Page 32 of Feels Like the First Time
“Trust me, this is pretty tame,” she said, dousing another fry.
He thought back on the dozens of parties Bridget had thrown during their marriage. The floating candles in their pool, the rose petal walkways, the food with names he couldn’t pronounce. The way he’d always felt like the odd man out. Even a designer tux and a six-figure Rolex couldn’t make him comfortable in her world.
“Point taken.” He snatched the fry out of her hand and ate it. “Some kind of warning would have been nice, though.”
“When the first bolt of fabric arrived, I came into your office to tell you, but you were sleeping,” she said, then studied her lunch as if it held the answers to life. “I didn’t want to wake you because I knew you’d insist on hanging the fabric and lifting the boxes and well…being Superhero Hawk. And I knew it would only make it”—she pointed a fry at his shoulder—“worse.”
She looked up and lowered her voice. “Are you okay?”
Honestly, he was. Sure, he was holding his shoulder, and his breath, because a strange feeling filled his chest. But he was feeling relaxed, content. There Ali sat, in the middle of her own personal hell, and instead of dumping his mistake on him, she’d handled it. So he could sleep.
“Are you looking out for me, sunshine?” he asked, sending her a wink.
“No. Just curious.” She took a bite of her burger. “Fi’s got a poll going on Facebook about what excuse you’ll use to bail on going to the party. If you’re using your shoulder, I can double my money.”
“I’m not bailing on the party.” Hawk rubbed his temple and noticed that some of the patrons in the bar were watching his every movement. “And some might say you’re asking because you care.”
“Nope.” She inhaled the last bite and wiped her mouth off with a napkin. She picked up a bag from the chair next to her and set it on the bar top. The smell of hot grease and a Burger Barn double cheddar jalapeño special seeped into the air.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“In case you were hungry.”
He was hungry, but he was also touched. “Wow, sunshine, did you bring me lunch?” He opened the bag and took in a deep breath, then met her gaze. “That’s a very girlfriend-like thing, you know. Some might call it a sweet gesture.”
“It’s plan B.” She tossed her napkin on the bar and stood, that skirt not going any lower from the gravity. “In case the shoulder doesn’t pan out, I had Chester add extra peppers and cheese. Lactose and spice on a girly stomach like yours is a pretty potent combination.”
Hawk leaned in, resting his elbows on the counter. “Not as potent as that dress of yours.”
