“Your pupils dilated.”She rolled her eyes.“You just did it again.You want to touch the dragon, don’t you?”
I stepped into her and growled low, “You want me to touch it.”
Her eyes burned with fire.That familiar, reckless spark crackled between us.
I said, “At least you won’t lie to me and deny it.”
“I never wanted you totouchit.”Her eyes dropped to my lips.
Oh.
She wanted me to kiss along the tattoo.
She hooked two fingers under my chin and tipped my face up to hers.“Lordy, you have a naughty mind.Everyone thinks you’re this handsome Prince Charming, but really you’re a black-hearted pirate.”
I smirked.“You want this pirate to ravish you.”
“Ravish?”She exploded into deep, contagious belly laughter that dragged a laugh out of me too.“No one actually saysravish.You have them all fooled, but I know exactly what lives in that twisty black organ in here.”She poked a finger into my chest for emphasis.
“You’re the first person to accuse me of being a black-hearted, naughty-minded pirate.”
She pushed away from me and strolled around the car.“You like the idea of being a pirate capable of…” She rolled her eyes, but a snort of laughter escaped.“Ravishing.”Then she got serious.“Are you actually sleeping around town or are all the women here hoping they’ll get ravished?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”I walked away.I forced myself not to look back.It was hard.So hard.
Once inside the clinic I did a fist pump.For once, I’d gotten in the last word.
ChapterFifteen
ERIKA
Who wasat the door at nine-thirty on a Friday night?
A barely five-foot-tall woman with wild curly black hair and olive skin held a bottle of chardonnay and two wine glasses.“Hey.I’m Tonya.”
“Do we know each other?”
“Not yet.”Her voice had a bit of an accent.Maybe Spanish?As she stepped into the porch light, golden fairy tinsel woven into her hair glittered.
“If you’re here to ply me with wine and politely suggest I stay away from Josh Hurst, let’s fast-forward to the part where I say I’m leaving town.I’m not competition.”
She threw her head back and laughed—full-body, no-apologies laughter that shook with pure delight.“God, no.That man is way too tightly wound for me.I prefer my Latino man—open book, zero repression, and very generous in bed.”
Tonya sobered just enough to grin.“However, I do think the women of this town should feel a little threatened.”Her gaze flicked over me, amused and assessing.“By you.That’s why I’m here.I had to meet the woman who’s got Josh all cranked up.I haven’t seen him this alive since the day I met him four years ago.”
“We bring out the pissy in each other.”
“I think it’s good for him to have someone get in his face and not kiss his ass or try to seduce him.Although, I wonder if he might want you to do both to him.I’m Dante’s fiancé.He’d say girlfriend, but he’s going to marry me next year.He just doesn’t know it yet.”
“I haven’t seen Dante since I got back.What has he been up to?”I peeked around outside, expecting him to be in the driveway.
“He and Josh went out after dinner.They go up to the quarry and shoot the shit.Sometimes they play video games at Josh’s house afterward.Did you know Dante is a sheriff’s deputy now?”
“An officer?”I made a mind blown sign by my head.“Last time I saw him, he was a permanent resident in detention for shooting off his mouth or selling vapes in the bathroom.It’s nice that he and Josh are still good friends.”
“I figured us girls could shoot our own shit.I need to know everything you’ve got on Dante from high school—like him selling stuff in the bathroom.”
I pushed open the door to let her in.“Come on in.Vinny is watching a movie.We can sit in the kitchen unless you want to watchCarswith him.”
