Chapter 8 #3
Shit. He took one last look at the man who had just scored a date with the woman of Nash’s dreams. Lucky bastard. But if he hurt her… Nash ground his teeth.
“See you around.” Nash strolled behind Addison back to the table. His gaze dipped to those sleek legs, tan and cruising at a pretty good clip. Man, she was fast in those heels. He lowered himself into the chair next to her. His arm brushed hers as he reached for the last piece of cheese bread.
No reaction. Nothing. She conversed with her friends as if he hadn’t touched her at all. No jerk away or a sneer, not even a sarcastic “excuse you.”
The ice queen was in the house. Her lack of interaction amped something inside him. Game on.
Nash leaned in, his thigh lightly pressing against hers. There! The flutter in her neck. She tried to cover, but she wasn’t quick enough. He saw it.
He bit back a grin, propped an elbow on the table, and rested his chin in his hand. “So… I’m guessing your date was a dud.”
Marti grinned. Nash gave her a conspiratorial wink.
“It was… lovely.” Addison ran a hand over her skirt as if brushing off his question.
“So good that you were flirting with Corey over there mere minutes after leaving this lovely date.” It was a sign that the date not only sucked, but it went down in flames. Internally, Nash cheered.
She whirled to face him, fire in her eyes.
Nash didn’t know whether he was more frightened or turned on. She was furious, and sexy as hell, but they had a tenuous friendship, and he needed to hold his ground. Eyes locked, he waited to see who would back down first. Damned if it would be him.
Addison’s cold shield cracked, and he saw her frustration peeking through. “He’s a nice guy, but we just have different styles.”
“As in you like modern and he’s rustic?”
She tapped a finger against her mouth, either picking the right words or debating how much to share with him. “More like, my house is not full of dead animals.”
“I can see where that might be an issue.” Nash would have laughed, but the flash of disappointment behind her veneer of nonchalance stopped him.
She cocked her head. “You hunt, don’t you?”
“It’s been years. It was something I did with my father when I was young.” He still enjoyed some target practice, but after his time in the military, Nash had had enough of waiting for something to happen while sitting in the cold or heat with a rifle in his hand.
“Okay, but you did. Do you have taxidermy in your house?”
He shook his head and winced. “I could see a nice set of antlers on the wall, but the whole head? The eyes watching would creep me out.” He whispered the last part as if the confession would forfeit his man card.
“Me too,” she exclaimed. A conspiratorial smile flashed, brightening her beautiful face.
Whoa. A smile. Not the full-on beam of sunshine she saved for her girls, but it was something—a bridge to this new, friendlier relationship they were building.
“Anyway. I had better get going. Lu needs his dinner.” She stood, slipped around the table, and gave Laney and Marti hugs.
“Lu?”
“‘Night.” Her words flowed back to him as she walked away.
He turned to Laney. “Lu?”
“Her cat. We should go too. Daisy will need to go out.” Laney ran a hand over Cade’s forearm.
“Just admit it. You want to go snuggle your new puppy,” Marti said, as she pulled out some cash and dropped it on the table.
“Maybe. Is that so bad?”
“No, but I can’t believe you haven’t invited me over to see her yet.” Marti crossed her arms and huffed.
“Since when do you need an invitation? Come on over.”
“Okay.” Marti did a little happy dance.
“Are you coming?” Cade asked Nash.
He checked the time. “Naw. I have one at home who probably needs to go out as well. Another time.”
“We need to schedule a puppy playdate.” Laney gave him a quick hug before taking Cade’s hand.
“Now I want one.” Marti stuck out her lower lip.
Instead of looking childish, she looked cute.
Nash liked Marti. She reminded him of his little sister.
Even if she hadn’t reminded him of his sister, something in his gut told him her heart was otherwise engaged, although the guy might not know it yet.
Laney snorted. “You live on a farm. Don’t you have like ten dogs? Not to mention all the other animals?”
“Yeah, but puppies are so cute.” Marti shrugged.
Nash shook his head. She wasn’t wrong. The only thing cuter was Addison when she gave him that annoyed look. Nash chuckled to himself as he pulled out some cash and added it to the pile on the table. “I’m out. See you all later.”
Walking to his car, he shook his head. Addison was cute, alright, but like a feral cat with razor barbs.
She had dangerous written all over her, and damn if he wasn’t drawn to danger.
That was why he enlisted in the first place and why he put in a reassignment request to be an EOD technician on the bomb squad.
But then Beth told him they were expecting, and his priorities changed. Danger was out, and security was in.
Davey was Nash’s first priority. Always.