it’s the perfect moment to ask her something important. “Can I take you out?” Those words aren’t the norm for me, not with a beautiful woman. I’m more used to asking if I can buy a lady another drink, or three…however many it’s going to take for them to agree to leave the bar with me. It’s amazing how one girl can make me change my whole outlook on women.
“Like on a date?” she giggles and reaches up to trace her finger around one of the tats on my chest. “I think that might be nice now that we’ve skipped all the other parts of getting to know someone.”
“Eh, that’s not the way I see it. You know, like dogs, they sniff each other’s butts before they make the decision to go all in. How do you know if you’re a compatible match if your butt doesn’t smell just right?”
“How does that relate to what we’re doing?”
“It’s like testing out the goods before committing. A test drive,” I continue. Digging my hole.
“So if I sucked in bed, you wouldn’t have asked me to go out with you?”
“I’m glad we see eye to eye on this,” I say with a quick wink. At the same moment, I hear the front door bells chime, and I think we’re both in agreement that we waited thirty seconds too long to get dressed.
Our lax situation turns into a wrestling match of finding what clothes go where and on who. We almost make it on time before a man reaches the front counter, looking around for service.
“Uh, oh,” he says. “Um. I’ll give you a—Sa—Sasha?”
It’s the breathtaking moments in life that stick with me forever. In this case, it’s the moment I meet—
“Dad!” Sasha shrieks.
Her dad.
“Ya know, a typical father might be disappointed to see his daughter half naked on the ground of an auto-body shop with some grizzly looking man, but…”
Where the hell is this going.
“Dad, stop,” she says.
“No, sweetie, I can’t tell you how relieved I am to see you not following in your mother’s perfect little footsteps. Your future will be better for it, trust me.” He breathes a sigh of relief during the pause in his words. “Look, son, I don’t want to make things awkward here. I was called by the insurance company, letting me know about Sasha’s car, and I wanted to take a look at it. I’m going to do you both a favor and come back another time, and probably call first. Sound good?”
I finish pulling my shirt on and debate about reaching out to shake the man’s hand. The hand that was just all over his daughter. Better not. That’s weird.
“Yes, sir. That’s a good idea.” It takes a lot to make me uncomfortable. This is a lot.
Sasha’s dad leaves quicker than he came in and Sasha’s the shade of an eggplant, holding her shirt firmly against her bare chest.
When the door closes, she bursts out in a fit of giggles, hysterical laughter that forces tears from her eyes. “That was the funniest thing I’ve ever experienced,” she cries.
“And you’ve just experienced me so I don’t know if that’s an insult or a compliment,” I joke.
She stands up and pulls her shirt over her head, still laughing a bit. “That was perfect.”
“I might have a different choice of words for what just happened, but we’ll go with it,” I tell her.
“My dad’s a jackass. He’s cheating on my mother, and I hate to say I understand why, but I do. Not that it makes him any less of a jackass but it’s been a revelation for me.”
“I don’t understand,” I tell her. “I mean…yeah, I get the jackass part. He called me grizzly. Am I grizzly? I am a little, huh?”
“Maybe a little,” she grins. “But I hope that doesn’t change your mind about still wanting to take me out,” she says, curling up beneath my arm.
“Doll-face, I want to take you out every night for as long as you’ll let me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
TWO HOT AND STEAMY WEEKS LATER
SASHA
JAGS RUNS HIS fingers softly through my hair. “Sasha,” he whispers.
The sound of his deep honeyed voice forces my eyes to lazily open. “Mmm?” I groan through a slight stretch.
“I’m going to go pick up some breakfast for us. Stay here and relax, okay, beautiful?”
“Okay,” I whisper through a smile.
He leans over me and places his lips softly over mine. “God, I won’t ever get enough of you,” he says with a sleepy grin. “How did I get so