straws. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help to you, but our business is finished.”
Julie made her way toward him with two bottles of water stuffed in the pockets of her gray hoodie, and Troy’s time dwindled to seconds.
“Take care of yourself. I hope everything works out.” He disconnected the call as Julie stopped in front of him.
“Something serious?” she asked.
“What makes you say that?”
She balanced the crutches under her armpits and tipped her sunglasses down. “You’ve got your serious face on.” She grinned. “Although I’ve learned you almost always have your serious face on.”
He loved that crooked smile of hers. “I thought I had a pretty happy face on the other night. All night.” He lowered his shades so he could waggle his eyebrows at her. Their talk in the diner had been enlightening, but she still had something up her sleeve. She was nothing if not crafty.
“I guess so. Maybe.” She looked around the deserted rest stop. “I got you a bottled water,” she said, pulling one out of her pocket. Her crutch started falling and she reached for it, but lost her balance when she put weight on her bad leg.
Troy leaped forward and caught her. Being chest to chest with her sent his dick into search mode. “You know, you kinda suck at this whole crutch thing. I never would’ve pegged you for a klutz.”
“Well excuse me if I’ve never used them before yesterday,” she said, using the bedroom voice he remembered so well, while wrapping her arms around his neck. “Normally, I’m not a klutz.”
It would be too easy to kiss her right now and get thoroughly distracted. Troy leaned the crutches against the picnic table and scooped her up in his arms. Her perfume filled his head, but he refused to cave. “Can you grab those sticks of death?”
“Sticks of death.” She chuckled and reached for them. “I like that.” She hooked her arm through the crutches and slung it around his shoulder, then gazed up at him. “I like this too.”
He was a goner when it came to her. She had him wrapped around her finger like a yo-yo string. “Stop flirting with me.” He started toward the car with her in his arms.
Laughing again, she caressed the spot under his ear with her thumb. His dick liked it. A lot. Search mode turned into a full salute. “You’re no fun.” Her voice had that sexy, husky thing she did so well. His dick liked that even more.
“Me?” he said, trying his damnedest to rein in his libido. “I’m loads of fun. I’m fun personified.” Yeah, okay, he was full of shit, but he loved bantering with her. He’d never bantered with anyone in his life. His parents sure as hell never bantered. They’d barely spoken. Growing up had been a lesson in extremes for him: extreme violence or silence, and very little middle ground.
There was something so real about Julie that it made him be someone he’d always wanted to be but never had the courage to try for. Never found a person he wanted to try for.
“If you’re so much fun, how come you haven’t kissed me since you left my house the other morning?”
Wham. She went straight for the shit. “Not true. I kissed you last night.”
She gaped at him. “You call that a kiss? My grandmother kisses better than that.”
He stared down at her with one lifted eyebrow. “Your grandmother uses her tongue when she kisses you?”
“Gross!” She smacked his chest with her free hand, but she was laughing.
“Hey, you started it.” He set her on the short trunk of his car and eased her legs apart so he could stand between them. He tilted her face up to his. “Let’s be real clear on who kisses you and with what body parts.” Troy eased her sunglasses off so he could see her amazing eyes. Eyes that had captivated him when he’d first met her while she was dying on the red carpet. Eyes that looked at him now with heat and excitement and maybe a hint of victory.
He moved in slow, brushed his lips across hers in a barely there kiss. He wanted to savor the seconds leading up to the real contact so he took his time as he glided his mouth over hers. Her breathing quickened against his lips and she opened for him. He went in slow and deep, tasting the chocolate she must have scored from the vending machine. Every nerve ending came