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As ‘Ironman 2’ began, Dani found it hard to concentrate, and finally peered over at Sean. “So…which superhero are you? Like, I’d happily be either Peggy or Captain Marvel. Are you Captain America or Ironman?” She grabbed a handful of popcorn.
He closed his eyes. “Just give me a second. I’m picturing you in a superhero costume over here. Mmm.”
She slugged him in the biceps, probably hurting her knuckles more than his stupid muscular arm. “Shut up.”
Chuckling, he said, “You’re the one who put the idea in my head. You can hardly blame me.” On a sigh, he shook his head. “Okay, fine. Uh, if I’m anyone, it’s Deadpool. Maybe Star-Lord, but probably Deadpool.”
“Who’s Star-Lord? And what number movie is he?” She gave him a look.
He chuckled and waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay, then, so why Deadpool? Excels in sarcasm and irreverence?” She grinned.
He smirked. “You got me. But also, Captain America’s too much of a hero and a Boy Scout for me to be him. Ironman’s way too fucking smart. Bruce, who turns into the Hulk, is prolly also too smart and is super emotionally sensitive, which...not my strong suit. Spiderman’s too young and pure of heart, so not me either.” He shrugged. “I mean, Thor’s a brooding god, so I might be able to pull that off, but otherwise I probably most identify with the soldier-turned-mercenary with the foul mouth who doesn’t consider himself any kind of hero.”
Dani blinked. They were just messing around, but unless she was reading into it too much, that answer revealed all kinds of things—less-than-generous things—about how Sean viewed himself. And she was kinda gobsmacked by it. “Sean—”
Both of their cell phones went off at the same time, hers ringing, his buzzing.
Sean paused the movie. “What the shit? Oh, it’s Jesse,” he said as he answered. “Yo, J.”
A glance at her cell revealed Tara was calling her. “What are you two up to?” Dani said by way of answering.
“Uh, what do you mean?” Tara said.
“I’m at Sean’s, who’s on the phone with your hot bomb squad cop as we speak.”
Sean made a face at her, one that read just a little jealous. Interesting. She arched a challenging brow at him.
Down the line, Tara chuckled. “Oh, ha. If I’d known that, we would’ve only called one of you. How’s Sean doing?”
Looking right at the man in question, Dani said, “He’s almost back to being his regular pain-in-the-ass self, so pretty good.”
He blew her a kiss, then said into his phone, “Uh, sure, I’m game for that.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Tara said. “So, you’re hanging out, huh?”
She heard what Tara was insinuating loud and clear. “Yep. So what’s up?”
“Fine, I’ll ask again when you two aren’t together,” her friend said, her tone full of humor. “I wanted to see if you were coming to WFC on Saturday.”
Dani frowned. Didn’t she usually attend? “Uh, yeah. Why?”
“No reason, really. I have news I wanted to share with everyone at dinner, so I was hoping you’d be there.”
News that Jesse was calling Sean about, too, apparently. Dani’s thoughts whirled on the possibilities. “Ooh, spill now.”
Tara laughed. “No way. But I’m glad I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay, fine,” Dani said, smiling. “And me too.”
“Have fun with Sean.” There was so much innuendo in those words. Again.
“Good-bye, Tara,” Dani said in a sing-song tone. They hung up. “Well that was interesting.” She looked at Sean. “What did Jesse say?”
“Just that they had news to share and he hoped I might come out on Saturday, at least to dinner if not WFC.” He raked a hand through his short dark hair. “Tara?”
“Pretty much the same, except she said it was her news, not their news.”
“Maybe they found a house,” Sean said. “They’ve been looking.”
Dani nodded. “Could be. So are you gonna go to dinner?”
Sean shrugged. “Yeah. Why not?”
“I can pick you up if you want.”
“Nah, that’s out of your way. Just text me where and I’ll Uber. I kinda had a bigger favor to ask anyway.” His lips pressed into a tight line, like he was debating saying whatever he’d been about to say. “Shit, never mind.”
“What is it? I’ll help if I can. I’m not just here to eat all your popcorn.” Speaking of which, she grabbed herself another handful of caramel.
He chuckled. “My popcorn is your popcorn.”
“Okay, now I’m wondering just how broadly this principle applies,” she said, tone full of teasing.
“What d’ya mean?”
“You’ve said that same thing about ‘Deadpool’, your shower, and now your popcorn.”
His eyes narrowed and he tilted his head. “Oh.” He laughed and shrugged. Then he slanted her a look. “How broadly would you like it to apply, Daniela?”
Her heart tripped into a sprint. Because that look combined with that tone came across as way more than playful.
It was challenging. It was gritty. It was freaking hot.
