Page 25 of Good Girl's Guide to Love
I look to Linc, wondering if this man is just pouring it on thick for the audience of one. But I don’t think so. The look he’s giving me right now is…I don’t know if I’veeverbeen looked at like this. He’s not looking at me like I’m delicate Ainsley, the nice girl who always done everything right. The one no one would ever suggest do something that would go against my good-girl reputation.
No, he’s looking at me with…more. Fire? I don’t know why that’s the word coming to my mind right now. Probably because my body is heating from his gaze.
“I can do this,” I say.
He taps his forehead to mine. “Send it, babe.”
I smile at the use of his nickname from earlier. “Okay. Here I go. Bottoms up!”
I sling back the shot, hoping if I take it quick, I won’t taste it as much.
Unfortunately, I do.
“Snap, crackle, pop!” I yell as the shot burns down my throat. I let out a cough and shake my head a little as it settles in my stomach.
“How was it?” Mia asks.
I take in a deep breath, which has remnants of cinnamon to it. “Woo, that burned! Not too bad now, though!”
And it’s not. Actually…it was pretty good…
“And how do you feel?”
I know I can’t be drunk yet—I took the shot thirty seconds ago—but I do feel different.
Confident. A little bold. A little reckless.
A littlebad.
“I feel like I want another.”
I throw back the shot because I’m a pro now, slamming it down on the table before turning to Linc. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
I don’t think I’m drunk yet, but I’m pretty darn close. I feel loose. The room is swaying a little, but that also could be because the karaoke choices tonight are amazing, so I’ve found myself dancing more than normal. But the biggest giveaway is that I’m holding Linc’s hand because I took it. I even put my hand on his thigh.
I’m downright scandalous.
“Everything.”
The part of the bar we’re in is dark, but I can swear that I see his cheeks turn a little red. “All I did was suggest getting drunk.”
I shake my head and move a little closer to him. “Um, was that not you who came over and saved the day?”
“Well, it was,” he says, looking away in mock humility. “But I didn’t want to rub it in.”
“Oh, rub away,” I say, and as soon as the words leave my mouth, I slap my hand over it. “That didn’t come out right. And neither did that! Is drunk me a dirty talker?”
Linc laughs. “Do you not know how you act drunk?”
I shake my head. “Only got drunk once. And it was really,reallybad.”
His laughter comes to a screeching stop. “That was serious? I thought you were joking!”
He puts the bottle down, but I immediately grab his arm. “No. Don’t.”
When he turns back to face me, the look of guilt is all over his face. And maybe because I’m drunk, or maybe because I feel bad, but I lean in and kiss his cheek. The short hairs of his beard tickle my lips. And I think I’ve been hanging out with Mia and my sisters a little too much—and that the Fireball is kicking in—because I’m wondering how that beard would feel in other places.
