“And he got you into SWAT?”
Max chuckled. “It wasn’t quite that easy. He brought me to Dallas and got me a place to stay, then helped me get into a community college to get enough schooling to meet the minimum DPD requirements. After that, I had to get through thirty-five weeks of training at the police academy, then another twenty-four weeks of field training. Only after all that was he able to get me on the team, and even that was tough. The department wasn’t thrilled at the idea of putting a rookie on the SWAT team. He had to really work to make it happen.”
Lana traced her fingers up and down his forearm. “He must have seen something very special in you to go through all that effort.”
Max shrugged. “I guess. Sometimes I have to admit I don’t know what he saw in me back in the beginning. I was a soup sandwich.”
She laughed. She’d never heard that expression before, but she liked it. “Oh, I don’t know. I think I can see some of the special qualities he might have seen.”
Max raised a brow. “I’m pretty sure the two of you see completely different things when you look at me.”
“I guess that’s possible,” she agreed.
As she continued to run her fingers along his arm, the light caught Max’s eyes again, making them glimmer. Lana was about to remark on it when their server suddenly appeared at their table.
“Sorry to interrupt,” the woman said softly as she put the folio with the bill on the table between them. “But we’re going to be closing soon. Is there anything else I can get for you before you leave?”
Lana glanced at her watch, blinking in surprise when she saw it was almost one o’clock in the morning. She looked around and realized they were the only ones still in the place. Piggie Pies was supposed to close at midnight. No wonder the server was itching to push them out the door. The poor woman was ready to go home.
“No, we’re good,” Max said, slipping a few twenties into the folio. “Thanks for everything.”
The woman gave them a smile and told them to have a good night.
Max looked at Lana, his eyes still full of heat. “So, where to?”
* * *
Lana caught Max giving her a curious look as they slowly walked hand in hand up to the front door of her parents’ two-story house. She would have asked him what was so interesting, but the truth was, she was enjoying herself too much to bother.
It had been difficult to head home after leaving the restaurant. When Max had asked where they should go next, her first thought had been his place. But she’d controlled her urges. Max had to work tomorrow and she definitely didn’t want him being tired the next day, not with the kind of job he had.
“I’m glad we had a chance to go out,” Max said when they reached the porch. “I had an amazing night, and I’m not just talking about the pizza, though that was pretty outstanding, too.”
Lana turned to face him, moving a little closer for warmth against the chilly November air. Not that she was cold. In fact, she rarely ever got cold. But she didn’t mind sharing some of his body heat since he seemed to have so much of it. The cold didn’t seem to bother him, either. He had his jacket hanging open.
“I had a good time, too.” She smiled up at him. “Maybe we can do it again sometime?”
Lana tried her best to not appear too overeager. She didn’t want Max to think she was desperate. Although she was eager to see him again, she couldn’t let him know that. A woman had to play it cool.
“How about tomorrow night?” he asked, his grin suggesting he knew exactly what she was up to. “If you’re not doing anything else?”
Lana didn’t even bother playing silly games anymore. Laughing, she went up on tiptoe and hooked her arms around his neck. “I’m completely free tomorrow night. What do you have in mind?”
Max wrapped his arms around her, tugging her even closer than she already was and snuggling her up against his chest nice and tight. Wow. She already knew that Max was well built, but leaning up against him like this confirmed that she’d underestimated just how fit he was. He had some serious Adonis-like muscles going on under that shirt.
Max slipped his hands under her jacket and settled them comfortably on her lower back. The move was so natural and nonchalant, she might not have noticed it if it wasn’t for the crazy tingles of arousal that wiggled through her body simply at his touch.
“We could go to a club and do some dancing,” he suggested, so close now that she could feel his warm breath on her face. “Or we could have dinner at one of those dine-in movie theaters.”
She was so distracted by knowing Max was about to kiss her that it took a supreme effort of will to even think about what he’d just said. The idea of the dine-in movie sounded cool. She’d seen theaters like that before but had never gone to one. As fun as that would almost certainly be, the thought of getting Max out on a dance floor sounded even better. She’d have a chance to let her hands roam all over his amazing body and not even have to feel guilty about it.
“I’d love to go dancing. I didn’t get a chance to do much of it in school. I need to catch up,” she said, tipping her head back a little more and sending the clearest signal possible that she was ready and waiting for a kiss.
He flashed her that mischievous smile, his lips grazing the curve of her jaw in the most delightful way. “Dancing it is. I’ll pick you up tomorrow around seven and we can get something to eat first.”
“Sounds good,” she murmured.
She turned her head to the side in an attempt to capture his mouth. He let his warm lips briefly touch hers before gliding away to tease one of her earlobes. She groaned in frustration, which only earned her a chuckle from Max.
