Page 26 of Ruined
“I do?” Zoe sounded both mortified and confused.
“Well, yeah. It’s going to be a long day at the shop. You’ll need all your energy.”
Zoe leaned toward Kenzie. “What the hell are you doing?” She whisper-shouted, but I didn’t miss the irritation in her voice. My lips twitched again.
“Here ya go,” Lizzy leaned over the counter to refill Zoe’s mug.
I lifted my own to my mouth and paused. Cocking my head, I said, “Just make sure it stays in your cup this time.”
Zoe’s head whipped around, the look in her eyes murderous. For the first time since she’d come into town, I allowed myself to really look at her. How easy it would be to drown in those big eyes, the tip of her little button-nose just begged to be pecked, and those lips…they were what fantasies were made of.
She was absolutely gorgeous, even —especially— with that angry scowl on her face. Her mouth twitched like she wanted to say something, but then she pursed her lips together as if she thought better of it.
I finally gave in and allowed my mouth to stretch into a grin. Her gaze dropped to my lips before meeting mine again. With narrowed eyes, she regarded me momentarily then shook her head slightly and tucked a few wayward strands behind her ear. Zoe turned back to the coffee in front of her. Reaching forward, she wrapped both hands around the mug and dragged it closer. For the first time, I got a clear view of the tattoo on her wrist. A feather angled between the wordsCarpe Diem.
My eyes traveled upward along her arm to settle on her beautiful face in time to see her tongue darting out to glide over her bottom lip. She blinked slowly while she stole a sideways glance at me, those hazel irises shining bright. Man, I’d have given anything to know what was going on in her mind at that very moment.
As if she’d heard my thoughts, her teeth dug into her lip right before she almost knocked me off my chair, “I’ll be good, Sheriff. If I’m not, you have my permission to use your shiny cuffs.”
