Lilah reached out and set her hand on mine.“I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks.”I reached for my coffee to break the contact.A man could only take so much, and I’d been fighting my attraction to the curvy ray of sunshine since I first set eyes on her.“It’s a good life.”
“Sounds lonely,” Lilah said.
I glanced up and met her gaze for a fraction of a second.Heat sparked in my chest that had nowhere to go.Thank fuck Ashley showed up with our food.
“Let me know if y’all need anything else.”Ashley topped off our coffee, then moved on to the table next to us.The café hummed with quiet conversations, the clink of silverware, and the hiss of the grill.
Lilah shifted in her seat, favoring her right side again as she picked up her sandwich.
"You need ice when we get back."
"Probably."
"Not probably.Definitely."
Her mouth quirked."Are you always this bossy, boss?"
"Only when people are being stubborn."
"Then I'm in trouble."
I almost smiled before catching myself.I'd already let my guard down too much around her.
We finished lunch without saying much else.When Ashley brought the check, I grabbed it before Lilah could.
She cocked her head and stared me down."I can pay for my own food."
"I know.But I asked you here and told you I was buying you lunch."
"You didn't ask me anything.You told me I was coming."She set her elbows on the table and leaned forward like she wanted to arm wrestle over the check.
I pulled a few bills out of my wallet and slid them under the edge of my plate."Same thing."
Lilah rolled her eyes but didn't argue.
She also didn’t argue when I held her coat out for her so she could shrug it on.Outside, the cold just about knocked the wind out of us.Lilah pulled her jacket tighter, her breath fogging in the air.She moved toward the truck, slower than before, and this time when I offered my hand at the passenger door, she took it.
Her fingers were cold.The woman needed a good pair of winter gloves if she planned on sticking around for a while.My head tried to tell me that would be a bad idea… her sticking around.But my heart seemed to like the idea way too much.
I didn't let go once she got settled in the front seat.Neither did she.
We stood there in the frozen parking lot, close enough that I could see the flecks of gold in her brown eyes.
"Dawson."
"Yeah?"
"You're staring."
"I know."
Her breath hitched.Not from pain, but from something else.Something we both seemed to feel but didn’t know what the hell to do about it.
So I leaned in.I didn’t think about it, just moved.
Our mouths met halfway.
