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Cannon and Nydia exchanged a knowing glance. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Cannon teased, waggling his eyebrows.
“Not a chance,” Hammer retorted. “I intend to have fun.”
* * *
“Oh my God,”Charlie giggled. “I can’t believe even you did that.” She looked up at Hammer from across the table with an amused expression in her eyes.
For the moment, every thought flew out of Hammer’s head. He couldn’t even remember what story he had just told to engender such a reaction. He just nodded an empty confirmation, his distracted mind suddenly elsewhere.
Speech had failed him, his brain cells all occupied by just how nice hearing her laugh was. How much he liked when she looked at him with such interest, hanging on his every word. If he could ever remember what he was talking about, he wouldn’t have hesitated to embellish the story a bit more. Anything to get another chuckle, another stare, a little more of her attention.
He had never been so interested in another human being until Charlie came along. It was a strange sensation but not unpleasant.
She leaned forward, grabbing another slice of pizza from the center of the table. A pizza place might not be much for a romantic date, but the more stereotypical first date places didn’t excite either of them. It was quiet here, a place where they could enjoy each other without being hassled by the overwhelming presence of too many strangers.
For them, it was perfect. And as the lights of a nearby pinball machine, a relic of a time gone by much like the rest of the pizza joint, cast an ethereal glow on Charlie’s skin, Hammer knew just what a great choice it had been.
“How’s it feeling?” she asked, gesturing to her own neck to clarify the question. Hammer shook himself back into the current moment, a hand absentmindedly coming up to finger the bandage. He had, at least, thought to put a clean one on before their date. For him, that was a significant tell of just how much he wanted to impress Charlie.
“It’s okay,” he remarked casually. “Sore.”
She nodded, and that was all either of them said on the matter. They had carefully avoided several topics during their dinner. No one mentioned the events of the past few weeks, the trial, Supermax, or Ajmal.
The reference to his GPS removal was the closest they had come to recalling any of those sordid memories. Instead, they both seemed content to focus on happier things. It was something they would always share, but they no longer wanted to live in that space.
It was time to put it behind them, an unspoken agreement. And it turned out they had plenty of other, more interesting, topics of discussion.
Conversation flowed easily between them, almost making Hammer second-guess his constant desire to shut out the world. And yet, the way he enjoyed Charlie’s company was an anomaly. He wasn’t ready to rethink his dream of isolation for anyone else.
But maybe he’d come off the mountain once in a while for pizza. Or maybe, someday, she’d be interested in coming to visit him. That, he could picture.
Before he knew it, the pizza was gone. Hammer tentatively laced his fingers into Charlie’s as they walked out the door. It was an impulse he couldn’t resist, even if he wasn’t quite sure of himself as he did it.
At least until she pushed him against the brick wall of the storefront outside, drawing him in for a torrid kiss. His hesitation evaporated instantly, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her close.
“Do you want to go back to your hotel?” he suggested a mischievous gleam in his eye.
“Duh,” she whispered softly. The breath tickled his neck as he flashed her a crooked grin in response.
TWENTY-SEVEN
CHARLIE
Charlie reached up and lightly touched Hammer’s face. He moved his neck to the side, warming to her touch. He took her hand in his gently and kissed it lightly. She breathed in sharply, almost gasping at the shock of electricity that flowed through her.
He stared at her with those piercing blue and gold eyes. She felt he could stare into her soul and steal it for his own.
He took her face into his hand and wrapped the other around her waist. She moaned lightly as he pulled her in closer. He slowly leaned in and began to kiss her neck, and she thought of Randy.
Randy’s face rang in her mind when he told her it was over, that he needed more from a woman. The memory jolted her out of the moment.
“Wait,” she said softly, gently pushing Hammer away.
“What is it?” he asked, freezing in place.
“I can’t,” she said, trailing her fingertips from his face to her side.
“Hey,” he whispered, leaning down to meet her gaze. “We don’t have to.”
