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“Right?” She chuckled. “But I wouldn’t trade her for the world.”
“Maybe you don’t have to.”
“What does that mean?”
“Maybe you can have your cake and get eaten out, too.”
She laughed nervously. Those were provocative words for the middle of the day in a neighborhood coffee shop.
“Well, good thing I think sex is overrated.”
“Ah, but it’s not.” He leaned in, squeezed her hand. “You just haven’t been laid well in a while, I’m guessing.”
Another nervous chuckle. “Are you offering?”
“Yes.”
Oh. That was supposed to be a joke, practicing a flirty move, something she had little to no experience of in her repertoire. Getting drunk and knocked up at twenty required no flirting skills whatsoever. But now that she was supposedly dating again, she figured she’d need to up her game. And who better a sounding board than the always-erect-and-ready Dex O’Malley?
So yes, a joke. But that response, that clear, succinct, one-syllable response sure didn’t sound like a jocular retort. It had weight to it. Sensual weight.
She pulled her hand away, but not her gaze which was locked with Dex’s. Like it meant something. Like letting it slip would take them out of this bubble, a place where both of them needed to be.
“Good thing I’m your boss, then.”
“Makes it hotter.”
She shook her head. “Stop joking.”
“Who says I’m joking?”
“Dex, I appreciate what you did earlier and what you’re doing now, trying to make me feel attractive. But we need to call a halt to it.”
“If that’s what you want.”
So serious. So not what she wanted.
“I probably should get going. I took an hour from work for this.” She stood, smoothing her skirt, which drew attention to her thighs. When she looked up, he was watching her with something like hunger in his eyes.
Not that. It was in her imagination, which she needed to rein in. And he needed to stop this playacting before she let this strange emotion that felt curiously like hope permeate and sink into her marrow.
“See you for your shift tomorrow?”
“Sure, Ashley. Tomorrow.”
She felt his eyes on her as she left along with the thudding of her pulse loud in her ears, and she let herself enjoy it for a few seconds before she scattered those thoughts into the cold March air.
12
Ashley was refilling the brochures in the reception area just as the door opened and in walked her daughter. She was supposed to be with her father.
“What happened?”
“Dad had to cut the visit short. Lottie needed him for something.”
Ashley checked her phone. No further explanation from Greg.
“How did you get here?”
