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I stayed for a second, shuffling from one foot to the other as she took in and then let out one long breath. When she reached the end of her breath, she opened her eyes again, staring straight ahead to my side. I looked back over my shoulder and saw my brothers moving along down the path. Cam looked back over his shoulder at me and elbowed Kane. I shrugged.
I was in for it. I knew I was in for it. Neither one of them was going to let me let this go. Oh well. I got her number. It was worth whatever hazing they wanted to do.
“Where were we?” she asked.
“I was asking if you were sure you didn’t want me to hang around. I mean, we can go to dinner some other time, but if you need someone to walk around with you or sit until you are feeling better, I can do that,” I said. “I hate to leave you feeling terrible. Sure you don’t need a ride or something?”
“No,” she said, though she sounded grateful. “I’ll be fine but thank you. That’s very sweet. I just needed a minute there, but I’m good now. It looks like they’re waiting on you.”
She motioned over my shoulder, and I took a quick glance. Indeed, they hadn’t moved. In fact, Cameron was now openly gawking. I rolled my eyes.
“They can wait,” I said. “Unless you’re sure.”
“I’m sure,” she said, then smiled. It seemed genuine, and a little color flushed her cheeks. “I’ll see you for dinner soon.”
I smiled. “Sounds good. I look forward to hearing from you.”
“Bye,” she said, waving once and turning to walk away. I stood there watching her go, noticing the way her clothes fit so tightly around her perfect ass. I had to bite my bottom lip to remind myself not to stare. She could turn around at any second and catch me staring at her.
Which was exactly what she did. Before I could turn toward my group, she looked over her shoulder back at me, catching me red-handed. I forced a grin and ran my hand through my hair. She smirked and kept walking, and I felt like my knees were going to go on strike. Never in my life had a woman made me feel like that. Never had a woman made me feel like I couldn’t think of something to say. Instinct alone had gotten me to ask for her number, and I was glad for that at least.
I grinned as she disappeared beyond the tree line as the walkway round around it. Then, shaking my head, I turned back to my brothers. Jonah was sound asleep on Kane’s shoulder, and I smiled as I began walking up that way. Cam was shaking his head as I approached, and I tried to brace myself.
“You know, part of taking the kid out was for him to get used to being with the men,” Cam said.
“Uh-huh,” I said.
“As in more than just the two of us,” Kane joined in.
“Yup,” I said, trying to ignore their teasing.
“And yet,” Cam said, “here we were, Jonah dozing off to sleep, and where are you? Nowhere to be found.”
“Well, he was somewhere to be found,” Kane said. “He was several dozen feet behind us. Apparently shamelessly hitting on a woman too sick to run away.”
“I mean, clearly,” Cam said, “the healthy ones are able to outrun him. He has to pick off the weakest of the herd. I heard David Attenborough talk about that once. I believe it was the run of the cheetah’s hunting deer, but same basic principle.”
“Was that the one with the sharks too?” Kane asked. “I think I watched that last night.”
“It was,” Cam said, apparently forgetting the point and moving along into nature documentary geekdom as he often did. “They did one of them in 3D, but I wasn’t a big fan of it. Made my head hurt.”
“I saw that in the IMAX theater. That was great,” Kane said. “Felt like I was in the ocean.”
“Yeah, the underwater stuff is great, but not as awesome as the space stuff,” Cam continued. “Those ones are great. Makes you feel like an alien. Almost as much as when a person hits on a sick woman.”
“There it is,” I muttered.
“Seriously, man,” Kane said, shifting Jonah to his other arm. “She looked like she was going to empty her lunch out in the bushes. What was up with all that?”
“She wasn’t that sick,” I said, not sure if I was lying or not. “Besides, she willingly gave me her number.”
“I saw that,” Cam said. “Are you sure she didn’t do that just so she knows what number to ignore?”
“I honestly didn’t think of that,” I said, the tiniest kernel of doubt running across my mind.
“Sinister,” Kane said as we began to walk again. “Man, I am glad I met Danica at the vineyard where she had to keep coming. Dating now is fucking weird.”
