Page 31 of Lucky Haven

She sucks in a little shocked breath. But she doesn’t deny it.

I grin. “You know, once you get past the surface differences, we actually make sense.”

“Because we have common decency as a shared value?” Her eyebrows arch up in amused surprise.

“And we both like to read.”

“That is where our similarities begin and end.”

“I’m sure that’s not true. I bet we both like French fries.” I hand her one of the menus propped behind the napkin dispenser. Getting this dinner date back on track.

“You, me, and the entire world.” But she’s smiling softly as she peruses the menu, and that sweetness punches its way into my chest and takes up residence.

After a minute, she lifts her head and finds me still staring at her. Her pupils dilate and the tip of her tongue darts out, sliding along her lower lip unconsciously. “Have you decided what you want, then?”

Fucking hell. Yes, I know exactly what I want. And she’s not really mine for the taking. “I’ll have the special.”

Her eyes dart to the chalkboard behind the counter. “That sounds good.”

A new heat that I barely recognize swirls through my chest. “Something else we have in common.”

And she must hear it in my words, must recognize it as a danger, like a fawn in the forest hearing a twig snap, because her clever gaze snaps back to my face.

It’s going to be an endless struggle, staying on the right side of being good enough for her, when deep inside, I crave her with a hotter fire than I understood before.

The things I would do to hold that gaze as she sucks my cock…Fuck. Fuck.

“Listen,” she starts to say.

And I don’t want to hear it. Not on our first date. Not even if it’s fake date.

I cut her off. “This doesn’t need to be terrible, right?”

“No. Of course not. It’s not terrible. You’re not terrible. It’s just⁠—”

There’s only one strategy here, and it’s tease her mercilessly until she forgets whatever she saw in my eyes. “Are you afraid you’ll want to kiss me all the time?”

“Cash!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” I smirk. She knows what to do with a smirking, flirty Cash. “Don’t worry, I want to kiss you all the time, too.”

She rolls her eyes. “You can’t say that⁠—”

“Haven?”

Our heads swivel in unison.

Jasper Lane is standing a few feet away from our table. The sheriff is in civilian clothes tonight—jeans, a work shirt, cowboy hat in hand—but the way he carries himself doesn’t change out of uniform. And he’s looking at me like I’m a threat to the woman I’m having dinner with.

She reaches across the table and slides her fingers over my hand.

That instinctive claim smashes the cocky wall I’d just climbed behind. God damn it, her touch feels good.

Jasper narrows his eyes, then addresses me next.

“Kincaid.” He’s calm as always. Even the night he slapped cuffs on me, he was steady and cool. I hated him for that. “Good to see you.”

The last time we saw each other was the day Zane killed Hope’s violent ex, out at our family ranch. We both arrived too late to intervene.