Page 22 of No More Bad Boys
“Scoot,” he orders, and squeezes in between me and Gabe, who was starting to tell me about the meth-lab bust story he covered last night.
Apparently, he was quite heroic, charging in alongside the police, wearing his own Kevlar vest and helmet.
“Hey—find your own seat, asshole.” Gabe says.
“I just did. There’s more room over there if you’re crowded.” Blake nods toward the spot he recently vacated next to Alissa.
Gabe gives him a hard look, which Blake meets with an unrepentant smile.
Finally, Gabe harrumphs and stands, moving to the other side of the fire pit to take the empty seat. Alissa doesn’t seem any happier than her new cushion-mate.
She scowls in my direction before turning to respond to something Gabe has said to her.
Maybeshe’llbe impressed by the meth lab story.
“So…” Blake’s glass clinks against my bottle in a little cheers move. “Still mad at me?”
“I wasn’t mad.”
A wry smirk lifts one corner of his mouth, and his green eyes twinkle with amusement. “Yes you were. You thought I was taking stupid chances—”
I smile sweetly at him. “Youweretaking stupid chances.”
“Okay, well yes. But I had a good reason for it.”
“What’s that?”
He leans in with a conspiratorial whisper, “I was trying to impress a girl.”
In spite of the warm night air, I shiver. Which girl? Does he mean Diver Girl… or me?
Because the way he’s looking at me now with that wicked grin and one eyebrow expectantly raised makes me think it’s the latter.
My fingertips dig into the seat cushion, and I swallow hard. The side of my neck feels like it has its own heartbeat.
This guy has arealgift for knocking me off-balance.
To cover, I search for a glib response. Raising one eyebrow in my best imitation of Mr. Spock, I say, “That was foolish, Jim.”
For a second Blake looks hurt that I’ve called him the wrong name. Then the understanding dawns on his face, and he laughs. “A fellow Trekkie, huh?”
“Yeah. My dad’s a diehard fan. Yours too?”
He shakes his head and darts his eyes away. “Uh… no. My sister and I used to watch it after school every day.”
Now his gaze returns to me and brightens. “Anyway, I couldn’t help myself. Don’t you ever do anythingillogical, just because it feels right?”
“No,” I tell him honestly.
He nods. “Well I do. And maybe itwasfoolish, but what can I say? I was overwhelmed byillogicalbeauty.” He gives me a look that erases all doubt as to which girl he was showing off for today.
The pulse in my neck pounds harder. I reach up to cover it with my hand, shrugging to disguise my discomfort.
“Well, I’m sure there were plenty of beauties out there in TV land who were very impressed by your bravery.”
And your body in a skin-tight wetsuit.
“But not you.”
