She chuckles. “I’m still a little scared of Rex,” she admits. “He’s a big, scary dog. But my fear of dogs isn’t the same type of fear. My bills need paying. Starting my own business is terrifying.”
“If anyone can succeed, it’s you.”
She smiles up at me. “Thanks.”
“Okay, here’s what you do,” I say, unclipping Rex’s leash once we’ve made it out far enough in the old farmland. I hand her the ball flinger. “Hurl it as hard as you can, but don’t let go.”
She tries this, and the ball doesn’t fly out. Rex skids across the grass, eagerly waiting for the ball to fly. She frowns and tries again.
“You gotta pop it,” I say, motioning with my hand. “Like fling it hard then jerk it back at the last second. It’ll make the ball fly out.”
With her teeth gritted together, she tries again, with even worse results. Rex whines. He wants so badly to chase the ball but it’s not leaving the ball flinger.
“Why is this so hard?”
“Here,” I say, putting my hand over hers. “You move it in a motion like this.”
Slowly, I pull her hand back, then mimic how I throw it forward and then stop my hand, making the ball pop out. “It’s just like this, but a lot faster.”
“You’re really doing the whole cliche ‘let me put my arms around you and show you how to do this’ move?” she says, one hand on the ball flinger, and one hand on her hip. The way she’s smiling at me tells me I haven’t actually insulted her.
“Did it work?” I wink at her.
“Let’s find out.” She holds the ball flinger with both hands, pulls back and flings it hard. The ball launches through the air and Rex finally gets to chase after it. He gallops back across thegrass and drops the ball at her feet, tail wagging so she’ll throw it again. She starts to lean down to pick it up.
“Wait,” I say, grabbing her hand. “Don’t touch it with your hand. Do this.”
I move behind her, wrapping my arms around both of hers. My fingers slide down the tops of her hands, moving the ball flinger toward the ball on the ground. I press it over the ball, then lift up.
“If you grab the ball with this thing, you never have to touch the slobber.”
“Genius,” she says, leaning her head against my chest. My arms are still wrapped around her.
“Do you think you’ve got it now, or should I show you again?” I ask softly into her ear.
“You’re ridiculous,” she says with a giggle that resonates through my chest.
“It’s just harmless fun.” I inhale her berry shampoo one more time then slowly release her.
She flings the ball for Rex, then turns to me. “Look, there’s obviously attraction here. You’re extremely handsome and you keep saying you like the way I look.”
“Beautiful,” I say. “Extremely sexy in this outfit.”
She rolls her eyes. “Maybe we should just kiss and get this over with.”
My heart stops. “What?”
She shrugs, a pink flushing into her cheeks as she grins at me. Rex returns the ball and she presses the flinger to it, then launches it through the air again. “All this sexual tension between us is, like, painful at times. We know we’re not going to date each other, so let’s just kiss and get it out of the way and then we can be normal functioning adults for the event tonight.”
There’s no way in hell that one kiss will make all my feelings for her fade away. It’s not like ripping off a Band-Aid when thescratch is healed. Kissing Charlotte will be like stabbing a dagger in my jugular, making everything worse. I know this.
But I’m going to kiss her anyway.
“Let me toss the next ball,” I say, taking the flinger from her fingers. When Rex returns, I launch it so far, it’ll make him run three times longer, giving us a few bittersweet extra moments alone together. Rex takes off after it, and I take her face in my hands.
“Last chance to change your mind,” I whisper as I bring her face to mine.
“Not happening,” she whispers back.
