Page 88 of More Than Pen Pals

She raises an eyebrow. “With who?”

“I have a life-sized doll at home.” I pause. “Don’t tell Randall.”

She bursts into laughter and then takes my hand and leads me into the galley kitchen.

I open the fridge. “Your choices are Budweiser and … more Budweiser.”

“A glass of ice water is fine,” she says as she opens cabinets looking for glasses. She finds them and sets two on the counter while I pull out an ice-cube tray and crack it. She plucks a few cubes out of the tray and pops them into the glasses, and I fill them up at the sink. We do all of this with no talking or awkwardness. We’re completely in sync.

We lean against the counter as we drink, watching each other the entire time. She drains her glass without stopping.

“Impressive.” I tilt my glass toward her. It’s still half full.

“I practice several times a day.”

We grin at each other like fools. I set my glass down, pluck hers out of her hand, place it in the sink, and settle my hands at her waist. I can’t believe I get to touch her now whenever I want. Well, maybe not whenever I want, but a good portion of the time.

Leslie places her hands flat on my chest and gazes up at me. “What are we going to do now?”

There are countless things I’d like to do—some of which scare the life out of me—but I lean down, kiss her forehead, and ask, “What do you want to do?”

forty-three

“We should go,” I say to Ash, “so your brother can return to his own home, but we can’t go to my place.”

“Why not?”

My face heats. I know we need to have this conversation, because I’ve made the mistake of not having it soon enough in the past, but I’m not quite prepared for it.

“Do you have a secret boyfriend living there?” he asks.

I grimace. “Maybe.”

“I knew it!” He gives me a mock serious look. “But the real question is: Can I beat him in a duel?”

“There’s only one way to find out. Do you have a pistol, and can you meet him at dawn?”

“Any true gentleman can answer yes to those two questions.”

I smile up at him. “You’re too far away, Mr. Lucky Charms.”

He tightens his grip on me, picks me up with zero effort, and deposits me on the kitchen counter. Then he steps between my legs and slips his arms around me.

“This better?”

I swallow. “Um, yes.” I loop my arms around his neck. We’re still not quite at the same height, but at least now my eyes are level with his mouth instead of the middle of his chest. I’ve fallen in love with his mouth, so I’m perfectly happy with my new view.

“My eyes are up higher, missy.”

The lips I’ve been staring at are now shaped in a grin. I move my gaze up to his eyes.

He says, “Not that I mind you thinking about what you want to do to my mouth, but are you going to tell me the real reason we can’t go to your place?”

“Because it’s a tiny studio and my only furniture is one semi-comfortable easy chair, a miniature table with two uncomfortable wooden chairs, and my bed.”

Ash nods. “And that’s a problem … why?”

“We haven’t even been on a real date yet. We’re not going anywhere near my bed—or anyone else’s bed—anytime soon. While it feels like we’ve known each other forever, because in a way we have, I need us to focus on getting to know each other again.” I search his eyes. “Are you okay with that?”

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