Rockstar Lost - Taryn Quinn Page 0,8
the stick on his plate and sat back in my chair with a frown. “You won’t find out.”
Myles lifted the remaining stick. “Oh, I’ll be finding out.” He opened his mouth, then closed his teeth around the stick, dragging the cake off before chewing. His eyebrows went up in actual surprise.
He chewed slowly, as if savoring, and I suddenly wished I hadn’t worn tights. Especially when he let out a low, humming groan. Things were getting way too hot under my damn skirt. It would be a bit classless to lift my skirt and fan myself.
Maybe if I angled my knees toward the window?
“All right over there?”
“What?” I stabbed at my salad again. I really couldn’t look at him right now. Or get that groan of his out of my head. It was far too similar to the one I’d heard when he’d stuck his tongue in my mouth.
Way too similar. And God, would I ever forget it?
“You okay?”
“Fine.”
His smile widened. “You’re blushing.”
“Suck it, Myles.”
“On our first date? Why, Miss Hudson, what kind of man do you think I am?”
My fork stopped an inch from my face. “Date?”
“Yes. I’m back in town to court you.”
Four
I’d surprised her.
Good. I needed to shake things up. It was the first step in my plan to make her realize we were good together. And that I was home to stay.
I’d run like a damn fool. My career and my need to get out of this town had superseded any sense I’d had. Instead, I’d hurt the person I loved the most in this whole damn world. I’d hit the bottle hard on more than a few nights with memories of her shattered eyes following me into dreams.
Because I was an asshole. A selfish prick who hadn’t known what I had. It had taken way too long to figure it out, and I was going to have to play dirty to fix it. Speaking with the realtor tomorrow would clinch that deal. Then she’d see I was completely serious.
For now, my last bombshell would be enough to keep her guessing.
Her watch beeped and she finally blinked. “I have to get back.”
“You didn’t eat your salad.”
Her gaze shifted to her plate and then back up to me. “Right.”
I stood up and went over to the girl at the counter. “Hey, can we get a to-go container for her salad? And two more of those cake pop things for me.” She rang me up with a smile and I brought over two bags. One containing my chocolatey goodness, and one for Fee.
She sat back in her chair. “What’s going on, Myles?”
“I told you. I’m back to—”
She held up her hand. “Yeah, got that part. Please don’t say it again.”
“Why?” I lowered my face to line up with hers. “Afraid?” I dropped my gaze to focus on her full lower lip. It was scrunched to the side. She was biting the inside of her cheek again. She did it all the time when she was trying to choose her words wisely.
I cupped her face and brushed my thumb over her lower lip. “Just spit it out, Fee. I’m good with whatever you have to say.”
She frowned and backed away from me. “I don’t understand what game you’re playing, but I don’t like it. Not to mention you’re supposed to be in some Midwestern state right now. What the hell is going on?”
I straightened. Illinois, to be exact. “I’m here instead.”
“You’re not supposed to be.”
“So you keep saying.” I didn’t want to tip my hand yet. Tomorrow would be soon enough when I showed her the house I was buying for me—for us. Someday. I knew that was my endgame, but it seemed as if it was going to take some convincing for her to get with my current program.
I had enough money to retire for the rest of my life. I could find something else to do to fill my days. Or hell, I could be a stay-at-home dad and let her do whatever the hell she wanted.
That idea had way more merit.
Getting her to come around to my way of thinking was going to take time, but I was a patient man. I’d been figuring all this out for the last year. I hadn’t really had a true focus until I’d seen her kissing that Ken doll.
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t had other boyfriends over the years, but I’d never actually witnessed her touching another guy. I hated it. Stalk-across-the-room-and-rip-his-face-off hated it.
It was the last thing