Chapter 27
Tagger
Holy fuck!
Drop-dead gorgeous!
Makeup like I’ve never seen her wear makes her eyes look electric in the lighting of this room.
The dress hugs her curves, not only drawing my eyes but having every other asshole staring as well.
Stunning legs that seem to go on forever.
It’s only been a couple of weeks since I last saw her, but I can’t wait to kiss that plush and pink mouth of hers again.
I leave the bar and work my way through the crowd to reach her.
She doesn’t see me at first, but when she does, her expression lifts as if I’m someone special. I am, if I scored her.
I cup her face, close my eyes, and kiss her. Her arm comes around me as she melts against me. When our lips part, I immediately catch the audience we attracted—the smiles and laughter, the looks of jealousy, and the joy in some people’s eyes.
Pris slowly opens her arms and says, “That’s quite the welcome.”
“I missed you.” I lean my head against hers, and whisper, “I missed you more than you’ll ever know.”
Straightening her shoulders, she looks me in the eyes with some help from those heels she’s wearing. “You have all night to tell me about it, stud.”
“I’m hoping there’s less talking and more action on this trip.”
“Glad to know we’re on the same page.”
My sexy girl is up for a good time in bed, whether that be a mattress or in the back of a truck. I don’t know how I got so lucky.
I check in with the host stand to let them know we’re here and then take Pris’s hand. The man leads us into the next room, where the dining tables are. We’re given a booth in the corner after I pulled some strings—not only for the reservation but also for the privacy of one of the corner tables.
After ordering drinks, she slides a little closer. “It’s so good to see you.”
I rub her bare thigh, so glad to be with her again. I kiss her because I can. “You look beautiful in that dress.”
She glances down at the neckline and then at me again. “I don’t know how you knew my size, but it’s so pretty. Thank you for the shoes, the dress, and the bag. I didn’t bring anything like this.” Looking around, she adds, “I would have stood out like a sore thumb in this place.”
“You would have stood out because you’re breathtaking.”
“You know you’re getting laid, right? I feel like I made myself more than clear with the same-page comment and all that jazz.”
Chuckling, I give her leg a gentle squeeze. “I’m not telling you that to get laid, though I accept, but because you are beautiful. Whether on the ranch or at a restaurant, I can’t take my eyes off you.”
Her shoulders soften. She leans against me to put her head on my shoulder. Rubbing her hand over the front of my shirt, I have the slightest inkling she’s copping a feel of my abs. Whether she’s feeling sentimental or gets a good feel of me, I’m into it. I’m into her. So deep.
When she sits up, she plants her elbow on the table and chin on top of a balled-up fist. “Tell me the truth, Grange. Was the dress a setup? Were you trying to test me to see if I would snoop? Because I totally failed. I checked every room, though I didn’t go into the closets.
” She pops upright. “I also used your shower and your expensive-smelling soaps and shampoos, the fluffiest towels to ever touch my body, and I wore the robe hanging in the bathroom while I got ready. A little makeup got on the collar. Hope you don’t mind. ”
I stare at her, processing all that she just confessed. “All I heard is that being there felt like home.” I grin, loving that she felt so comfortable to do that.
“It felt like you.”
The smile falls, but not because I’m unhappy.
I didn’t expect to feel so strongly for her this soon into the relationship.
It’s never happened before to understand my emotions, but she’s blindsided me into the deep end of the ocean without so much as a life jacket.
I’m sunk when it comes to her and happy to drown in this love.
Love?
Holy shit . . .
While I’m staring into the ethos, figuring when the hell I fell in love—the first time she met Beck, slow dancing with her in the rain, and making love to her in the barn, her comfortable to use my apartment like her own because it feels like me to her— she says, “You look handsome in your suit. I don’t think I’ve seen you all dressed up since prom your senior year. ”
Looking down, I see a few wrinkles from the day, but otherwise, the suit is holding up. And although I’m still distracted by the fact that I just admitted to myself that I’m in love with Christine Greene, I welcome the change in topic. “I was working late. Sorry I didn’t get to greet you.”
“So this is what you look like every day?” Her eyes widen, and I notice the pitch of her right brow. “For work?”
“Yes. This is what asset managers wear. A suit is expected in my line of work.”
“I imagine this . . .” She swirls a finger in circles in front of me. “Is very distracting to women.”
The right side of my mouth quirks up. I nuzzle the tip of my nose behind her ear, taking in the delicate floral perfume she’s wearing and the softness of her skin. “You think so?” I place a kiss there and then another just on the underside of her jaw.
“Not cowboy hats and boots with those jeans that are fitted to that nice ass of yours, but I guess some would find this distracting.”
I chuckle, sitting up. “What about you, Ms. Greene? I get that this is custom Italian, and you prefer a pair of old Levi’s or worn-in Wranglers on me, but do you find me distracting?”
Our drinks are delivered, and we order our food. As soon as we’re alone again, she replies, “You have me ready to skip to dessert.” She leans so close that our noses touch. “Dessert being you and me in that giant bed of yours.”
Fuck me.
The woman gives my lines a run for the money.
She kisses me, then settles back and takes a sip of her cocktail like she didn’t just cause an erection that I’ll be fighting for the rest of the night. I scan the room for our server, and ask, “Wonder what’s taking the food so long?”
I spend the next ten minutes making small talk in hopes of my boner going down. It takes three changes of topic and landing on the time I ate sea urchin and ended up in the hospital to do the trick.
The food is delivered, and as she cuts into her chicken, she asks, “Will I get to see Beckett while I’m here?”
“He’s with his mother this week, so maybe next time.”
She takes another bite of food but then sets her fork down again. “This meal is amazing. I’ll be too spoiled to return to the ranch after this.”
“I’m not seeing the problem.” I take a bite of steak and watch a smile appear on her pretty face.
“I’m sure you don’t.” She takes another sip, finishing off her drink, then sets the napkin down on the leather bench. When she starts to slide out of the booth, she looks back at me. “I’m going to the ladies’ room. Be right back,” she singsongs.
I watch her walk away, checking out that fine ass of hers as she tugs her skirt down. I can’t stop a laugh from escaping. Pris is exactly who she is—not pretending to be less or more and comfortable within her skin. It’s so fucking attractive.
I cut another piece of my steak, but right when I take the bite, Baylor slides into the booth. “Imagine two best buds at the same restaurant at the same time. What a coincidence, man.” He holds his hand out for me to shake, but the steak gets caught in my throat.
Hacking, I lean forward, more worried about him killing me for dating his sister than dying from choking on a piece of meat.
Wait . . . that’s not the headline I want announcing my death.
He whacks my back just as I finally swallow it down.
I take a large gulp of water, my gaze traveling to where Pris disappeared before shifting back to him.
I clear my throat, and ask, “What the fuck are you doing here?” And now I’m pretending neither of us heard my voice raise two octaves higher than what’s natural.
He sits back, spreading his arms wide across the back of the booth like he’s settling in for a while. “Good score on the booth. We’re stuck near the kitchen, but my date said I’ll get laid if I score a reservation at this place.”
“Apparently, she didn’t know who she was messing with.”
“Right?” He takes my glass and sips the bourbon, giving me a chance to look to make sure Pris isn’t returning just yet. “That’s good. You’re spending the big bucks tonight. She must be special. I only caught a glimpse of the bombshell before she slipped behind the curtain to the bathrooms.”
“Um.” I rub my forehead, having no doubt I’m going to hell for this. Yet I do it anyway and lie, “It’s a friend.”
“A friend you fuck?”
“What the fuck, Baylor?”
“Sorry,” he says, dropping his arms to his sides. “I don’t know what’s going on in your life because you’re always working. Should have chosen personal finance over commercial. You’d get a lot more time off.”
My eyes shift from him to the curtain and then to him again. “Listen, I have Beck this coming week. Come over and we’ll have a guys’ night in and watch the game.”
“Yeah, sure.” He slips out the booth, seemingly satisfied with the plan.
He’s right. I’ve been avoiding him more and more frequently. The closer I get to Pris, the further I get from him. That’s not fair to our friendship. Not wanting to make this all about me, I ask, “You still seeing that girl from the gym?”
“Yeah, that didn’t work out.” He stands tableside with his back to the curtained-off area that will produce his sister at any moment now. “I had to join a different gym downtown.”
“Oh damn, that sucks.”
He runs his hand over his head, not afraid to mess up his hair. “It got so bad that I considered a restraining order. Changing gyms was easier. A good lesson in not fucking women over.”
“True.”
He takes a step back just as she appears across the room. If I died right this moment, that smile on her face just for me would leave me a happy man.
Baylor says, “In the future, remind me not to date where I work out.”