Two words.
Two words spoken in his smooth, deep voice after two years.
And the momentary upper hand I thought I’d gotten vanishes.
It just goes away and I start trembling.
And then I have to look at him because I can’tnot.
I can’t not look at him and so I swivel my gaze and after two years I get to see him.
I get to see him fromthisclose.
I get to see his stubble that makes me wonder if he hates it still. I get to see his thick eyelashes — I’d forgotten how thick they are, like a forest of dark curls. I get to see his plush, red mouth. The mouth that always sported a smirk and a cut or a bruise from getting into fights with my brother.
And his wolf eyes.
Gosh, his eyes.
Gunmetal gray and smoky andonme.
I was right.
Nothing has changed.Nothing.
He still has that same rugged beauty.
He still is so heartbreakingly gorgeous.
In fact, he’s more gorgeous now, more tempting and dashing even. And I think it’s his hair.
His rich, dark hair that’s longer now.
It brushes the collar of his jacket and something about that makes my stomach clench.
Something about that makes me think of vintage movie heroes and villains with their leather jackets and long hair. With their devil-may-care attitude.
A cigar-smoking villain…
I shake my head and say, “Are you sure she’s safe though? Your baby. In this neighborhood. People can be very dangerous.”
People likeme.
Not that I’d ever touch his Mustang again, but still.Hedoesn’t know that and I’d like to keep it that way.
Although he doesn’t seem to think that I’m much of a threat, because his ruby red lips stretch up and morph into his typical smirk. “Can they?”
That smirk makes my heart go boom, boom, boom before I find my voice and say, “Yeah.”
“What do you think they’ll do?”
Drown it in the lake again.
But I don’t say it.
Because I don’t want to drown it in the lake again and I don’t want to joke about that.
But I do want to scare him a little so I tilt my head to the side and clench my fingers around the bottle. “I don’t know, steal it? Again. Slash your tires. Steal your rims. Spray-paint your hood. Smash your windows. Douse the whole thing with liquor and burn it down once and for all.”
