“You ready?”
Brynnon laughed nervously. “You first.”
Grant’s mouth twitched. “I was just going to say, we should get our coats.”
“Right.” She smirked. “Don’t want Coop to start honking his horn again.”
One corner of Grant’s mouth rose slightly, and man, Brynnon wished she could see him smile like he had the night before.
With his hand resting against her lower back—God, she loved it when he did that—they made their way to the coat check. While she waited for Grant to get their coats, Brynnon caught sight of her brother and another man through the glass doors.
They were across the street, standing on the sidewalk, and from what she could see, it appeared as though they were arguing. She tried to see who he was talking to, but the other man wore a dark coat and hat, and was facing away from her.
Old fears for her brother threatened to ruin her good mood. She thought about going out there to make sure he was okay, but Grant’s deep voice rang through her ears.
“Everything okay?” He held her coat open for her.
Refusing to let her brother’s never-ending drama ruin her night, she put her arms through the sleeves and gave Grant a smile. “Yeah. Thank you.”
Peering down at her, a sliver of hunger returned as he slipped on his own coat. “You ready?”
For more than you know.
Praying he could see the real meaning behind her answer, she whispered back, “Yes.”
Grant held the door open and stood close to her while they waited. A minute later, Coop turned the corner and pulled up next to the curb.
The handsome operative got out and made his way around the front of the car. He spoke to Grant as he opened the back door.
“My traffic app just sent a notification. There’s a bad wreck on Seventy-Five. The entire northbound lane is shut down. I’m going to have to head down to Thirty and loop around to Thirty-Five East, so the ride home is going to take longer than usual.”
Brynnon frowned as she climbed in. “That’s awful. I hope everyone’s okay.”
“Yeah. Awful.”
Coop give Grant a funny look before whispering something in his ear. Grant blew off whatever his teammate said and walked around the back of the car to his side.
As he opened the door and slid in next to her, Coop leaned down through her still-open door and smiled.
“I’ll leave the partition up for the duration of the ride. You know, so you two can talk in private.” With an ornery smirk, the other man closed the door and made his way back behind the wheel.
“Well, that wasn’t obvious,” Brynnon joked sarcastically.
A low grunt resounded from Grant’s chest, but he didn’t say anything. For the next few minutes, the small, dark space became saturated with an awkward silence as neither one spoke.
Fidgeting nervously with the trophy, Brynnon decided to tackle the one question that had been burning through her mind since the moment the music started.
Biting her bottom lip, she glanced over at him and asked, “Why did you lie?”
Deep lines appeared on his forehead, confusion filling in his deep voice. “When did I lie?”
“The other day.” Shifting in her seat, Brynnon faced him more directly. “I was talking about the ball, and you told me you couldn’t dance.”
The deep lines became smooth and his tempting mouth quirked. “Wrong. I told you Idon’tdance. Never said I couldn’t.”
She had a feeling there was a story there, one she intended to discover. Letting it go, for now, Brynnon allowed her lips to curl into a slow smile. “My mistake.”
They held the shared look a little longer before she glanced back down at the trophy. Then in a somewhat bold move, she slid across the black leather seat and pressed her lips against his coarse cheek.
