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I set my water down, then I grabbed a napkin and handed it over to her. “Your mascara must not be waterproof,” I teased.
“Shut up,” she whispered and dabbed beneath her eyes.
We were at a comedy show in Lawless, and I was kicking myself in the ass for not taking her on a date sooner. I needed to get her out of her apartment and her own head, and I was pleased as fuck she let loose so soon. I’d never seen her so carefree, but it was a gift that she trusted me enough to forget about her worries, even if only for the night.
We ordered almost every appetizer off the menu for our dinner, and she’d had two rum and Cokes, so she was just on the edge of tipsy.
I hardly listened to the comedian because I was too busy watching her. She was stunning, and this side—the easygoing, happy, relaxed Paris—was by far my favorite. When I decided to do this earlier today, I contemplated between a drive-in movie or a comedy club. She hasn’t had much to smile, let alone laugh, about lately, so I was glad I went with my gut.
She rested her head on my shoulder, and the scent of her floral shampoo with hints of mint and something slightly herbal sent a wave of contentment through me. I tugged her chair closer so I could wrap my arm around her while the show finished. “Hey,” she said so softly I barely heard her.
“Yeah, sugar?” I pulled my chin in and down at an angle so I could see her.
Her big blue eyes blinked up at me, and she pressed her hand to my cheek. “Thank you.”
Unable to resist, I snuck a kiss, dipping my tongue in just enough to get a taste. “You’re welcome. But the night’s just getting started.”
“Really? Where are we going next?”
“It’s a surprise.”
A flicker of delight crossed her face, but not an ounce of apprehension, and she nestled into me until the set ended. I held her hand as we walked down the block, and when I stopped in front of a large window, she seemed baffled. “An arcade?”
“No. Not just an arcade. A vintage arcade.”
Her eyebrows knitted and an adorable, soft click of her tongue tried to hide her amusement. “Well, I’m not really a gamer kind of girl, but I have a feeling you are.”
“You think you know me so well…”
“I do know you’re a computer geek.” Humor flashed in her eyes.
I pulled the door open, and when she passed me, I slapped her ass. “And I know you’re a smart-ass.”
“You love me and my ass,” she sang as she walked up to the bouncer and showed her ID.
My heart dropped to my feet, and I couldn’t move. You love me. Did she realize what she said? Did she know it was true? “ID, man.” The bouncer held his hand out and robotically I got my wallet and was let through.
Paris waited just inside, looking around in wonder, the colored lights from the games bouncing off her blond hair. She stopped at a game and said something, but her words were fuzzy. You love me. She shook my arm and called my name. Her alarm penetrated through the fog. “Yeah, what?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, totally okay. Sorry, it’s just kind of loud. What did you say?”
She pointed at Skee Ball. “I said I haven’t seen one of these since Austin and I snuck into a Chuck E. Cheese.”
“You snuck in?”
“It was his birthday, and he wanted to go there so bad instead of the ridiculous circus our parents put on in the backyard. Pony rides, a magician, a mini roller coaster, even a private chef to make food on demand. It wasn’t about Austin at all. It was just to one-up the other rich families. The next day, I called a cab, and the driver almost didn’t take us, but when I gave him a couple hundred bucks, he had no problem dropping us off and waiting to bring us back home.”
“How old were you?”
She tapped her finger on her lips. “It was his seventh, so I was nine.”
“Your parents let you get in a cab with your little brother with that kind of cash, with an adult male driving?”
“They didn’t even know. It was Sunday, and they were never home on Sundays. I had no clue how much it was going to cost, so I just grabbed a bunch of money out of one of my dad’s office drawers. He didn’t miss it, and neither of them missed us because they didn’t even know we left.”
My fists clenched, but I needed to remember she was safe now. She didn’t seem bothered in retelling this story, so I wasn’t going to be, either, at least not outwardly. “I bet Austin loved that.”
