Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered #1) - Tessa Bailey Page 0,69

she returned quickly, stopping on the other side of the vehicle’s door, which was open between them. “I’m cold.”

Concern trickled in. “Are you getting sick?”

She visibly latched onto that. “Probably. That’s probably it.”

Again, the need to do more for her prodded Travis. His rule about avoiding being alone with her went right out the window in the face of her needing help. Needing him. “Let me take you home, then. I’ve got a smoothie recipe that’ll help ward it off. Used to make them before games when I felt myself getting a travel bug.” Before he could stop himself, he reached over the top of the door and twisted a piece of her hair around his finger. “Sound good, baby girl?”

Georgie swayed a little but seemed to catch herself. “Is there a camera?”

“A what?” It took a moment for her meaning to penetrate. “Oh. Yes. White Escalade.”

Did he imagine the spark dimming in her eyes? Her head dipped before Travis could make a judgment, Georgie coming around the open door of the truck and wrapping her arms around his waist. The perfect melding of her curves to his planes almost took the wind out of him. All he could do was focus on keeping his breathing even as he dropped his mouth to leave a kiss on the crown of her head. She snuggled closer—no, he pulled her closer. When had he started hugging her so tightly?

“I lied about getting sick,” she said, her words muffled by his chest.

Relieved and confused at the same time, Travis laid his cheek on top of her head, telling himself it was all for the pictures. “Why?”

Georgie pulled back a couple of inches, casting a glance over his shoulder at the photographer. “I’m wearing a scarf because I forgot to put on a bra.”

Before he could guess her intentions, she unknotted the scarf and tugged it open. Travis groaned, low and heavy, his dick bulging in his jeans. Taller than Georgie as he was, he could see way more than the swell of her tits. Way more than the outline of her tight nipples where they strained against the light blue cotton of her tank top. He could see straight down the middle of her cleavage to the flat stomach beneath. “Jesus, put the scarf back on. You might as well be naked.”

Pink stained her cheeks as she covered herself again. “You should give a woman more than twenty minutes to get ready.”

Travis let his exasperation show. “You texted me, Georgie.”

“I didn’t expect you to want to put me in a good mood right then and there.”

“Stop telling me to put you in a good mood,” he growled, backing her against the still-open door. “Or I’m going to do it.”

“Family network,” she breathed, pushing at his shoulder.

Nice to meet you, blue balls. Travis stepped back and dragged a hand down his face. “Let’s go inside.”

“Good idea.”

He watched Georgie put a smile on her face with visible effort, moving out of the way so he could close the door. Once he’d locked the door, she reached out for his hand, leaning into his shoulder as he took it, the whole boyfriend-girlfriend dynamic feeling far too real. He held the door as she passed him into Grinders, which was mostly empty in the post-lunch, predinner no-man’s-land. With no one there to witness them together, the realness of them hit home even more, but he found himself distracted from that worry by Georgie’s pursed lips as she read the posted menu. The way she shifted around and licked her lips, waiting for the girl to take their order, so fresh and sweet looking he couldn’t help speculating on how her neck would taste. Or the inside of her wrist.

A few minutes later, they were sitting across from each other at a table.

“Do you want to see my boobs again?”

Travis almost spit out the first sip of his sea salt caramel mocha. “What?”

She laughed into her own sip. “I’m just kidding. You look all tense.”

“I’m not.”

“Okay,” she returned, mimicking his deep voice. “Would you really have taken me home and preemptively nursed me back to health?”

“I would have made you a smoothie,” he corrected her.

“That’s nursing. You would have nursed.”

He was caught between laughing and shaking his head. “I have no idea what being nursed back to health is like. Not unless it includes physical therapy or an ice bath.”

Here he was again, telling Georgie things he never expected to hear outside of his own mind. She didn’t