“I knew it!” she exclaims. “I bet that man has a mouth on him.”
I nearly choke on my wine, covering my mouth as laughter bursts out of me. “Kylie!” I hiss, my cheeks burning.
She only grins wider, clearly pleased she’s struck gold. “What? Don’t play innocent with me. I can see it all over your face.” She points between me and Walker, lowering her voice even though it’s obvious he’s close enough to catch every word. “The man practically oozes sex. I just knew he’d deliver.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Walker leaning back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, that damn smirk tugging at his mouth like he’s enjoying every second of this interrogation.
“God, you’re impossible,” I mutter to Kylie, feeling like I’ve known her forever.
“Impossible and right,” she singsongs, clinking her glass against mine.
When I finally dare to glance at Walker, his gaze pins me in place, hot and unyielding. The look in his eyes makes one thing crystal clear: later, when we’re alone, I’ll be paying for every word Kylie just dragged out of me.
When it’s down to Eva and Sawyer, everyone else starts to gather around the island to munch on the food. Walker makes his way to my side, then rests his hand on my hip and leans forward to whisper into my ear.
“You talking about me?” he asks, his cockiness evident in his tone.
I peer over my shoulder to look him in the eyes. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get it out of you tonight,” he whispers.
I turn around to face him and cross my arms over my chest. “I’ll tell you,” I reply, and his eyebrows lift in surprise. “If you admit you were jealous, watching Sawyer flirt with me.”
He scratches the back of his head. “I mean, Sawyer flirts with everybody. It didn’t really?—”
I push him in the chest. “You’re so full of it. I saw you pouting in your chair.”
He grabs my hand before I can bring it back and pulls me forward. “Watch yourself, or I’ll remind you how easily I can take that sass right out of you.”
“Promise?” I say with a wink.
He shakes his head. “You’re something else.”
A cheer from behind us pulls our attention from each other. Eva is pointing and laughing in Sawyer’s face, and he looks like he is less than thrilled at her gloating.
Roman comes to her side. “Babe, let’s take it down a notch.”
Eva scowls. “He’s the one who assumed we didn’t know how to play because we were girls.”
While everyone is busy joking around about Sawyer losing to Eva, Walker walks up to me. “I’m going to get Eli moved to her car seat. Come home with me?”
I should say no. We are moving fast. I need to pump the brakes and take a little breather. But I ignore that part of my brain because the truth is, every time he looks at me like that, resistance doesn’t stand a chance. So, instead, I find myself nodding my head in agreement.
He walks back to the bedroom to get Eli. I walk over to Eva, where she is cleaning up the chips.
“I think I’m gonna head out. Thanks for having me.”
She chuckles to herself as she places the chips into their slots. “If you and my brother think you’re being subtle, you’re wrong.”
I open my mouth to respond, but then I’m pulled in the direction of the other side of the room, where Walker is holding a screaming Eli.
“Oh, I don’t think she liked being woken up,” Eva sighs.
Walker looks flustered as he tries to grab the stroller and diaper bag. I give Eva a peck on the cheek and run over to help Walker, no longer worried about what it looks like.
I swing the diaper bag over my shoulder and place the car seat in the stroller while he tries to soothe a screaming Eli.
He waves a distracted goodbye to everyone as we shuffle out of the door and ride the elevator down. Once we’re out on the street, we get Eli placed in the stroller. I hold the pacifier in her mouth while Walker begins to push the stroller. The movement soothes her just enough until we make it the couple of blocks to his place.
