foods with red dye or at Halloween says you can have one piece of candy and then the rest we give away.” He fills his own cup and I hand him a straw.
“No.”
“Good.”
“I let her have five pieces.”
He looks over to find me smiling. Being a Big Brother doesn’t really grant him access to judge. I’d like to see him get a small child to bed after an unlimited amount of candy on Halloween and then tell me his stance on the subject. I might not stop Jade from consuming Red 40, but I had acquaintances in L.A. who did, and it’s scary how differently they behave.
“You probably make her brush her teeth and floss before bed.”
“I truly am a monster of a mother. I mean, saving her from cavities and hyperactivity? Someone arrest me.”
He laughs, and we follow the two little ones to the theater. “Where do you stand on vegetables?”
“Every meal and I duct tape her to the chair until she finishes every broccoli floret.”
“Jeez, I won’t even ask about desserts,” he jokes.
His chest presses on my back as he leans forward to pull the door open for all of us.
“Row E, seats thirteen through sixteen.” His attention is on the kids, while mine is on him. For the first time, I can’t help but imagine if he was mine. Is this what it would be like? When we were alone could I press my lips to his soft pink ones? The thought has an ache building between my thighs.
The kids rush in through the second door, but I’m frozen in place and he seems to be too, his eyes losing their usual carefree sparkle. Now, his eyelids are hooded and he’s so close to me I can see the darker blue flecks in his irises. I lick my lips.
“Excuse me,” a man’s voice says behind us.
I blink and the moment between us disappears. “So sorry,” I say and bow my head, walking through the doorway.
We don’t speak as I walk up the stairs to the row where Henry and Jade are already putting all their snacks out and taking off their shoes on the recliners.
“This isn’t home,” I tell Jade, but she just smiles, tucking her shoes under the flip out leg part of the chair.
They’re sitting in the far two seats. They look so comfortable and the last thing I want is to uproot all Henry’s snacks, just so I don’t have to sit by Reed.
“I’ll have to thank Henry later,” Reed mumbles, sitting down next to me.
“Armrest stays down.”
He holds the popcorn bowl in his teeth as he holds up both hands.
“You do know teeth aren’t tools, right?”
After his jacket is off, he holds the popcorn in his lap. “Thanks, Mom.”
I pretend to narrow my eyes even though I’m really telling him that because every time he holds something with his teeth, I imagine my panties between those same teeth as he drags them down my legs.
The lights darken.
“It’s about to start,” Jade coos and her and Henry slide back in their seats and quiet down.
“I’ve never wanted to punch a guy in the face before as much as I did that man for interrupting us,” he whispers into my ear.
A jolt of arousal hits its mark in my core. I turn my head and his glittering eyes hold mine in the darkness. Those sparkling blues light up with the same lust coursing through my body as the screen flickers from light to dark.
One kiss, Victoria. It won’t hurt anyone. Just one.
“Mom,” Jade tugs on my sleeve.
I swivel my head her way and she’s got half the bowl of popcorn emptied onto her lap.
I help her pick up as much as we can but by the time she’s once again ready to watch the movie, I don’t have the nerve to look back at Reed.
For the rest of the movie, I’m hyper-aware of the energy Reed’s emitting to my right. He’s alive and oh so tempting next to me. From the corner of my eye, I notice his hands. How he only picks up each kernel with three fingers. How his strong thighs flex under his dark jeans when he shifts in his seat. Though my body would love to pull up that armrest and nuzzle into his strong chest, I force myself to lean on the armrest closer to Jade.
Reed Warner might have the sex appeal of Magic Mike, but he doesn’t know what he’d be getting himself into. Besides, I refuse to listen