She put her spoon down after licking it clean. “Sorry. I guess that was a little more than a bite. That was so good I think I might move in.”
Mrs. Ramirez laughed from behind her. “I told you; you are welcome anytime.”
“Thank you. I might take you up on that. And not just for the food. I had an amazing time. Thank you so much.”
“Do you need to get going?” Christian asked.
“I better. I have work in the morning.”
Christian stood, and Mallory accepted his outstretched hand. Before they made it to the door, Mallory stopped to give his mom a hug. She’d already thanked her, so after the quick embrace she continued on to the door hand-in-hand with Christian. Hewalked her all the way to her car the same as he did at the restaurant.
“Thanks for coming,” he said quietly.
“I’m glad you talked me into it. Thank you. I really did need this.”
“Have breakfast with me Saturday morning? It’ll be after I get off work, but I want to see you and that’s the next time I’m free,” he asked, watching her carefully.
Mallory tried not to let her disappointment show. She wanted to see him before Saturday. As unusual as it was, she was already getting used to him. Saturday seemed extremely far away. She had to remind herself that things were new, and Saturday was only four days away. Her feelings were ridiculous, and she knew it.
“Okay,” she agreed. “Saturday morning.”
When he brought his mouth to hers, she closed her eyes and surrendered her precious sense of control. His tongue teased at the seam of her lips which she willingly opened for him, sliding her tongue along his. His soft groan vibrated through her chest as he pulled her closer before breaking the kiss to rest his forehead against hers. She relaxed against him as they stood in silence.
“Saturday …” he whispered, before pulling back to look at her.
“Saturday,” she repeated, trying to read the emotion in his green eyes.
He opened the car door and waited for her to climb in, before carefully closing it. Same as he did at the restaurant.
Chapter 7
CHRISTIAN
“So, are we going to the gym Saturday?” James asked.
Christian and his partner were sitting down at a coffee shop between calls. It was a slow night, and they were both tired of sitting in the truck. Fortunately, there was a coffee shop near their post. Chris wished it was busier so the time would go quicker. There was nothing worse than sitting around watching the clock.
“Actually, I have plans,” he answered.
“Plans?” James questioned. “Since when do you make plans on Saturday mornings?”
Chris knew James would give him shit. They almost always went to the gym on Saturdays after work. His mom never had doctor’s appointments on Saturdays and if she needed to go to the store, it could always wait until later in the day. Especially since he could stay up when he didn’t have work that night.
“I’m having breakfast with Mallory.”
“I thought we decided that wasn’t going to be a thing,” Chris heard Michael say from behind him.
“We didn’t,” Chris said before quickly changing the subject. “You guys having a night like ours?”
Kathy walked in and pulled two chairs over while Michael made his way to the counter. “I refuse to answer that. I don’t care if we don’t use the Q word, I’m still not willing to risk it.”
James was watching the interaction intently. He and his partner were close, but he wasn’t exactly wanting to have that discussion in front of him. It felt wrong enough without someone else taking Michael’s side. Besides, they weren’t even certain there needed to be a discussion yet.
“Anyway,” James continued, “I was hoping to finally make it over to join that new gym. You’re seriously not going because of a breakfast date?”
Chris shrugged in response. There was nothing he could say that wouldn’t encourage James to harass him. There wasn’t much to say, period. He was skipping out on their gym day to have breakfast. No point in denying it.
“Damn,” James said with a smirk. “She must be amazing in bed. This is certainly a first.”
