Page 35 of Wicked Bite
His playful smile, the way his body leaned toward me, and the glint of mischief made me want to go along with this little dance we were doing. He sparked my interest like no one else. In my mind, I heard the challenging rhythm of a tango that the two of us were about to do.
“Now, would it be fair for me to share and for you not to? Where’s the fun in that?” I turned to face him fully. My legs brushed his knees, and I threw the other half of the blanket over him to share in the warmth.
“Are we to play then?”
A small thrill went through me at the thought of him playing with me. “And the terms of this?”
He took a sip of wine. “If I’m to answer then you must as well.”
“Deal.”
A wicked smile played on his lips. “Deal.”
“Why does this feel like a deal with the devil?” I popped another chip in my mouth and let the spicy warmth melt on my tongue.
“Oh, I’m harmless, really.” Even in that sexy British accent, I didn’t believe he was harmless. I’d seen him throw a man over a bar and fight off the rest. Harmless was not a word I would use to describe Grayson.
“If we both believed that then neither of us would be sitting here. Because I don’t do harmless, and you don’t seem the type to be capable of it.”
He held his glass up to me in a slight salute. “Indeed.”
“And yet, I’ve clearly caught your attention.”
The fire light brushed over his features, leaving most of them in shadow. “Undivided, in fact.”
“Care to share why?” I knew I was cute and sassy in the ways that counted, but to me, it seemed kind of unreal. Grayson was rich, handsome, and confident. So, the question was why a girl with no family, with no connections, and with trust issues would appeal to him?
He placed his glass on the table and sat back against the booth. “Simply put, I find you fascinating.”
A burst of laughter escaped my lips, and I nearly spilled my drink. “I’m not all that interesting. I work, I go home. I hang out with my friends.”
“And yet so alive.”
“And alive is a good thing?” Wasn’t everyone alive and going?
He nodded. “Very.”
His intense gaze made me want to squirm, and yet, I didn’t. I raised my eyebrow, facing him head-on. If there was one thing I learned about Grayson between the sheets, it was that I had to match him, challenge him, even. He liked when my fire met with his own fire. “Well, I’ll try to stay alive for you.”
“Yes, do.”
“What about your family?” I took another bite. I was barely hungry, but I needed to do something with my hands . . . and mouth.
He groaned and let his head fall back. “Shall we do this quickly?”
“The quicker the better.” I didn’t want to linger on family, or the lack thereof, in my case. But I knew with people, a lot of who they are came down to family. Even my limited one had an impact on me.
“Right, my father died before I was born. My mother, a gentle wise woman, raised me. God love her, she was patient even with my antics. I’m a bit devilish, you see . . .” A smirk played on his lips. “. . . my uncle stepped in as a sort of father figure. He wants me to come home more often.”
“Why don’t you?”
It was the first time I’d seen him slightly uncomfortable. “Stalling that visit, I suppose. Your turn.”
I sat up straight and brushed the crumbs from my hands. I was used to this question. I’d practiced it to make minimum impact and maximum exit strategy. “My parents died in a car accident when I was two. I barely have any memory of them. And for a while, I was moved from one foster home to the next. Until they placed me in a group home when I got older.”
“And that’s where you met Dice?”
“Yep. There was a time when we both thought we might get adopted to separate families, but it never worked out. By the time you hit fifteen, you kind of start to lose hope. So, we made our own family. That’s it.”
