She swallowed hard and a blush crept across her cheeks. It was freaking adorable. “What’s your plans tonight?”
“Dinner and an ice bath,” she flatly responded.
“Your place or mine?”
“Excuse me?”
“Dating, remember. Our plan? Letting them see small moments…”
She rolled her eyes, “No one’s watching.”
I chuckled and nodded to the eyes boring in the back of my head from Carlos and Jake. I heard Carlos whisper, “What’s up with that?”
“Just being nice to her, she was hurt last week. Did you even notice? You dick.” Kev rolled his eyes. I shot Kev a thankful glance.
“Hmm.” Carlos was about to say something else but didn’t.
She sighed. “Except them. And that’s because we’re here at work.”
“And? We’re just being friendly. Hanging out.”
“And they think that’s normal?”
“They will.” For some reason, I found that even more reason to make this work. She needed to be shown how she should be treated and nothing fucking less.
“Catch you guys later?” Kev called, like a jackass, to make a point. I waved him off and dropped the bag to the ground with a thud.
“My place. You have a roomie. I’ll order dinner. Neither of us should cook in the heat. Plus, we have a big day tomorrow.”
“Okay…” She stuttered. “I should go home and change first.”
“Why bother?” I smirked. Okay, maybe I should have been a gentleman and agreed, but that wasn’t me. Besides, lending her my shirt was exactly the thing a boyfriend would do.
She scoffed, offended. “I’m not wearing my sweaty work clothes all night.”
“Who said you would be?”
She flung a towel at me. Which made me laugh. “Shower and wear my shit like last time.”
She bit her lip, as if she was contemplating. “I thought you said you didn’t want me stretching your shit out.”
“Ha. I think you heard me say I like the way you stretched it out.” She elbowed me in the ribs, catching me off guard.
“Are you always like this?”
“No idea, never had a girl—” I paused to finish the word because it somehow got stuck in my throat.
“Girlfriend? Wow, you can’t even say the word!”
“Yes, I can!” I protested.
“Can’t even say the word and people are going to believe this?” Her laugh continued down the corridor as we walked out of the building.
“It’s not funny.” I deadpanned.
“Oh, but it is.” She laughed until her eyes watered. It was good to watch her, even at my expense.
A trickle of sweat rolled down my temple. It was our big weekend away and despite spending most of last night talking about everything and anything. I found that with her, I wanted to learn more. I wanted to know what her favorite books were. Apparently, regency romance and her favorite author was Lena something-or-other. She loved anything outdoorsy and sporty, but also had a soft side. She loved cats and eventually wanted one, but Nora was highly allergic.
