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Not. Yet.
Tension tightened in my chest until I growled softly into her hair, inhaling her flowers and honey scent, heady with the taste of her still on my tongue.
“What happened to the gentleman?” she murmured, her face still buried over my heart.
“I’m just a man, Floss. Not a saint.” I kissed her hair and held her for a little while longer, memorizing every inch of her, how she felt pressed to me, the space she took up in my arms.
When I kissed her goodnight and watched her walk inside her house and lock me out, I could still feel the imprint of her lips pressed over my heart. I’d been too scared to risk falling in love again. But as I walked home, night air sliding cold fingers inside my shirt, my hands pressed into my pockets, I wondered if I might have made the wrong choice in not tying for something real with Floss.
My heart ached at the mere memory of her; soft lips, blue eyes flashing with mischief. The cute as a button smile a man could lay down his heart for, even when he was hell-bent on keeping himself apart from any such risk.
I wondered if I might not have a choice.
CHAPTER FOUR
Floss
Three days after my date with Acton, I stood at the base of a podium wearing a borrowed dress that fit me like a sheath, a broad brim hat over my eyes in the unseasonal blistering heat, clapping politely. A Ranger flanked me on either side and though I had more confidence than I could usually spend on a daily basis, I felt small between them.
Acton and Andy’s combined presence could be overwhelming, and it wasn’t just due to their size and broad shoulders. When they stood together, both dressed in pressed button down shirts, white hats and boots, they could be brothers. Something about the way they stood offered an innate measure of protection, and while Acton might say he followed Andy into the police force and then to the Rangers unit, he more than held his own. For all his concern about not fitting in, his stance and easy camaraderie with his unit made it clear he fit in. It was just up to him to accept that it happened, and he just hadn’t noticed yet.
On the stage, Acton’s boss, Rhys Archer, presented awards for a local citizen’s charity, and by the time he reached the end of the first round, my hands were already sore from constantlyapplauding. The man himself was intimidating as could be, his shirt sweat and stain free under the midday sun, looking as though he’d just stepped out of an icebox. Red hair glinted beneath his white hat that matched Acton and Andy’s.
Andy discreetly pulled his phone from his pocket as it buzzed, and grimaced. “Gotta go. Make my excuses,” he muttered over my head.
“Baby?” Acton asked out of the corner of his mouth.
“I can go, if you’re needed here?” I offered.
Archer threw a heavy-browed look over his shoulder in our direction. We fell silent.
“It’s fine. I got it,” Andy answered belatedly, already falling out of line.
The man behind him stepped up to fill his place. “Take your time, old man,” the blond Ranger called, grinning and offering a quick wave when their boss turned and glared at him in full.
“How are you not dead after that stare?” I whispered to Jake’s general amusement.
“He’s got a bit of that sort of air about him, doesn't he?” he murmured in my ear, bending low to speak over the applause. He jostled, and someone’s elbow hit my spine.
“Ow,” I whispered, unable to keep my pained gasp at bay.
This time, Archer glared at both of the men on either side of me and raised a querying brow in my direction.
I gave him a small smile, mortified to be under his inspection, and only breathed normally once he turned away. “Jesus,” I muttered. “I’m not cut out for this, Acton.”
“You’re doing great.” His hand brushed my lower back in an intimate gesture of support. “And you look beautiful.”
“Thanks.” I tugged the sides of the powder blue dress that came with a matching twin set. “I feel like a matron.”
“You look far from it,” Jake offered on my other side with a wink.
Acton growled something under his breath as the next round of applause broke out that I couldn’t quite hear. Jake tilted his head, looking between us and his smile disappeared. He studied me as I stood unmoving between the men. I wiggled my feet, trying not to fidget under his stare, and wished Andy hadn’t had to go. The ceremony thankfully finished a few minutes later and I ducked out from Jake’s watchful presence, catching Acton’s hand to lead him to a group of women who crowed and clucked around every Ranger they could find.
“Andy, this is Regina. She and her ladies entertain the children’s ward each week. She does clown make up, and Elaine creates cute balloon animals.”
“The kids must adore you,” Acton said to both women, who flushed and chattered on until another woman drew them away for a press photo. Acton took the opportunity to slip away.
I followed him to an iced tea stand, grateful for the cool, sweet liquid, eyeing off a pair of local cops who tried to catch the eye of a pair of young ladies who only had eyes for the white hats in the congregation.
