“How so?”
He glanced briefly at his lap. “Mention a tattoo in unmentionable places again, and you’ll see.”
Leah felt herself blushing. The satisfaction she experienced just by seeing how strongly he was affected gave her ego a boost it very much needed right now. Sometimes a girl just needed to see that a man desired her. And there was no doubt in her mind that Caleb desired her.
“Maybe we should change the subject,” she said.
“Yeah, that might be good.” His eyes narrowed. “Tell me about this life of crime you started back in church?”
Leah’s burst of laughter was so loud it drew stares from the other couples.
“It is the one and only time I’ve ever stolen money,” she said. “I was eight and I wanted the newest Barbie Doll. She came with rollerblades and was the absolute coolest doll in the world.”
“Why didn’t you just ask your parents for it?”
“Because my mom had already said no. I was on punishment for getting in a fight with a boy at school the week before.”
Caleb’s eyes bulged. “A fight? Nowthat’sone you should have included in your two truths and a lie. I can’t picture you fighting in school. And fighting a boy?”
“He used to call me Leah Lizard Face. One day I decided I’d had enough, and I punched him in the mouth.”
“Serves that little bastard right,” Caleb said. “Where does he live now? Let me kick his ass for you.”
Her heart warmed at how he charmingly came to her defense.
“Thank you, but it’s no longer necessary, Mr. Knight in Shining Armor. Rickey apologized. In fact, he’s married to one of my closest college friends. I’m the one who introduced them to each other.”
“I still want to beat him up,” he said.
Leah chuckled. “It’s your turn,” she said. “Two truths and a lie.”
Caleb let out a deep, cleansing breath, linked his fingers together and stretched his arms out in front of him.
“This isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.” He looked up at the ceiling, thinking. “Here goes. I know how to curse in four different languages. If I hadn’t gone into law enforcement I would have become a professional poker player. There is video of me out there somewhere singing Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” at a karaoke bar.”
“Oh, God, how I hope that karaoke video exists,” Leah said. “But that has to be the lie.”
“You think so?”
She nodded. “I have no doubt you can curse in four languages with your military history.”
“Smart woman.”
“And between playing poker or singing karaoke, I just think the poker seems more like you.”
He grinned. “I haven’t played a game of poker a day in my life.”
Leah clapped her hands together and brought them to her chest. “That means the videodoesexists? Oh, my God, I have to see it. Pretty please.”
“Never.”
“Please,” she said. “I’ll do anything.”
His brows spiked and his voice lowered. “Anything?”
A rush of heat instantly engulfed her as the implication of her plea registered. “Anything within reason,” Leah clarified.
“‘Within reason’ is subjective. My definition of what’s reasonable is probably a lot different from yours.” His eyes trained on her lips. “Or, maybe it isn’t.”
