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Sure. As soon as she found her voice,thatwas what popped out. Probably for the best. Every kiss she’d had since her time in Afghanistan had been a disaster in one form or another, anyway. “Auntie El raised me,” she continued, unable to stop her babbling. “I’m adopted.”
Hobbs’s eyes crinkled again. He was probably the only man on the planet that could make eye crinkles look youthful. “Well,” he said, brushing his forefinger beneath her chin. The sensation wriggled all the way from her skin to deep inside her body. “I can only speak for me, but I don’t want a kiss from my aunt on my birthday.”
Tabitha frantically tried to keep her knees from buckling as she thought about how close Hobbs’s lips were to hers. Her pulse rose, and she braced herself for that terrible, crushing feeling where she couldn’t get air into her lungs.
It didn’t come.
“Have you thought about it?” Hobbs said.
“What?”
“Kissing me.”
“Yes. No.” She’d fantasized about kissing Hobbs more times than she could count, but she wouldn’t admit that to anyone, least of all him. “No.” Tabitha sort of felt like she already was. Their lips were so close his breath tickled over her skin. Why was she not panicking?
“I have.” He seemed to have no embarrassment in the admission. “Can I try? I just want to see. I’m curious.”
“Curious about kissing me?”
Hobbs laughed a little bit. “You’re funny, Tabby.”
“Okay.” It might’ve been a whisper.
Hobbs took that as permission, even though Tabitha still wasn’t sure if she meantOkay, I’m funny, orOkay, you can kiss me. He closed the small amount of space left between them until his lips touched hers. His mouth was soft, warm, a little wet and very sweet. Tabitha’s eyes closed and her body leaned in harder. Hobbs’s hand went to the small of her back. His other hand slid to the back of her neck and held her still so he could gently kiss her mouth one, two, three times, little teasing kisses that made her go limp in his arms. He suckled against her lower lip, his thumb doing something crazy soft against her jawline. Her body melted into the front of him, her arms going around his waist. He kissed her a little harder, a little deeper. A soft noise of satisfaction escaped Tabitha’s throat. Never in her life would she have expected Hobbs to be so gentle. Never in her life had a kiss been this inviting, like Hobbs was a romantic stranger knocking softly on her door to ask permission to court her.
Suddenly, he pulled back. Tabitha’s eyes shot open, like someone had turned the water in the shower from hot to cold. Hobbs was looking at her. The smile was still in his eyes, but something had changed in his expression.
“What’s wrong?” Tabitha said. When he didn’t answer right away she added, “Was it what you thought?”
“No.”
“Oh.” Great. The best kiss she’d ever had in her life and she’d messed it up somehow.
“Hey!” Rhett’s sharp voice barked out from the raised bay door of the gym. “One of you have my dog?” His tall silhouette peered into the night. Tabitha glanced down and saw that Humphrey and Trinity had lain near each other on the grass, patiently waiting for their owners to stop acting like teenagers hiding behind the school gym.
“Got him!” Hobbs called. “Bringing him in now!”
Once Rhett disappeared, Hobbs drew off his flannel and draped it around Tabitha’s shoulders. She hadn’t realized she was shaking until the warmth enveloped her shoulders, though she didn’t have the courage to tell him that it wasn’t the cold making her tremble. Hobbs wore a white T-shirt beneath. The short sleeves gripped the biceps and pecs he was so proud of, but at this moment, Tabitha wasn’t complaining about his fitness obsession. “Let’s get you inside before you freeze, Tabby.”
Tabitha parted her lips to ask what he’d meant, about the kiss not being what he’d expected. But that wasn’t what came out of her mouth. “The girls made me a cake. I made a really grand wish, like an idiot. Then one of the birthday candles came back to life after I blew it out. The ladies were debating whether or not that counted.”
Hobbs offered his easy smile. “Do you ever give your brain a rest?”
Tabitha snuggled deeper into the shirt. It smelled so much like Hobbs she relived the taste of his mouth. Her trembles doubled.
“The ladies are overlooking one simple fact.” Hobbs leaned over and collected the dogs’ leashes. He handed Trinity’s to Tabitha, which she took with cold fingers.
“What’s that?” she said as they headed back to the gym.
“You got the kicks.” Hobbs pointed at her ruby-red slippers. “You want to make a wish, just click your heels three times and it’s all yours, baby.”
Tabitha stopped inside the bay door of the gym and looked down at the red glitter on her feet that sparkled in the dark. She couldn’t help but smile.
“There you go,” Hobbs said. “Smile away all the worry. That’s what I do.”
Tabitha tried to read his expression. She was pretty good at reading people, but Hobbs was like the birthday clown, covered in face paint and bow ties, ready to pull colored scarves out of his sleeve to distract the crowd.
“I better go help clean up before the boss blows a gasket. Have a good night, Tabby. Thanks for the kiss.” Hobbs led Humphrey over to Rhett, who was gathering up trash. Clementine, Delaney, Red, Sunny, Pete and Sean were all helping. There were stragglers still buttoning up coats but most of the crowd had gone, including Carrie and her drunk date. Tabitha joined in, and before she knew it, the gym was clean and she was in the back of Clementine’s car with the rest of the bunch. She’d thrown a parting glance at Hobbs as she left, but he’d been too busy chatting with the stragglers to notice.
