Lexi sipped her chocolate shake. “Drew volunteered to sit on the seat over the dunk tank. He wouldn’t have minded getting dunked except Craig rigged the mechanism to dunk him every time someone threw a ball at the target regardless if they hit it or not. Drew was so pissed he chased Craig around the fairgrounds throwing baseballs at him.”
Dane snorted out a laugh. “Sounds like something Jax and I would have done in high school. And Skye would have never let us live it down either.” Out of fries, he dipped his burger in mustard. “Your family seems really close.”
“We are,” she admitted. “I visit every year for Christmas and any other chance I can get. How about you and your sister? Do you two spend the holidays together?”
He finished chewing his burger before answering. “We haven’t done that for a long time, but now that she’s back in Dallas, I think we’re going to start. I look forward to making up for all the time we lost when she was living in New York City.”
“She sounds pretty awesome,” Lexi said. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
“You up for stopping by to see her tomorrow at the ranch? I’ll give her a call and make sure she’ll be there.”
“I’d love to! You sure she won’t be too busy? She and Jax are getting married next week, right?”
Dane shook his head. “Nah. We’ll hang out for a little while, maybe spend some time with the horses then get out of their way.”
That sounded good to Lexi, especially the part about the horses. She’d ridden a lot when she was younger and never got tired of being around such beautiful animals.
“Do you want to go see a movie or something?” Dane asked after they finished eating.
She shook her head. “We don’t have to go anywhere if you don’t want to. I’m fine with hanging around here.”
“Want to catch something on Netflix then?” He flashed her a grin. “I’ll even break out the popcorn.”
She returned his smile. “As long as I get to pick what we watch. Or you’ll have us watching some meaningless action flick.”
He put on a hurt expression. “Meaningless? I’m insulted. All action flicks have meaning. Cars chases, things blowing up—what more could you want?”
Lexi laughed. She could think of a few things, one of them being romance, but she didn’t tell him that.
A few minutes later, the two of them were snuggled up on Dane’s big couch with the lights turned down, a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in front of them, and a horror movie about zombies chasing people around the mountains of Norway on the ginormous TV mounted on the living room wall. Lexi suspected Dane had gone for the scary movie thinking she’d end up snuggling close to him looking for protection from the evil zombies. Little did he know she didn’t need an excuse to do that. But if it helped him think he was clever, she wouldn’t ruin it for him.
It wasn’t long before she lost interest in zombies—as hard as that was to believe. Then again, there was something a lot more stimulating than a silly horror flick to hold her attention. Dane must have thought so, too, because when she turned toward him, he gently cupped her face and pulled her in for a kiss.
Dane’s mouth was hot on hers, his tongue insistent as it plunged in to find hers. She kissed him back as urgently, her tongue tangling with his. She’d never been with a guy who could take her breath away with a kiss.
“You taste good,” he breathed, drawing her lower lip into his mouth and gently sucking on it.
Lexi could only moan in reply. Pulling away, she swung her leg over his, climbing on his lap. It blocked his view of the TV, but she didn’t think he’d mind.
She smiled. “That’s better.”
Dane ran his hands up her bare thighs and leaned in close to nuzzle her neck. “I agree.”
Lexi let out a sigh as the light trace of stubble along his jaw brushed against her skin. She grabbed a handful of his dark hair, silently urging him to continue even as he kissed his way up her neck. His big hands moved up her thighs, cupping her ass.
As Dane’s mouth closed over hers again, Lexi couldn’t miss the hard-on in his cargo shorts. The tingle she’d felt between her legs last night when they’d made out in her apartment was now an intense, throbbing need, and she rotated her hips to ease the ache there.
It occurred to her this was only their second date. Not that she’d ever had any kind of three-date rule when it came to sleeping with a guy. She always followed her instincts when it came to stuff like this. And, right now, those instincts were telling her Dane was special, and that she was more than ready to make love with him.
Dane must have been thinking the same thing because he slid his hands under the hem of her shirt. Lexi quivered at the feel of his fingers on her bare skin, holding her breath as he moved them higher.
His hands were inches from her breasts when a loudding-dongechoed in her ears. She was vaguely aware it was the doorbell, but Dane ignored it, so she did, too. It rang again, only this time it was followed by a loud knock.
“Hey Dane!” a man’s voice called. “You in there?”
Dane dragged his mouth from hers with a muttered curse. “I better answer it before that idiot breaks down the damn door.”
Lexi groaned, reluctantly climbing off him and onto the couch.
