" The kiss was brief but left no room for me to misread his intentions. For that swirling moment all I felt was him, his warmth, his touch, his strength. And when he raised his head I rocked a little on my feet off balance. He stood looking down at me as though he'd felt the power of that contact too. Then his teeth flashed white against the darkness of his beard, grey eyes crinkled.

"Put that in your book," he dared me.

And he turned and shoving both hands deep into his pockets walked off whistling down the wet path while I stood behind and watched him, standing speechless in the rain. "

― Susanna Kearsley , The Winter Sea (Slains, #1)