While she gazed at Petey once more, she pulled her long hair up off her neck into a haphazard bun and rocked her head as if working out a kink.
Her exposed neck stopped me cold.Instead of looking away like a sane adult, I let my eyes linger on the small indentation at the back of it—the exact spot that used to make her moan when I kissed her there.
Would she still make that sound now?
And—because my brain hates me—did she make that same sound for her boyfriend?The thought arrived uninvited, kicked its feet up, and reminded me just how little I knew about her life now.For all I knew, she was blissfully in love.Engaged.Planning a tasteful fall wedding with pumpkins and artisanal cider.
My gaze snapped to her ring finger.
Empty.
Hope flickered.Then immediately scolded me for entertaining it at all.
When she turned, now massaging her neck, my gaze moved further south where that tight top she’d been wearing last night gaped so low I could almost see each nipple.There was a miniature black dragon half-circling her left breast.I didn’t blame Drew for losing the fight to stare.
She followed the line of my gaze.Her cheeks tinged pink as she gave me a single eyebrow raise.
“They’re…uh… That’s a dragon.”It was all I could muster.
She moved those extraordinary breasts to be more fully supported and covered by the conforming shirt-bodice thing.
“I know they’re…” She pointed at her breasts and shrugged.“I like to eat and don’t have time to exercise.Every extra calorie goes right here.”She patted her boobs.“Well, also here.”She pointed at her ass.“Mom always used to say men wanted a little something to grab onto, which is why I might as well eat cookies.”
“Cookies are yummy.”I repeated, because my vocabulary had officially shrunk to baked goods and panic.
She laughed—soft, familiar, unfair.The sound hit me square in the chest, right next to the old memories I pretended were archived instead of actively running as background processes.
“You always were easy to distract,” she said.
Easy wasn’t the word.I was a cautionary tale.A man derailed by dragons, cookies, and a woman who knew exactly how to raise one eyebrow and unravel a decade of emotional progress.
I forced my eyes back to her face, where they belonged, even as my pulse kept time somewhere south of reasonable thought.“For the record,” I said, aiming for casual and landing somewhere near fragile, “I approved of you before.The upgrades are just—” I gestured vaguely, because words were traitors.
“Uh-huh.”She tilted her head, studying me like she used to, weighing whether to tease or show mercy.“Will you help?”
“Help with what?”My brain immediately supplied the least helpful answer possible:Touch your boobs?Uh, yes.
She pointed at Vinny.
I stared, unmoving, my imagination in overdrive.
“Did you hear me?”She waved again.“Can you please move him to the car?He’s too heavy for me to lift.”
“Oh, sure.”I leaned down and scooped him up.“The tattoos are nice work.”
Nice, neutral topic.I was proud of myself for formulating the coherent words.
“The artist who did them is incredible.”She put away the towels they’d been lying on and collected her things.“She’s got places in Philly and LA.I had to wait seven months to get an appointment with her locally.Then I flew to LA with a friend for the second one.”She held open the door for me.
“Ah.”I followed her to her car.The cold breeze slammed into me.“You think you can get him back out of the car when you get to your place?”
She kicked her hip out beside her car once she closed the back seat where Vinny rested.The wind grabbed her hair and blew it in her face, before she pushed it behind each ear.“I wasn’t born yesterday, Dr.Voodoo Ears.No, I’m not going to invite you over just because you drooled over my?—”
“I did not drool.”I interrupted.
She leaned back against her car, eyebrows raising.“You stared at my chest like it was giving a TED Talk.”
“I glanced,” I corrected.“Briefly.Respectfully.”
