Page 117 of Reckless
“No. It doesn’t.” His stubble brushes against my ear.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you working?”
“Yeah, but then I saw you. Didn’t know you were here. And I wasn’t going to keep going without coming over to say hi to my girl.”
I turn and finally make eye contact. “Am I?”
“Are you what?”
“Your girl?”
“That’s what I keep trying to tell you. I need to get your hearing checked. Take you and Peter to the vet once and for all.”
“I just didn’t know if we were like...athingthing. Like in public and stuff.” My hand waves around nervously as I completely skip over his joke.
“Oh. Hmm...” He settles back, peering around the gym. And I look away, that mean little voice in my head sayingSee? I told you.
His firm fingers grip my chin and turn my face back to him. “Winter, we are a thing. We arethething. We areit.”
And then he kisses me. In the middle of the gym. When he should be paying attention to the girl with the even boobs.
He findsme.
He kissesme.
He belongs tome.
I thought I had that once when I didn’t.
But the man who is kissing me now? Out in the open for longer than is appropriate?
He is not the same man.
He’s a better one.
His tongue takes one final swipe through my mouth before he pulls away, glittering onyx eyes hyper-focused on my face. “I’m off at seven. Then we’re going out.”
“Out?”
“Yeah. Dinner. A bar. Something. A date.”
“A date?”
He smiles, pushing to stand over me. “Yeah. We haven’t done one of those yet, have we? Wear a slutty dress for me.”
“Are we having tequila again?”
He turns away with a rumbling chuckle. “Sure, Tink. I’ll lick it off you when we get home,” is what he calls back.
Loud enough that people stare. And I don’t even mind.
* * *
“One dance.”
How did I let him talk me into coming here after our beautiful steak dinner? The Railspur is a big country bar in town. It has elevated western vibes with industrial fixtures and warm wood finishings. It’s also packed.
“Theo.”
