“Maybe that’s what it is,” he mutters.
“What?”
“I’m sure that’s what it is.”
We finish our burgers, his two to my one, and start on our fries. “Can you hand me my purse?” I ask. He does as I ask and places it next to me on the couch. Pulling out my wallet, I grab a ten-dollar bill from my wallet and hand it to him.
“What’s that?” He looks at the ten-dollar bill as if it offended him.
“For dinner.”
“I’m not taking your money, Emma.”
“Please.” I try to bat my eyelashes to see if he’ll cave. No such luck.
“No. Put that away.” His voice is stone serious, which is not something I’m used to seeing with him, so I nod and put the ten back in my wallet.
“Thank you for dinner. Thank you for bringing me home, taking care of things at the shelter, all of it. Thank you, Landon.”
“Was that so hard?” he asks.
“And to think I was starting to believe you might not be that bad.”
“Hey, I have a reputation to uphold.”
“Oh, yeah, and what reputation is that?”
“With the ladies.” He bounces his eyebrows up and down and I try my best not to laugh, but I can’t hold it in.
“Laugh it up. Your boy’s got skills.”
“No. Just no,” I sputter with laughter. When I finally stop laughing, I finish off my fries and throw my trash in the bag. “That hit the spot, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He gathers all of his trash, shoves it into the bag, and stands.
“Where are you going?” I ask, craning my neck to watch him as he walks into the kitchen.
“Looking for the trash can,” he calls back. A few minutes later, he’s back sans bag of trash, but holding an ice pack from the fridge and a towel from the drawer beside the stove. He places the towel over my ankle and the ice pack on top of it. “That okay?” He peers up at me.
“Thank you.” I admit I never expected this side of him. I had him labeled as rich and pretentious, not soft and caring. It’s a definite contrast to how I had him categorized in my mind. His taking care of me makes him more… endearing. It’s dangerous. I need to keep my wits about me. I can’t let one afternoon of being nice allow me to fall into line with the masses that fall at his feet.
He nods, steps over my legs with his long-ass ones, and takes his seat on the couch. “Now what?”
“Um, I’m not sure what you’re asking.”
“Want to watch a movie?”
“Don’t you have places to go and people to see or do?” I ask.
“Yes. I have to be here, and I have to see—” He pauses and glances down at my chest, before his eyes come back to my face. “—or do you.” He grins.
“You’ve been here, we had dinner, I let you pay, and I appreciate your help, but I’ve got it from here.”
“Come on, just one movie. It’s still early.” He reaches for the remote on the coffee table and turns on the TV. He makes himself at home, pulling up Netflix and searching through the movies. “What do you feel like watching?”
“Landon.” He turns his head to look at me. “Go home.”
“I’m good.” He turns back to the screen and pulls up a movie. It’s a romantic comedy, which surprises me.
“This is what you pick?”
“Yeah, don’t women like these things? The romance movies?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t explain why you picked it.”
“Don’t worry, Deaton. I know this date doesn’t end with that kind of happy ending,” he jests.
“Date?” I ask, incredulous.
“I picked you up, literally.” He smirks. “We had dinner, and now we’re watching a movie. I qualify that as a date.”
“Nope. No. Not happening, Barker, get your ass out of my house.”
“Fine.” He raises his hands in the air. “It’s not a date. We’re just two gorgeous people spending time together. How’s that?”
“Gah. You are so full of it.”
“Thank you.”
I roll my eyes and settle back on the couch to watch the movie. What choice do I have? He’s taken care of me, bought me dinner… I guess it’s the least that I can do. Blocking him out, which is so damn hard to do, I focus on the TV and get lost in the movie. It’s one I’ve seen before, but I’m easily engrossed in the story regardless.
Halfway through the movie, my bladder is screaming. Reaching out, I remove the ice pack and lower the leg of the couch.
“What are you doing?” he asks, pausing the movie.
“I have to pee.”
“Let me help you.” He stands and reaches for me.
“I think I can walk on it.” His hands grip my arms as I take a tentative step. It’s painful, but not anything I can’t handle. “See.”
“I see, but I also know from experience….” He points to his chest. “Professional athlete, remember? Anyway, I also know from experience that the more you rest it and ice it, the faster it will heal.” With that, he bends and lifts me into his arms. “Where are we going?”
“Down the hall. The door at the end of the hallway.” My heartrate kicks up a notch. Being in his arms does something to me. When you look past the cocky, and the career, and you strip him down to the man, all that’s left is his caring nature he’s shown me today, and his pure sex appeal. It’s kind of hard to forget that when his strong arms are carrying me.
He walks us down the hall and stops just outside the bathroom door. “I’ll stay right here and wait for you.” He pushes on the door and holds it open for me. Carefully, he sets me on my feet, keeping his hands on my waist to make sure I don’t fall.
“I’m good, Landon.”
He
