Skye looked at her in surprise. “You did?”
“Uh-huh. I ran into Dane at an incident scene a couple months ago and couldn’t get those dreamy dark eyes of his out of my head.”
“I knew there was a reason I liked you the moment we met,” Skye said. “You’re a woman after my own heart. You saw what you wanted and you went after it.”
Lexi watched Skye collect cutlery from the drawer. “Do you think Dane and I have what it takes to make a relationship work?”
Skye’s expression was thoughtful as she placed a spoon and knife beside each bowl. “Yeah, I do. I mean, it’s hard for firefighters and paramedics to find people who understand what they do for a living and the crazy hours they work. Believe me, I know. Not only do you and Dane already work the same shift at the station, but you have the whole living-the-life-of-danger thing down pat. That’s got to count in your favor, right? Besides, if I know my brother—and I do—he’s already head over heels for you.”
Lexi hoped she was right.
“Speaking of which, has my brother gotten around to asking you to the wedding yet?” Skye continued.
Lexi shook her head. “I think he’s probably worried it might send the wrong message since we’ve only gone out a few times. You know how guys can be about weddings.”
Skye scowled. “That’s stupid—and so typical. I’ll ask you then. Would like to come? Jax and I would love to have you there.”
“I’d love to.”
Lexi hoped it wouldn’t be weird for Dane. Yeah, they were dating, but some guys could be funny about stuff like that.
Skye looked like she wanted to say more, but Dane and Jax walked in the back door. Dane gave Rodeo an affectionate pet then straightened with a grin.
“Smells great,” he said.
Skye glanced over her shoulder as she opened the oven. “Wash up. Dinner’s almost ready.”
Dane chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
While Dane waited for Jax to finish at the sink, Lexi slipped up beside him and mentioned Skye had invited her to the wedding.
“You don’t mind that I said yes, do you?” she added.
He smiled. “Of course not. I wanted to invite you myself, but I didn’t want put you in the awkward position of saying no if weddings weren’t your thing.”
Lexi almost laughed when she realized she’d been worried about putting him on the spot. But Dane didn’t seem freaked out by the idea at all. “I think it will be fun.”
He leaned in to kiss her. “Me, too.”
During dinner, the conversation quickly turned to shop talk. Skye didn’t seem to mind, but Lexi noticed Jax steered clear of any of the more dangerous calls he’d gone on. He mentioned he’d talked to Captain Stewart earlier, though. According to their boss, there’d been several more car crashes around Dallas thanks to those crazy street racers. Clearly, those jackasses didn’t care if anyone got hurt.
As Skye smoothly changed the subject to talk about the upcoming wedding and where they were going on their honeymoon, Lexi felt Dane’s sock-covered foot caress the inside of her calf. She looked up to see him sitting across from her looking like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. His foot moved a little higher until he was teasing the inside of her thigh. She slipped off her flip-flop and responded in kind, tracing her bare toes along his jean-clad calf then up his leg.
They took turns playing footsie with each other under the table for the remainder of the meal, all the while trying not to give anything away. Messing around while Skye and Jax were none the wiser was fun—and hot. Lexi even slipped her toes all the way up to Dane’s crotch to caress the bulge there. On the other side of the table, Dane sucked in a breath. She hid her smile in her glass of iced tea. That had definitely gotten his attention. Speaking of things at attention, he had a heck of a hard-on hidden in those jeans.
When Skye and Jax got up to clear the table after dinner, Dane sat there for an extra five minutes, no doubt worried the bulge in his jeans might give them away. By the time Skye brought over dessert—chocolate cupcakes filled with coffee mousse and topped with chocolate frosting—he seemed to be back in control. Lexi was tempted to start up another game of footsie under the table, but behaved herself.
“I had fun today,” Dane said to her a few hours later as they pulled out of Jax and Skye’s driveway onto the road and headed back to the city.
“Me, too.” Lexi grinned as she snuggled closer to him. “Especially playing footsie with you under the table. I haven’t done anything like that since I was a teenager. Hope you don’t mind my teasing you like that.”
Dane chuckled. “I definitely didn’t mind. But I do intend to get you back for it later.”
Lexi quivered at the promise in those words. Even though they both had to be up early to get to the station for their shift, she didn’t want the evening to end.
She rested her hand on his thigh and leaned in a little more. “What do you think about going back to your place for a while so we can pick up where we left off?”
He stopped at the corner and turned his head to look at her. The light from the streetlamp glinted off his dark eyes, making her breath hitch. “You sure about that?”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
“That works for me,” he said.
Mouth curving into a sexy smile, he turned right instead of left and headed toward his place.
