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His gaze swept over her. “Nah.”
“Don’t patronize me.” She laughed and pushed her sunglasses farther up her nose. Mike stayed quiet. He didn’t know if she was fishing for a compliment or not, but he didn’t think she’d believe him even if he confessed he thought she was beautiful. So, he didn’t say anything.
It wasn’t until they walked another two blocks that he finally said, “The last time I saw you, you had braces.”
“I was going through an awkward phase,” she said, sparing him a quick glance.
“Sure you’re not still in it?”
On a gasp, she turned to him, her lips twisting up from a reluctant smile to a growing grin as she pushed at his shoulder. “Rude.”
When she faced forward again, murmuring something to her dog about walking in a straight line, Mike took the opportunity to study her. His attention moved from her ear, where she had three piercings in her cartilage, to her nose and the tiny stud in it, then her lips, wide and a tempting pink, and finally to her hair.
“What’s with the purple?”
“It’s called ombre.”
“Ombre?”
“Yeah. Last month, it was red.” She combed her fingers through it, the slight breeze lifting a few strands so they settled across her face.
Using the tip of his finger, he pushed them back behind her ear. “It’s nice.”
Color rose in her cheeks, and she cleared her throat. “Want to go to the park?” She tilted her head in that direction, and he nodded. But on hearing the word “park,” the dog charged ahead, pulling on the leash. “Slow down, Eddie!”
Mike tossed her an amused look. “You named your dog Eddie?”
She tipped her chin up, nose in the air, all proud. “His full name is Edward Anthony Masen. I went through a bigTwilightphase in high school, when we got him.”
He stared at her blankly. He had no idea whatTwilightwas.
“They’re a series of books and movies that came out about this vampire named Edward, who fell in love with a human, and she was—you know what? Never mind. You just have to watch them.”
He shrugged. “If you say so.”
“I do.”
“Okay. It’s a date.”
He didn’t mean it likethat, but she froze like he did mean it like that. Mike hadn’t dated since the Bianca debacle, and he certainly wasn’t looking to get back into another relationship anytime soon. Although with the way she offered him a gentle, vulnerable smile, he almost wished he were.
At the park, Mike and Samantha sat on a pair of swings with Eddie tied up to a pole so he could sniff around the grass. For an older dog, he still had a lot of spunk, and Mike appreciated that since sometimes he physically felt like an old dog trying to learn new tricks. After a scratch on the dog’s head, he leaned back on his swing as a breeze kicked up again. Samantha gathered up all of her hair to push it to one side, exposing her neck with skin tanned from the sun and a small shooting star tattoo behind her ear.
She looked so good with a little bit of a rock-star vibe, the colored hair, and piercings. He wanted to tell her how pretty he thought she was, but the words stuck in his throat. Instead, he closed his eyes and tipped his face toward the sun for a few deep breaths.
“Are you trying to float away or something?”
Mike swiveled his focus to Samantha. “Hmm?”
“You’ve got this look on your face, it’s like you’re trying to float away or something.”
“Or something,” he said and rocked on his heels to move the swing back and forth.
“What are you thinking about?” Samantha lodged her bottom lip between her teeth like she didn’t mean to speak those words, and he was tempted to reach over and tug it out, but he kept his hands firmly planted on the metal chain-link holding the swing up. She pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head. “You don’t have to answer that. I’m sorry, that was really nosy of me.”
He shook his head. “I was thinking how nice it was to be out here with you.”
“Yeah?” She smiled. “You like being home?”
