“What flavor do you want?” Lee murmured, bouncing their joined hands against his thigh.
She smiled before answering. “Nectar.”
Lee’s eyes danced. “Wren wants nectar. What. A. Surprise.”
Their laughter caught the attention of the two guys in front of them. The one closest to them looked back and gave Wren the once-over.
“Shit.Mais,das a lotta tattoos,” he said, his Delcambre accent flattening out his words.
Wren held her breath. When she wore shorts or short skirts, this happened all the time, but Lee didn’t know that. If he hadn’t thought she looked like a freak before, would the attention of others change his mind?
Lee gripped her hand a little tighter as the second guy turned. This one eyed Wren and nodded, and the first guy looked at Lee.
“Man, you like all dat?”
“I fucking love it,” Lee growled.
Wren glanced at him and bit her lip. His smile was gone. He looked ready to commit murder.
“Did yer ole lady have all dat when you met her? Or did she jus’ keep addin’ on?”
His friend must have noticed the way Lee squared his shoulders because he tapped the guy on the arm. “Bra, shutcha mout.”
“Yes.” Lee’s voice became a low rumble. “That’s excellent advice.”
At that moment, the girl in the snowball stand called for the next customer, and both men turned and stepped under the stand’s red awning.
Lee and Wren held back. He was rigid beside her. Wren knew by the look on his face that this was never going to work. She took a deep breath to say what needed to be said.
“It’s okay. You can take me home.”
Lee pulled his eyes away from her critic and frowned down at her. “We’ll go home. Just as soon as we get snowballs.”
Wren shook her head. “No, I mean you can take me to my apartment. It’s alright.”
Lee’s eyes flared wide. “What? Hell, no.” He squeezed her hand in his. “I’m not taking you back to your apartment. Why would I do that?”
She rolled her eyes. “Because. That happens like every day. If it bothers you now, being with me is going to make you miserable.”
Lee’s eyebrows nearly climbed to his hairline. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Babe, I only got upset because you looked nervous.”
Wren put her free hand on her hip and glared. “Oh, really?”
His ready smile disarmed her. “Yeah, really. I swear. If that happens all the time, it won’t matter to me. As long as you’re okay.”
It was their turn to order, and Lee stepped up under the shade of the awning, pulling Wren with him. He wasn’t letting go of her hand.
“You’re so ready to give up on me,” he whispered after they’d ordered. “What do I have to do to prove I want to be with you?”
His words were low, but the girl behind the counter glanced up at him and then looked at Wren. The girl turned away, biting down on her smile as Wren’s face caught flame.
“Please. Not here,” she begged, her whisper barely audible beneath the whir of the shaved ice machine.
Beside her, Lee’s smile grew out of control. He leaned over and put his lips to her ear. “I love it when you blush.”
“Oh God,” she groaned, palming her face. He was going to be the death of her. “C’mon Victor, let’s go for a little walk.”
She left Lee laughing at the snowball stand and took the puppy to the sidewalk, where he spent the next minute sniffing theNo Parkingsign with keen interest.
