“Oh. Em. Gee.” Cue Becky and her perfectly timed interruptions. “Yolanda is such a bitch. Can you believe she didn’t ask Jasmine on the girls’ trip? I didn’t feel bad when Dr. Gravity held them hostage. That’s what they get.”
I understood nothing out of her mouth other than hostage and Dr. Gravity.
“I say Jasmine paid him to do it.” Oh, he wasn’t jokingabout watching it. “We’ll have to wait until next week to find out.”
Becky set the glasses in front of us. She stepped back, her hands clasped together, but not actually leaving the table.
“Becky,” her father barked. “Their date is awkward enough without you.”
“This is my first date in over a year.” Being Drew by day and alternating between Tint and Hellion at night didn’t make for a vivid social life. “Itisa date, right?”
Booker let out a snort that turned into laughter. It was hard to fear his answer as his belly jiggled. “We’re horrible at this. How about we start over?”
I shook my head. “Nope. We’re getting the awkwardness out of the way.” Something about him being this bad lowered my anxiety. I had a dozen questions I wanted to ask. Ranging from why he worked with the government to whether the salt in his beard carried onto his chest, I debated on what to ask first.
“Ahem,” I said. Preparing for the most important question. “What’s your favorite color?”
He flashed a toothy grin. Maybe being Drew wasn’t half bad?
“Easy…”
Pizza had turned into a stroll through Southland. I breathed a sigh of relief at the lack of muggers and crooks. The conversation had stayed light. I learned about Booker’s sister, Mary, and her obsession with unicorns. I told him about the office and what it was like working with Janet. Everything about it had beenpleasant.
Partway through telling him about my love of adult coloring books, I realized nobody knew about my hobby. I shoved my hands into my pockets as we crossed the road, heading toward my apartment. Tonight I hadn’t cherry-picked my responses. There was no curation based on what I thought he wanted to hear. I eyed the handsome man. Tonight had been…easy.
I stopped walking, staring at a spot where the storm clouds had parted. Several steps ahead, he stopped and followed my line of sight. I scooted behind him, hand out, finger pointing at the empty spot.
“That’s my favorite color.”
“What’s it called?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. It exists.”
He didn’t budge, and I realized my body was pressed against his back. I should have been polite and stepped back, but I didn’t want to. He casually reached back, taking my other hand as if he didn’t want to make a spectacle. His free hand moved my arm and finger, pointing to brightly lit curtains in an apartment window.
“Not mustard, but close.”
With a blink, I could have turned half the street into his favorite color. He might think it an unimportant fact, but when hanging out with a man who could manipulate color, it carried a deeper meaning. If Arthur wouldn’t kill me, I’d have shown him a world filled with hisalmostmustard.
The building could have exploded, and I’d be focusing on the feel of his hand gripping three of my fingers. He continued walking, not letting go. I had to spin around and walk backward to keep up with him. I tried switching hands, and he shook his head.
“Nope. I’ll let go when I’m ready.”
If he could hear my heartbeat, he’d feel I had an arrhythmia. I continued walking backward, nearly bumping into a phone pole. It wasn’t any more awkward than how our date started. I staggered my way around a fire hydrant. It might be impractical, but if he didn’t want to let go, I wouldn’t object.
We reached the end of the block, and he stopped. Watching the street pass by in reverse, I didn’t realize we had reached my apartment. I didn’t want the date to end. His grip tightened, and something about an innocent hand-holding session made my night. He hadn’t needed to do it.Ididn’t need him to do it either. There was something calming about exploring a want.
“This has been fun.” Weird. Unexpected. Yet, in the end, he turned it around.
He lifted my hand, kissing the middle knuckle. Welocked eyes. He studied my face as he held my hand in place. Fighting ninjas? No problem. Stopping a drug cartel? Piece of cake. Accepting that Booker wanted something more than a working relationship? My insecurities surged. Why me? What had I done to deserve this?
It became a landslide, and my overthinking ruined the moment. I couldn’t figure out why this had happened. At work, I was all but useless. I hadn’t proven myself a capable partner. The only time had been with Cypher, and that had nothing to do with Drew. If he wanted to thank somebody, it wasn’t me, or at least notthisversion of me.
“I should head inside.”
Did I wave? Don’t make it weird. I flashed a grin and headed toward the front door.
“I’m still not ready,” he said.
