Page 10 of A Lady's Heart
He and Amy waved goodbye then left. Mandy smiled in return, but Justin gave a dramatic evil-villain chuckle, as if they’d successfully vanquished an opponent.
“They mean well,” Mandy pointed out.
“Wolves are the biggest busybodies.”
Then he focused his attention on the list for real, his smile widening as he went down some of the items. “You wild woman. I don’t know if you can do some of these unsuper—”
Yes, it was easy to tell the instant he hit the section of her list that ventured into naughty territory. She had the list memorized, she’d read over it so often, and partway down the page, it read…
take a painting class
camp in an RV
go snowmobiling
give a blowjob
go fishing for salmon in bear form
Justin’s smile slowly faded, and his grip on the paper tightened briefly before he took a deep breath then consciously relaxed.
He folded the paper then put it back on the table as he met her gaze. “Who the hell do you…?”
She raised a brow, and his words died off, his eyes flashing hot before he dragged himself under control and tried again.
“I mean, there’s no damn way… Wait…” His mouth opened and closed a few times as he struggled to find the right words.
She waited patiently. He dragged in a deep breath then let it out as if he were blowing out a candle somewhere on the next table over.
“Mandy?”
“Yes?”
He cleared his throat. “I would like to offer to help you with your list.”
Which was exactly what she hoped he’d say. “Lovely. On one condition.”
“Anything,” he swore, his tone ragged and one step from out of control.
She might want to move on and be independent, but there were items she needed a companion to complete. She’d been watching Justin closely for the last while. “If you want to help me with some things on the list, you have to help me withallthe things on the list.”
His lips twitched before he broke into a massive smile. “You’re trying to scare me away, but it’s not going to work.”
“On the contrary, I’m really hoping a big, strong,handsomefellow like you isn’t scared off that easily.”
Justin’s smile widened. “You think I’m handsome?”
“And strong.” She nodded. “Oh…and sexy.”
He beamed.
It was her turn to take a deep breath and hope for the best. Talk about pushing too far, too fast—
She knew he liked her, but was her next demand going to be too much? There was only one way to be sure, and it was better now than later when she’d just be hurt or disappointed.
She looked him in the eyes. “Justin, the things I want to do might seem ordinary and silly, but this relationship…”
Oh boy.
