A shaky laugh escaped her, soft and a bit disbelieving. “You know what’s wild? When I first met you, I thought you were so …” Her voice trailed off as she looked out the window. “Wild. Reckless. Immature.”
I scoffed. “Hey. I resent that.” My mouth pulled into a grin I couldn’t fight. “I prefer heroic, charming, and handsome.”
She nudged my shoulder and stuck her tongue out at me. Her teasing was a balm, her voice lighter than it had been in days. Hell, maybe since I’d met her.
“Let me rephrase for you. The first time you saw me, you fell a little bit in love with my rakish good looks, my bulging biceps, and my heroism.”
She chuckled. “It took me a while to notice you, actually.”
My face fell. Wow, that was a blow to my ego.
“No, you need to understand. I don’t notice men. Especially the good-looking ones. At an early age, I learned that they have no interest in me, so I conditioned myself to have no interest in them.”
I brought her knuckles to my lips and pressed a kiss to them. “I hate to break it to you, but men notice you.”
She shook her head. “Not like that. Trust me, I’ve had enough rejection. But I’d seen you here and there. Usually flirting, dancing, and hanging all over a pretty girl.”
Oh great. Now my face was burning.
“I avoided you. Flirty guys are trouble.”
I grinned. “I will neither confirm nor deny that one.”
“So I assumed you were a hot fuck boy and forgot you existed.”
Wow, that one hit me like an arrow straight to the chest. “Damn. You really know how to wound a man.”
She patted my arm and smiled. “But at Ruby’s bachelorette party, something shifted.”
My heart lifted a little. Now we were getting somewhere. The vision of her in the dark room, swaying slowly to the music had been burned into my brain. The curl of her hair, the flare of her hips, the mischief in those dark eyes.
“When we talked, I felt things. When you pulled me into your arms to dance, it felt inevitable. And when you smiled at me.” She closed her eyes and bit her lip. “I damn near melted.”
I chuckled. This conversation had taken an excellent turn. We’d gone back to her place after, and I’d slowly peeled her clothes off, then propped her up on the counter so I could devour her.
Fuck, my jeans got tight just thinking about it.
“And what do you think now?” I asked. “Still a menace?”
She contemplated my question as we drove through town.
By the time I pulled into the driveway, she still hadn’t answered.
“I think,” she said as we gathered our things from the trunk, “that you are steady. And brave.”
I smiled, securing Vincent’s bucket seat in the crook of my elbow.
“And somehow exactly what I needed when I didn’t even know I needed anything.”
I opened my mouth to respond and then shut it. I had no words.
So I tilted her chin up and kissed her instead.
She wrapped her free arm around my waist. “Vincent chose well,” she said into my chest.
Pain and joy and hope twisted together in my gut. “He’s smarter than both of us.”
“He is,” she murmured. “And he loves you so much.”
