Page 48 of Mr. Flirt

“That’s so sweet.”

“So, the moral of the story is to never count out love in not-so-obvious places.” Winter grinned.

“Good advice.” I snuck a look at Shep and realized he was watching me, which made my entire body warm with desire. It had been so long since I’d had someone look at me like that, and it was exciting.

And scary.

Winter let out a little burp, and her cheeks turned red. “I can’t believe that happened. I’m so sorry.”

Skylar laughed and shook her head. “It’s only because you’re pregnant. All sorts of sounds escape my sisters whenever they’re carrying around human cargo.”

I chuckle, thinking back to Danni and how whenever she bent over, she tooted. Ah, things to look forward to someday. I glanced at Shep and wondered if he’d ever thought about having kids.

Enough!

What was I doing?

I was falling right into the trap that all my clients fell into.

Love.

Lust.

Imaginary friends.

I shook myself out of it as Winter stood with her husband and rubbed her belly. “Dinner was amazing, but I think I need to go to bed.”

“You okay?” Shep asked, standing from the table.

“Totally fine, but I tend to hit the sheets by eight now.”

Shep laughed, looking completely surprised. Mike and Skylar stood, too, and followed their lead.

“Us too. We should head out.”

“Oh, okay.” Shep glanced at me, and the realization that we’d be alone hit me fast.

I said my goodbyes to everyone, and as Shep closed the door behind them, he chuckled.

“My friends aren’t known for leaving quite so early.”

“Was it something I said?”

He shook his head. “No. I think it was because I couldn’t stop staring at you. You’re stunning, Lucy.”

I swallowed my surprise as he took a few steps toward me.

“Thank you,” I managed to squeak out, grateful that none of my adversaries were around to see that I had a weakness and he was standing in front of me.

“Did you want me to take you back to your place or...?”

Without realizing it, I shook my head and smiled at him.

A blaze of fire ran through his blue eyes, and I felt my entire body light up. He touched my cheek and ran his fingers down my jaw, leaving a trail of sparks in its wake.

Shep closed the space between us, and my breath hitched the moment his eyes landed on my lips.

Nothing had happened yet, and I was already a hot mess.

---