Page 844 of One More Kiss

“I’m Calder. Nice to meet you.” He takes the offered hand and shakes it. This is my friend, Oak.”

“Would you like to join me?”

“Sure, he will join you.” Calder nudges me with his shoulder.

“I mean both of you.”

“Oh, no, I can’t. I’m going to look around the lot for a good second-hand stick to take me on a drive.”

Wincing, I look away, unable to meet his gaze.

I’m going to purge that mouth of Calder’s. Enough is enough.

Before he can utter any more automotive pickup lines or innuendos, I punch his shoulder and nod toward the crowd. “Go purr somewhere else. I’m sure you’ll find someone who’s interested in giving your undercarriage a thorough inspection.”

“Right, right. Sure. I’ll get out of your hair. You kids have fun.” He waves his fingers. “Tata, sugar daddy and toy boy.”

I roll my eyes but heave a sigh of relief. This man and his mouth. It’s going to get him in a pickle one of these days. And the idea of not having him around and his crappy words feels like a great idea.

“Shall we sit down?” Rowan touches my shoulder.

My heart stops, then beats again. Stop once more and beats again. A rush skitters all over me.

This man has such a strange effect on me.

He squeezes my shoulder when I don’t respond, and that does crazy things to me.

Like really, really crazy things.

One such thing is my body pulsing madly. The veins inside thrum and thrash, caught between my need to touch him back, or run away.

Far, far away.

“Shall we?”

“Uh, um, right.” I take a tentative step and slide into the opposite seat from his.

But the 10mm silver fox has other plans. He scoots in next to me and rests his arm behind me on the seat.

I swallow hard, suddenly nervous and unsure of how to breathe or make a conversation.

My brain tells me to ask him his name? To get to know him? Things people do only on blind dates.

However, this is not a blind date, and someone should tell that to my brain. Besides, I know his name. He’s already introduced himself.

I agree with getting to know him. Totes right.

But the kicker of all kickers is that my mouth and brain are not in sync.

My mouth remembers Calder’s criteria. Must-haves. I should start there, right? Calder’s voice tells me to do so inside my head.

“I wanna see your joystick!”

He jerks back and blinks several times, staring into my eyes.

“Do you carry a 10mm shaft in your pants?”

His jaw goes slack, and slowly, his shoulders shake.

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