She rolls her eyes. “Please tell me it’s not because I talk really loud at the bar when I’ve had more than one glass of wine.”
“That, and you’re super friendly with everyone, whether you’ve been drinking or not.”
“Says the grumpy Yankee.” Ari rolls her eyes.
“And don’t forget that ass,” I say.
“Excuse me? You’ve been checking out my ass?”
“I told you, it’s a good one.”
She blinks up at me, and I know that look. Ari is fully eye fucking me.
“And now that I know you’re incredibly fucking talented, I’m banking a lot of information about you.”
“What, for your murder wall?”
“Not that kind of bank, Ari.”
She gives a shocked look. “Dude!”
“Not that! I’m just interested in learning things about my new friend. I don’t have many of those here.”
“Because you don’t try, Foster. You’re kind of short with everyone. You need to work on being more engaging.”
I lean in. “How am I doing now?”
We share a long, silent moment of me staring at her, not looking away, or making an excuse to leave, or saying something dumb like “I have to go home and get to bed,” even though it’s a fact we’re both bone tired.
“So,” she says. “Are you gonna kiss me or keep giving me compliments until I dry hump you to death?”
I would laugh, but my mouth is too busy at the moment, kissing Ari Little like she needs to be kissed. Kissing her like I’ve been wanting to kiss her.
Chapter
Four
Ari
I didn’t plan for this.
But it feels like someone orchestrated the situation to put Foster and me together for this project. The name of that possible someone -- Maddie? Maddie Who? -- escapes me at the moment, because Foster’s beard feels sweetly comforting against my chin. His full lips scramble my thoughts.
And who has time to think about my scheming best friend when I’m being kissed so well?
I had thought about it. I’d thought that Foster’s beard would be scratchy and rough. But this man takes care of himself.
He may be sweaty and dirty from hard work, but so am I. I like our tastes and scents and damp skin mingling together, though I never thought a situation like this would work for me.
He helped me all night long with these decorations without a single complaint. My god, what a treasure.
All that and he knows how to kiss me right. Strong but soft. Not shy but not too dominant. Giving, but making me want more.
Foster’s warm, full lips pull away, and he stares into my eyes. We’re still so close I can feel his breath mix with mine.
“Something wrong?”
He shakes his head.
