Page 66 of Will Bark for Pizza
“Stalking is totally a serial killer thing.”
Dammit, was I flirting?Stop flirting with the enemy, Kira.
I averted my eyes, but instead of looking back at the dartboard, or the table of cupcakes, or at Aspen or Alyssa, they traveled of their own accord, taking in the delicious way Beckett’s biceps strained the sleeves of his T-shirt. Maybe I should’ve let him dive underwater and save mefrom drowning the other day so I could experience exactly what those muscles were capable of for myself.
What the hell, Kira? You’re supposed to be mad at him.
“I was being observational.” Beckett nodded at the tabletop filled with an array of cupcakes. “What’s the occasion?”
Aspen brought them along to celebrate my twenty-fifth book release. Something I forgot all about until Lila called earlier. I made the mistake of putting her on speakerphone in front of my friends.
But if I were being honest, I was secretly thrilled that my best friends wanted to make a thing out of it. I’d forgotten how much fun celebrating the little things could be, and made a vow to do it more often. Even if I never published another book, there would be other wins worth acknowledging.
I hoped.
“Who says there’s an occasion?” I asked, my guard going up of its own accord.
The last time I shared my excitement for a book release with a man, he reached right into my chest, yanked out my heart, and stomped on it thoroughly.
“Oh, please,” Alyssa said, rolling her eyes, reaching across me to steal a nacho. “Are you still keeping that a secret, Kira? Or should I say Dia?—”
“Yes, it’s a secret,” I hissed between gritted teeth, feeling the heat of Beckett’s curious gaze as I gently elbowed Alyssa in the side.
Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Fine. My lips are sealed.” She made the juvenile gesture of zipping her lips with her index finger and thumb and throwingaway the key. “You two playing or what? Aspen has to head home, so it’s just the four of us.”
“Sorry, kids. I have to open the bakery tomorrow.” Aspen gave me a quick hug, lowering her voice as she said, “Enjoy your dessert.” Her twinkling eyes glanced at Beckett, then back at me. “You earned it.”
“I’m not?—”
But Aspen didn’t wait around for my rebuttal. Just as well. She’d rendered me speechless. Fuck, was Ithatobvious? I was supposed to be pissed at the man. If my best friends could see right through me, I had to be extra careful around my family. I came back to make amends for the drama I caused last summer, not cause more of it. And sleeping with my brother’s best friend seemed like a good way to do exactly that.
“Well?” Alyssa asked again.
“What’s the game?” Beckett asked.
“Cricket,” Thoren volunteered. “But we’ll play the easy way, without the order. That work for you ladies?”
“Sure. If you need the handicap, old man,” Alyssa said to him.
“I’ll play,” Beckett said, looking at me expectantly as Thoren and Alyssa continued to quietly banter.
“Are you some secret dart shark or something?” I asked him.
“Or something.”
The answer reminded me of something he said at Ghost Lake, and a shiver went through me from head to toe. But not the bad kind of shiver that should shock some sense into me. Oh, no. This was the sinfully delicious kind of shiver I’d written about in many romance novels.
You cannot sleep with Beckett Campbell.
Not tonight.
Not ever.
“I should warn you,” Alyssa said to Beckett, “Kira cheats.”
“I do not.”
“I’m not worried,” Beckett said, his gaze locked on mine again.
