Page 57 of Finding New Dreams

While Flynn waited next to me, he pulled a hair tie out of his pocket and clamped his teeth around it while he gathered his hair in a ponytail.

It was like he flipped a switch inside me. Heat built low in my abdomen as I stared at his clenched teeth. Was he the sort to nip at a woman’s skin when he wanted to taste her? A shiver rolled between my shoulder blades.

I swallowed once, then said brightly, “How about we make this interesting?”

Flynn finished tying his hair back and smirked at me. “Stakes?”

“Favors or gifts.”

Owen grinned. “I’m in. Gina?”

“Definitely. I already have one in mind.” She cocked an eyebrow at Flynn. “I challenge you. If I win, you have to take my place at pet yoga class with Rose.”

“I accept,” Flynn said immediately.

I glared at Gina. “I knew you’d try to weasel out of that class somehow! Traitor.”

She bumped my hip with hers. “All’s fair, especially after your little comment last week.”

It took me a minute before I remembered my Wyatt comment. I grimaced. “Fine. What if he wins?”

Flynn rubbed his thumb over his bottom lip, contemplating. “If I win, she has to bring me an order of Baciami breadsticks.”

“Well, seeing as how her family owns the restaurant, that shouldn’t be hard,” I said dryly. Then I glanced at Owen. “I challenge you for three free books of my choosing.”

He gave me a little bow. “And I will request a Rose Rafferty original—provided it’s on a miniature canvas taking no more than ten minutes to complete.”

“Sneaky, making sure I don’t labor over it for years,” I said with a smile and stuck out my hand. “It’s a bargain, sir.”

“Madame,” he replied in a lofty voice as he shook it.

Before long, we were up. Gina managed to hit the target a few times—which was a few times more than last year. Flynn threw even worse. He didn’t even try to hide his purposely bad throws.

His last axe bit the ground at least two feet short of the target.

“Whoops!” He shrugged with a cheerful smile then gave Gina a high five. “To the victor go the spoils,” he said, winking at me.

I pressed my lips together, trying to hold back a laugh. “You didn’t win.”

He bent close, his nose almost grazing my cheek as he walked past me, and murmured in my ear, “Oh, but I did.”

Owen and I went next, and I won by a slim margin.

“Stop by any time, Rosie,” he said, smiling. “Three books, on the house.”

I grinned and thanked him before he left to find his brother.

I met Flynn at the back of the line. “So…”

“So,” he said with a smirk. “What will we bet this time?”

15

FLYNN

I had a few pretty damn good ideas for what I wanted our next prizes to be, but Gina was still standing there, watching.

Rose tapped her lower lip in thought. The sun shone through her black hair and made the diamond in her nose sparkle. That skirt floated around her ankles, practically begging me to grab fistfuls of it. And once again, I wanted to capture her, her essence, into a work of art that I could carry with me always. Like my very own inspirational charm.

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