Page 73 of Crossing Paths
Not wanting her sister to barge into her bedroom, Norah gave a silent sigh and rolled to her feet. Maneuvering past Dash, who seemed to have grown like the Hulk while in protective mode, she cracked the door. “Hey, Cara. I’m upstairs. I’ll be down in a minute.” Closing the door again, she turned to see Dash’s raised eyebrows. Guessing at what his expression was about, she gave a small shrug. “I didn’t want to have a yelling conversation about you. She’ll see you soon enough and figure it out.”
“Want me to go out the window?”
Glancing at the tiny pane of glass that evenshewouldn’t fit through, she laughed. From his rather proud half smile, that had been his intention. Forcing her face back into a serious expression, she said, “Would you? That’d be great.”
His eyes widened for just a moment before he gave a teasing growl and grabbed for her. Giggling, she tried to dodge, but the bed tripped her up. He followed her down and immediately started tickling her.
“Sorry! Sorry! I give up!” She’d never been able to win a tickle war. “Mercy! Uncle!”
He stopped but stayed hovering over her, his eyes starting to heat again.
She was tempted, but the thought of Cara one story below them made her give his chest a little push. “Not with Cara here.” Not when she’d just discovered how vocal she was during sex.
Dash actually pouted—a look she found strangely adorable on him—but stood and helped her up. His tug on her hand was strong enough to pull her right into his arms, and she went with it, all too happy to be pressed against his bare chest again.
He kissed her, quick but intense. “Ilikeyou, Norah Pax.”
“Ilikeyou too, Dashiell Porter.” She didn’t hesitate saying the words. “I also like having sex with you.”
His laugh was a bit rough as he tightened his arms around her. Leaning into his hug, she let herself enjoy the moment. She could deal with nosy sisters and stalkers and skips later. Right now, there was just Dash.
Seventeen
“I’ve forgotten why I thought this was a good idea,” Norah said as they approached the front entrance of Dutch’s. The lot was full, forcing them to park on the street a block away, and there was a short line of people waiting for the bouncer to check their IDs at the door.
“I never thought this was a good idea,” Dash grumbled, his gaze moving around them, scanning the shadows as well as the people scattered around.
Norah ignored his mutterings, too occupied with trying to see who the bouncer was. “Think we’ll not get in?”
“Don’t think we’ll be that lucky.”
His persistent grumpiness was almost funny. “Well, we did almost get kicked out last time. And the bouncer gave me theI’m watching youfingers.”
Dash’s attention shifted back to her as his brows rose.
“You know.” She demonstrated.
His huff of laughter quickly disintegrated into anothergrowly mutter as they joined the end of the line at the door. “No one gets banned from Dutch’s. One of these days, I’m taking you on a date to aniceplace.”
“We’ve been to nice places.” Standing on her toes, she could see the bouncer’s shaved head, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was the same guy. Although her experience with bouncers was limited, she was fairly certain having a shaved head was part of the traditional uniform. “I liked our run.”
The look he gave her was hot enough to light her hair on fire. “I liked how our run ended.”
“Me too.” She knew she had to change the subject before she jumped him in Dutch’s parking lot. “I love that Thai restaurant we went to. And your apartment is nice…wasnice.” She corrected herself with a pang.
“It doesn’t count as a date if the cops or fire department has to be called.”
Giving up on trying to get a glimpse of the bouncer, she turned to him, honestly interested. “Do you think so? I was wondering about that same thing, but I figured what constitutes a date has more to do with the intentions of the parties involved rather than if there’s a violent interruption or not.”
His expression had lightened a little. “You deserve every date to be nice and nonviolent.” His frown returned as he scanned the lot. “With no stalkers.”
She smiled, imagining it. “That’d be nice.”
With the sun long gone for the night, the temperature had dropped. Although Norah had dressed in pants—just in case she needed to knee someone in the face again—anda jacket over her blouse, she still shivered a little from cold and anticipation. Without dropping his gaze from the people around them, Dash wrapped his arm around her and tucked her against his side.
She stiffened, not expecting to be touching him so suddenly. It was different in public than it had been in the privacy of her bedroom. After a few moments, she began to relax. He was extremely warm and, despite his rocklike conformation, surprisingly comfortable to lean against. As they slowly advanced toward the front of the line, Dash kept her close. Norah would never have guessed that in-line cuddling would be a perk of dating that she enjoyed, but she didn’t want to pull away from him, even when they reached the bouncer.
It was the same one, and Norah immediately looked at her feet as she held out her driver’s license for him to see. She was sure the bouncer was about to pick her up by the scruff of her neck and physically toss her out of line, likely combined with shouted warnings to never return, and then Dash would have to kill him for touching her, but all the bouncer did was grunt in a displeased way.
