for something else entirely has my breath stopping.
“Are you sure?” She leans over and stops only inches away. She’s challenging me, and the alpha inside me wants to rise to the bait, but I force myself to relax. Still, I can’t help it when my gaze drifts to her mouth.
Her lips part. Abruptly, she leans back, putting more distance between us before calling loudly to the speaker, “I’ll have a double bacon cheeseburger, a crispy chicken sandwich, two all-American dogs, a strawberry shake, and an order of onion rings.”
When she finishes, she sits back and looks at me defiantly when I cock an eyebrow.
“What? I’m hungry.”
My nostrils flare, but I pull forward after the total is read.
After we have the food, Brianna pulls out the burger, then one of the hot dogs. My mouth waters, and I try to concentrate on driving. I pull out of the parking lot and head back to the interstate.
Brianna makes a little sound of contentment when she bites into the hot dog.
I don’t know if it’s the sexy little noise she just made or the smell of the hot dog that stirs my appetite. But I do know that the way her lips wrap around her dinner is something I could stare at all night.
“Mmm, this is really good.” She takes a second bite, then licks her lips.
I side-eye her and stomp on the gas pedal. The interstate lays in front of us again.
“Are you sure you don’t want some?” She pulls out an onion ring and pops it in her mouth.
“Nope. I’m good. I was just thinking of pulling out one of those granola bars.” I hook a thumb toward the pack in the backseat.
“Are you sure?” She extends her arm, putting the hot dog closer to my face.
I tighten my jaw and don’t reply.
Sighing, she pulls it back and takes another bite before taking a drink from the shake. My stomach is growling so much now that it’s bordering on painful.
“I can hear that, you know.”
“Hear what?” I ask innocently.
She rolls her eyes and unpacks the cheeseburger. She takes one bite—if you can call the tiny dent in it a bite—then wraps it up again. “I’m full.”
“You haven’t even eaten it, and you haven’t even finished half of that hot dog.”
She shrugs. “Apparently, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. It’s too bad. I hate to waste this.”
I snort. “Nice try, but I’m not eating your food.”
“Seriously?” She gives me another look, but instead of her look saying she thinks I’m crazy, it’s telling me that she’s getting annoyed. “Are you always this stubborn? I know you’re hungry. Your stomach is growling loud enough to wake the dead.”
“I’m fine.”
Her shoulders droop. “Will you just eat this? Please?”
My stomach clenches at the plea in her tone. The beast stirs too. He wants to please her, and he doesn’t like that I’ve made her upset, even if she did it all to manipulate me into eating.
“Fine.” I grab the bag of food from her, and in less than a second, I have the chicken sandwich and burger unwrapped in my lap. I lift the burger, take a giant bite, and wolf half of it down.
I make quick work of the rest as Brianna sits quietly and sips the milkshake. When I finish, she hands me the rest of her shake which is still half-full.
Without saying anything, I take it from her. Our hands brush in the process. I go still, and I may be imagining it, but I think she does too.
But then another second passes, and whatever I thought was there, or maybe hoped was there, disappears. She pulls her hand back and turns to look out the window again.
I polish off the rest of the food and despite the grease and exorbitant amount of calories, I feel strangely content. I know it’s because she’s near me again.
Brianna, however, doesn’t seem to feel the same. She’s got that unsettled frown again, she’s nibbling on a fingernail, and she doesn’t turn toward me. She seems lost in her own thoughts.
I don’t push her to talk. Instead, I settle with tilting my head to watch her every few miles. I memorize the line of her jaw, the curve of her neck, and the swell of her breasts. Everything about her fascinates me. But it’s only as we near her city that the aching sense of what lays ahead begins to settle in.
She thinks I’m going to drop her off at her apartment, and I promised