"Thanks. How much is that?"
"I've got it." James pulls out his phone and taps it against the credit card reader she holds up.
With another nod in her direction, he pockets his phone, spins around, and heads for the door. He holds it open for me, then follows me out.
"You didn’t have to pay for my ice cream."
He ignores me and unlocks the vehicle. Then walks around to hold the passenger door open for me. I slide in. He shuts the door, rounds the car and gets into the driver’s seat.
He holds up the cup of ice-cream and takes a bite out of it.
"You could have gotten a cone."
"Eh?" He frowns.
"You’re eating from the cup like it’s a cone. You could have gotten a cone."
He gives me a funny look, then takes a second bite out of the ice cream in his cup.
Only he would make eating ice cream into a competitive sport of manliness. I roll my eyes. "Right, that would have put a dent in that silent, macho thing you have going on, eh?”
5
James
She sees me as macho, huh? Sure, it's a boost to my ego. Not that I needed it. But coming from her… It feels different.
I’m not immune to the zing of attraction between us, either. It’s the fact that she’s Phe’s friend that stops me from making any overt move on her.
I flick a glance in her direction. She takes a lick of her ice-cream. The sight of her pink tongue sends the blood racing to my groin. My cock stabs against my zipper, wanting out. Heat squeezes my chest. My breathing grows erratic. A few more seconds, and I’ll have no choice but to haul her over the center console and across my lap, and?—
I push my door open and step out. The cool air washes over me. I take a few cleansing breaths. It somewhat dispels the vanilla and coconut of her scent. Combined with the strawberry and mango of her ice-cream, I was drowning inside.
I walk over to the bin by the side of the road and drop my half-eaten ice cream cup inside. I roll my shoulders, bracemyself, and walk back to the Jeep. When I slide back inside, it’s to find her watching me with a quizzical expression on her features.
At least, she’s finished her ice cream cone. That’s something. Unfortunately, her scent of vanilla and coconut engulfs me again. My dick instantly perks up. I ignore it, turn the key in the ignition and move into the road.
"You okay?" she murmurs.
I stay quiet. Yep, I’m taking the easy way out, but fuck that. The faster I get her home, the quicker I can forget that the girl who’s haunted my dreams is all grown up, and is now a seductive siren, and move on.
She sighs. "You’re back to your TDH stance, I see."
I shouldn’t ask her what that means. Likely, it’s another ploy to get my attention. Something she seems adept at. "What does TDH mean?" I snap.
"Tall, dark and handsome," she replies, a pleased tone to her words.
Of course, I shouldn’t be pleased that she thinks that of me. But I am.
I can’t stop myself from sitting even straighter. No more than I can stop my chest from swelling with pride. What a cliché I am. Allowing a woman’s admiration to get to me. Not just any woman.Heradmiration.
How lucky I am to be sitting here, driving my Wrangler, with a beautiful, young woman determined to distract me.
How my fallen teammates would have given anything to be here, instead of me?
How I’d have given my life for them to be alive instead.
I squeeze my fingers around the wheel, bringing my focus back to the present. The last thing I want to do is crash this car with my precious cargo. Once I see her home in one piece, I can go home and get stinking drunk. It’s one way of dealing with thisremorse I carry around. Survivor’s guilt can be a terrible thing. It wrings out your heart and destroys your capacity to feel.
