Page 29 of Playing Mr. Perfect

Pepper pulls her phone from her back pocket and glances at the screen. Her hazel eyes flick briefly to mine, and then she lowers her phone to her lap, responding to the text.

Pepper: I’m right across the table from you!

Me: You’re too far away.

I stretch my leg beneath the table, brushing my foot along her calf. I’m rewarded with a sexy blush as she thumbs out another text.

Pepper: Stop it. Someone’s going to notice.

Me: Does that mean this isn’t a good time to lean across the table and kiss you?

She presses her lips together, giving me that pointed look again, but betraying that disapproving facade is desire shimmering in her eyes.

Me: I can’t wait to get my mouth on you again.

Her cheeks flame.

Me: Rendezvous at the bathrooms?

As she reads the text, that shimmer turns to flames.

Me: Come on, baby. Be reckless with me.

She bites her lower lip as she reads the text, and I know she’s considering it.

Me: Come on, Reckless, you know you want to.

“Pepper, are you working again?” Morgyn asks, trying to glance at Pepper’s phone.

Pepper startles and turns her phone over. “Yes. Sorry.” She shoves her phone into her back pocket, shooting me a narrow-eyed glare.

“Pepper,” Brindle chides like she’s the responsible one.

“Look how tense you are from work texts,” Morgyn says.

“Luckily Pepper has a friend who’s good with his hands,” I say with a smirk. “I’d be happy to work out that tension for you.”

“Now we’re talking. A little”—Brindle waggles her brows—“goes a long way in loosening me up.”

Pepper glowers at me. “Thanks for that.”

I hold my hands up in surrender. “Don’t look at me. I was talking about giving you a neck rub or a back massage.”

“A back massage is how we got Emma Lou,” Trace says, referencing their adorable toddler and sparking jokes from the others.

Pepper spends the rest of lunch doing whatever she can to avoid looking at me. Every time I touch her leg with my foot, she tries to stop herself from smiling. Little does she realize, knowing she likes it makes me do it more.

We continue sightseeing after lunch. I’m having a good time chatting with Pepper and her family, and I’m discreet with my flirting. I don’t want Pepper to have to endure teasing from her siblings, but man, I’m ready to get her alone.

“There’s a gift shop!” Morgyn points to one of the shops.

I hold the door for everyone, but Axsel doesn’t follow them in. “You coming, Ax?”

“Nah. I’m going to hang out here.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I’ve just had my fill of touristy stuff.”