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A vision of Johnny telling her to do the same, to “have some fun,” echoed through her head. What was it he’d said? That she lacked spontaneity and he was glad he’d realized before it was too late?
She’d been grieving her mother’s death. Of course she’d been “uptight” and “dull.”
That didn’t mean she was now.
She narrowed her gaze at this grinning hunk, pushing her outside her comfort zone.
“If you drop me,” she warned, “‘fun’ isn’t the word I’m going to use.”
His eyes glittered. “If I drop you, you can use any word you like. Ready?”
It was probably because of Johnny’s taunts that the silliness of riding piggyback with Justin through the park, even if only for a few yards, tempted her so much. Maybe Johnny had been right. How long had it been since she’d done something carefree and out-of-character?
When had she become boring?
She was content with her life, or maybe she’d just been treading water. But something about Justin made her entertain things she wouldn’t otherwise consider.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, that nagging inner voice assured her.
Justin bent lower, so she could grab hold of him around his neck. “Your chariot awaits, ma’am.”
She shoved aside the last bit of doubt and instantly felt lighter.
“Hang on,” she told him, putting Daisy back on the ground. “I have to make sure we don’t tangle up her leash.”
“Can’t have that.”
“Now we’re ready.” She wrapped her arms around Justin’s neck and hopped a little, to make it easier for him to scoop her legs around his waist. Once he had her up Daisy gave a yap, clearly not liking that Riley was on his back.
“Shh, Daisy—stop that.”
But Daisy kept barking and Riley kept shushing.
“This may not work,” Riley warned Justin when the dog didn’t calm. “She’s small, but she can make a person wish he was deaf.”
“She won’t bite?”
“She never has before.”
“Then hang on.”
With Daisy still yapping at his feet, Justin took off in a playful trot.
They wouldn’t win any speed contests, but they weren’t trying to go full force—more just having fun. Being with Justin was fun. It was also a bit nerve-racking to have her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms wrapped around his neck, for his skin to be against hers, to feel his body heat, his strength against her...
She so shouldn’t be thinking the things she was thinking.
Daisy gave a few more yaps, but then settled, just looking up at them as she kept pace.
Justin made carrying her seem like nothing. But having her body wrapped around his, even in this innocent way, wasn’t nothing—not when he made her feel everything. When their skin-to-skin contact, even though innocent, felt nothing of the sort.
Her thighs tightened reflexively.
“Put me down,” she ordered aft
er he’d gone a couple dozen yards. How could she be battling the urge to lean in and kiss his neck at the same time as feeling so childlike in their antics? “You’ve proved your point.”
She might have worried that she was too heavy for him to carry, but he wasn’t huffing or puffing or straining in the slightest. Which added dainty to the list of things he was making her feel. Had she ever felt dainty?
