Page 71 of The Love Playbook

Iturn the key on Charlotte’s beater Honda, and just like I expect, the engine rumbles to life, purring like a kitten.

A swell of pride fills my chest as I glance up at her in the doorway from my seat behind the wheel. Fixing broken things never gets old.

Lettie’s dark hair is a disheveled mass framing a flushed face with a smudge of grease on her cheek.

Damn, she’s cute like this.

“You wanna take it for a test drive?” I ask.

“You wantmeto be the guinea pig?” She crosses her arms in front of her chest, and the look she gives me is so defiant, and so perfectly Lettie, it makes my heart grow inside my chest. “How do I know you didn’t rig this thing to explode a mile down the road?”

“Because,” I drawl, rising to my feet in front of her, “then I wouldn’t get my date, now, would I?”

A barely perceptible smile haunts the corners of her mouth as she hums under her breath, a raspy sound I feel deep inside my chest.

I take a step closer, breathing in the soft, floral scent of her as my gaze drops to her mouth. Considering she hasn’t shoved me away or cut me with one of her biting remarks, I wonder if maybe I’m making progress.

Her cocoa-dusted eyes lock with mine, her pupils widening with my proximity. Tension stretches like a rubber band in the space between us, the air suddenly thick.

I reach out and smooth her rumpled locks, and when she closes her eyes at my touch, I know what she expects?for me to close the gap and take what I want from her,again.And though I want nothing more than to kiss her until she forgets her name, I kind of want to wait.

Even if waiting is torture, I want her to make the next move. I want her to want me.

It’s with this in mind, I call on my self-restraint and drop my hand, taking a step back as I do.

Her eyes blink open, widening in surprise at the same time a loud clatter erupts behind us, causing her to jump.

Charlotte turns toward the sound, her brow creasing in confusion as I follow her gaze to find my younger brother, Tyler with a massive wrench at his feet.

A crease forms between my brow as I wonder what he’s doing here, but then he turns back to the office, poking his head down the hall and cups his hands around his mouth as he yells, “I told ya it was Chris! And he’s with a girl!”

When he turns back toward us, a smile stretches his freckled face.

I offer him a wry smile. “A wrench? Really, Ty?” I ask.

He shrugs, drawing closer. “Tucker thought an intruder had broken in, even though your car isliterallysitting out in the lot.” He rolls his eyes. “I swear, the kid is afraid of everything. Who’s the chick?” He tips his chin toward Lettie with a grin.

“This is Charlotte Baker.” I motion toward my brother. “And this twerp is my little brother, Tyler.”

“Dude, I’m not even that much younger than you!” he says aghast before he turns that signature Collins’s smile on Lettie. “You’re hot,” he says, his smile growing.

“Um, thanks?”

“You single?” He winks.

“How old are you?”

“Age is nothing but a number, baby,” he says, and I laugh my ass off at Lettie’s wide-eyed stare.

“He’s fourteen.” I reach out and ruffle his hair as he cusses me out under his breath. “Behave, would ya?”

Charlotte glances between us, then says, “Wow. He’s like a miniature version of you.”

“Only I’m much more charming, right?” I say.

Charlotte purses her lips. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Chris!” Tucker, my other brother’s voice echoes in the cavernous garage as he rushes inside and crosses the room, flinging himself toward me and wrapping his arms around my legs.

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