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THREE
Emerson
I tensewhen I feel an arm wrap possessively around my waist and jerk my head up. I breathe a sigh of relief when my eyes land on Denver’s handsome face. I melt into him, leaning closer, and I wonder if he notices. I breathe in his woodsy scent and his hand digs into the curve of my hip. I duck my head to hide my happy grin.
“Hey, Den! What are you doing here?” I ask.
“I had to get my mom a gift for her birthday.” He says, holding up a Nordstrom bag in his other hand.
I smile at how sweet he is. He’s told me a little about his family. I know that his parents are still married and still live in Portland. His sister is married with two kids now and lives in Seattle. He’s still close with all of them and talks to them regularly.I wonder if he’s told them about me.
“What did you get her?” I ask.
“A new raincoat and a sweater. What are you looking for here?”
“Some new work clothes.” I say, trying to hide the bright pink Victoria’s Secret bag in between my ones from Nordstrom and Charlotte Russe.
His eyes scan my bags and of course, he spots the bright pink immediately. A sly grin spreads across his face.
“You’ll have to do a fashion show for me.” He says and I swear that my jaw just about hits the floor.
“Sure, if you want.” I sputter out.
“Oh, I want.” He says, his eyes darkening
I have to subtly pinch myself to make sure that I’m not daydreaming. I yelp and Denver pulls me into his side more, looking around for what hurt me. I clear my throat and try to bury myself into him more.
Denver grips my hip and starts to lead me over to the food court. I go willingly, although with him gripping my hip the way he is, I’m not sure that I have much of a choice. He reaches over with his other hand and grabs my bags from me. I thank him but he just waves me off like it’s nothing. I’ve been carrying those bags for twenty minutes and they were heavy so I’m just grateful for the break.
“Are you hungry?” He asks and my stomach growls in return.
I swear sometimes he knows me better than I know myself. He’s dropped off lunch or breakfast before and it’s always on days where I forgot my breakfast or had to work through lunch. I wonder if he has spies in my office or if he’s psychic.
“What would you like to eat?” He asks with a smile.
“Hmm…” I say, looking around at my choices.
The mall doesn’t really have that many choices and we both decide on Chick-Fil-A. He leads me over to the line, keeping his grip on my hip the whole way. We get to the front of the line and order two number ones. I try to pay but Denver waves me off. He wraps his arm around my waist once again, leading me over to a table close by.
He sets the bags down before he pulls out a chair for me. He surprises me by grabbing the seat right next to me instead of across. Our knees bump under the table and tingles run up my thigh, settling between my legs. Denver starts to open his mouth, but our order is called, and he runs to grab the food. We both dig in and Denver asks me about my plans for the rest of the weekend.
“Just cleaning up my apartment and catching up on Netflix.”
I wonder if I sound boring, but Denver seems please with my answer for some reason.
“What about you?” I ask.
Oh, god. If he says he has a date or something I’m going to start crying right here at the table.
“Same as you. I’ll have to package up my moms’ gift so I can mail it out on Monday but that’s it.”
We finish lunch and Denver walks me to my car. He’s parked across the lot and I try to tell him that he doesn’t have to, but he just tightens his grip on my hand and tells me that he wants to.
I hit the unlock button and Denver puts my bags in the passenger seat before he walks back over to me.
“Thanks for lunch.” I say as I fiddle with my car keys.
“My pleasure. In fact, I’d like to buy you dinner sometime.”
