have any kids, and they just loved my parents. Reba and Chester, I think were their names.”

“Great names.”

“Speaking of names . . . usually the first-born Amish child takes the name of an elder, but Mom still had that streak of rebellion running through her veins. So on a stormy spring night, Dandelion Moon Jones was born.”

“But you got the name of the elder.”

“Yep, Levi is my grandfather.”

“So what made her use an Amish custom with you?”

“A few months before I was born, my parents finally tied the knot. As a wedding gift, Reba and Chester gave the farm to the Jones family on the condition that it never be sold to Hershey.” Levi scratches his chin and stares at the dark clouds in the sky. “I think they moved to Arizona or something because I remember their Christmas cards with Santa and a cactus.” Shrugging his shoulders, Levi continues. “Believing it was a sign in the decency of humanity, Mom and Dad vowed to give that tired farm a new life while helping the people of the community. They even opened their doors to Amish runaways, teaching them how to incorporate the farm life in a modern world.”

“Did you have a lot of runaways over the years?”

“Dozens. Mostly young men with beards and very little personality – except Hannah.” Levi waggles his brows and smiles devilishly.

“Naughty boy. So you lived on a farm just like me, and yet here we sit on a plastic couch on the tip of Manhattan.”

“Not as long as you, though. We moved to Harrisburg when I was in high school. Dad got a job as an agriculture consultant for the state, and Mom finally fulfilled her dream of owning a small bakery. Looking at my parents now, you would never know that they led former lives as a drummer and an Amish girl.”

“And what happened to the farm?”

“Dani and her family live there now. They converted the main estate into a bed and breakfast.”

“Nice,” Thessaly adds dreamily, staring into Levi’s dark blue eyes.

“They did a great job – my old bedroom now has a fireplace where I once plastered Hilary Duff posters. We should go sometime.”

As the thunder booms and a mist leaves the outdoor living room covered in condensation, several couples and groups of friends begin to leave the Seaport. But not Thessaly and Levi, they inch closer to one another, engrossed in their conversation.

“I’d love to go.” Thessaly places her head on Levi’s shoulder and asks, “So how did you end up in Brooklyn?”

Levi grins, his teeth blindingly white but his lips slightly tinted orange from the shaved ice. “You first. How did a tomboy from Asheville end up in New York – Downtown even?”

Thessaly lifts her head from his shoulder, extends her arms and clasps her hands. Cracking her knuckles, she laughs nervously. This is that moment – the one where the truth becomes a part of the story arc. Turning into him, Thessaly admits, “I followed a boy.”

Levi moves his mouth inches from Thessaly’s lips and whispers, “You don’t like to follow.”

Caught up in the sexual tension, Thessaly grazes his lips and hushes, “And you?”

“I nudge.”

Interrupting their moment, Levi’s phone buzzes with a text message. Frowning, he reads aloud, “Game night canceled due to impending thunderstorm.” Levi looks up from his phone and scans the emptied outdoor space. “Shit, Tess, we should probably go soon.”

Standing from the plastic couch, Levi offers his hand to Thessaly. One foot at a time, Thessaly squeezes back into her pumps, wincing in pain as she puts weight on her feet.

“Um, take those off.”

“What? No, I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“Take them off, right now.”

Thessaly’s eyes expand in horror as she screeches, “I’m not walking barefoot, Levi!”

Another rumble of thunder and a flash of lightning approach the pier. And then the rain starts – buckets of warm water pouring from the heavens like a dunking booth gone awry. Thessaly quietly snickers as she watches the rain drip from Levi’s nose to his chin. His damp black T-shirt clings to his body, revealing a defined, muscular stomach. Thessaly snickers, realizing that her wet makeup must resemble a face of melting wax.

Looking around the closed Seaport, and then surveying Thessaly’s drenched body, Levi shouts, “C’mon.” In a desperate yet sexy move, Levi swoops Thessaly in his arm and then throws her over his shoulder. She squeals and squirms, but Levi slaps her ass and begins to jog.

“Where’s your apartment?” he asks.

“Pearl and Beekman! Like five blocks!” Thessaly shouts against his back.

After a few blocks, Levi stops under the large canopy of the Fulton Market. He sets Thessaly down and smirks. “You’re really wet, Tess.”

Thessaly wobbles in her slippery heels and falls into Levi’s chest. He swipes away the wet curl sticking to her cheek, and then runs his thumb over her mouth. Thessaly parts her mouth to speak, but Levi pries her mouth apart so that he can kiss her.

Bringing both hands to Thessaly’s face to cup her cheeks, Levi backs Thessaly up against the door of the closed market. Pressing their wet bodies against each other, they soak up every drop of rain lingering on their lips. Consumption and hunger, followed by lust and passion – it’s a kiss made for the movies.

It’s a kiss in the rain.

Taking a breath and staring into Thessaly’s mascara-smudged eyes, Levi moans, “Ready?” Without an answer, Levi peels her away from the door and lifts her over his shoulder. She doesn’t fight him this time, and she doesn’t even bother with the placement of her dress.

Glancing at their reflection in the window of the market, Levi smirks as his eyes follow the outline of Thessaly’s lacy thong. He moves his hand to her ass to cover the exposed undergarments, and then takes a deep breath.

Darting back into the rain, Thessaly’s head smacks against the muscles in Levi’s back. Without thinking, she blurts, “How did you get this body?”

Levi replies, “Peace Corps.”

“Impressive. I’m the building on the left – with the glass door.”

Approaching Thessaly’s apartment building, Levi sets her down gently and takes her hand. “Well, that was fun.”

“I guess I’ll have to beat you at shuffleboard some other time.”

“Right,” Levi patronizes.

“Would you like to come up? I could make some honey vodka lemonade.”

Sighing, he replies, “Tempting, but I have a busy morning tomorrow. I should get home.”

“Oh, yeah. Me too. Big, crazy day!”

Levi leans in to kiss Thessaly, but feeling rejected and embarrassed, she turns her head so that he makes contact with her cheek.

Taking a step back, Levi mutters, “Tess, I want you.”

“Okay,” she whispers. “But I’m confused.”

Levi bites the inside of his cheek while staring at the empty space above her head. After scratching his chin, he locks eyes with Thessaly and smiles. “You know that awesome feeling back on the farm when you’d snatch a peach from a low branch?” Stepping closer and gliding his finger along her damp cheek, Levi lowers his voice to hush. “The skin is like velvet, and the scent is sweetly intoxicating.”

Thessaly’s mouth puckers like a fish as she follows the movement of Levi’s lips. She wants to be kissed – she wants to be the peach. “Saf-pea,” she mumbles.

“Yes, Tess, a soft peach,” Levi teases. “Now, an impatient man would rip into the tender flesh and swallow up the golden fruit like a novice – missing all the sweet juice that trails down his hand as he selfishly reaches for another.” Levi kisses Thessaly’s forehead and whispers, “But I will wait,” moving his mouth to her ear, he adds, “until you’re ripe.”