“You’re one to talk. You didn’t dress up, either.”
“Yes, I did! Can’t you tell what I am?”
I looked down over my shoulder at her. She wore a pink plaid flannel tied above her navel, showing off just enough of her smooth stomach to make me drool. Skin-tight jeans hugged her toned legs, and if I didn’t already know she had a fine ass, there would be no denying it now. When I finally took in her cowboy boots, it clicked.
“Are you trying to be a cowboy?”
“Um. Cow-girl!”
“I’m pretty sure all the girls in that era wore skirts.”
“Even Annie Oakley?”
“Even Annie Oakley.”
“Damn. I thought she’d wear pants along with her cowboy boots. She was such a badass, I figured that’s how she mastered her gun draw—pants.”
I laughed. “So, back to your historically inaccurate costume.”
“At least I dressed up.”
“What are you talking about? I’m a rockstar for Halloween. Can’t you tell?”
She rolled her eyes and pushed her shoulder against me. “That’s not a costume. That’s real. You are a rockstar.”
Leaning back onto my hands, I looked up at the dark skyagain. “I wouldn’t consider myself a star. I’m just me. I told you before, I’m no one when I’m not on stage.”
“I still don’t believe that. You’re telling me when you’re at the grocery store, no one recognizes you?”
I shook my head. “Never.”
“No women scream your name or tell you they want to have your babies at the mall?”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but no.”
“Okay. Okay. When you go home, no fans climb into your window or break into your house to smell all your clothes and steal your toothbrush?”
“What the hell kind of TV are you watching?”
“I don’t watch TV. I read books, remember? Big difference.”
“Smart and beautiful.” I turned my body toward her. “Now you, on the other hand, walk anywhere and get noticed. I don’t hold a candle to you.”
“Oh, stop. That’s not true. Look at you.”
“I’m too busy looking at you.” I closed the distance between us.
She stiffened. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”
“It’s not flattery if it’s the truth.”
I was in her space now, drifting even closer. My body was moving on its own. I smelled her sweet perfume. The same one she’d worn that night in her Jeep. I’d craved apples for weeks after that.
It had captivated me then, and I found myself still drawn in by it.
I couldn’t stop myself from moving between her legs as she sat on the fountain’s edge. Her muscles tensed, but she didn’t pull away. If anything, I swear she leaned into me, just as entranced as I was.
I didn’t touch her. Instead, I leaned down and set my palmson the fountain on either side of her, the cool stone giving my feverish body a slight relief. With my height, we were still eye to eye.
