Page 41 of How He Got the Girl
I pull Mallory out of the dip, setting her back on her feet. She doesn’t immediately step away from me, so I’m taking that as a good sign.
“You good?”
She squeezes my jacket, so I take that as a yes.
“The sparks are flying between you. I see why your recent movie was such a hit, Griffin.” Antonio wiggles his eyebrows before thumbing through the photos on his camera. “I was going to take you to another location, but you lovebirds made my job easy.”
“Really? You don’t need any more?” I ask, wanting an excuse to keep Mallory in my arms longer.
“Nope, I got everything I need.” He smiles.
“Great.” Mallory all but jumps out of my arms. “You’re the best, Antonio.”
“Yeah, the best ever,” I mutter under my breath.
“What was that?” she asks.
“I was just agreeing with you.” If I were hooked up to a lie detector, let’s just say there would be a massive spike right now.
Antonio walks over and shakes my hand. “Thanks for trusting me to take your photos.” He moves to Mallory, taking one of her hands and bowing before her. “Make sure he treats you like the princess you are.”
“I will, Antonio. Thank you.”
We wave goodbye to him, and Mallory sighs. “He was right about two things.”
When she doesn’t finish her thought, I run a hand along my scruff. “Care to elaborate?”
“I plan to be a royal pain for you to deal with over the next few months.”
Laughter slips out of my mouth, uncontainable. “Thanks for the heads up.”
She shrugs. “I’m nothing but honest.”
Yet another trait I love about her.
“And the second thing?”
She folds her arms across her chest. “You’re a great actor.”
It almost sounds as if she means it, but I detect an underlying bitterness there. There’s something she’s not telling me—something more than the fact that I lost her number. I need to find a way to figure out what it is without scaring her away. For now, all I can do is keep reminding her who I really am.
“You flatter me.” I smile before gesturing toward the heart of Old Louisville. “Ready for me to kick your butt out on the rink?”
“I didn’t know it was a competition.” Mallory smirks. “But if it is, I’m definitely winning.”
She’s right. Because I would let her win a hundred times over just to see a satisfied smile on her lips. To see herhappy.
Once we reach the ice rink, the attendant gets us our skates. I take both sets from him, making a mental note of Mallory’s shoe size, and carry them to the bench area.
“Thanks.” Mallory accepts her skates from me and slides out of her boots.
After I get laced up, I glance over at her. She looks adorable with her black earmuffs and gloves paired with her pink plaid coat.
“What has made you happy the last three years?” I ask.
Her eyes dart up from her skates to meet mine. They hold both shock and fire in their depths. “Why do you even care?”
I try to ignore the sting from her words and push forward. “My highlights have all been public knowledge, but I want to hear how you’ve been.”
