She scrunches her nose and meets my gaze. “You’re . . . okay with this?”
“Well, he’s not a dick either, so once I got past the shock, it was all good.”
“Yeah.”
“You look gorgeous, by the way.”
Dee steps back, not letting go of my hand as she looks me up and down slowly in the same way I did to her. She shrugs. “You’ll do.” A smile tugging at her perfect, pink-painted lips. There’s this pull to Dee that I didn’t expect, and in person, it’s so much more powerful than when I was mesmerized by her eyes and her infectious smile in her videos.
Flynn clears his throat, and as if in slow motion, both Dee and I slowly swing our heads his way as Harvey comes running down the hallway toward us. “Hey, Rhodes. Hey, Mom. Hey . . . Dad?” the boy says, his eyes switching between the three of us. “Is Jake here too?”
A snort escapes me, and I huff out a relieved breath. Never have I appreciated the cluelessness of a ten-year-old more than I do right now. “Hey, bud. Jake’s at home. It’s just your mom and me going out today with Marco and Renee.”
“Damn.”
“Harvey,” Flynn and Dee warn in unison. The boy bites his lip and shrugs his shoulders in an ‘I’m cute. Love me’ kind of gesture, and I have to swallow down a laugh.
Then, as if this weird scenario rolls right off his back, Harvey looks to his father. “I’m ready to go, Dad.”
“Right. Okay. Then grab your gear bag and let’s hit the road.”
Harvey tackles Dee’s legs, hugging her goodbye then waves at me before disappearing down the hall.
Flynn pushes off the doorway and holds out his arm. “Nice to meet you, Rhodes.” He shakes my hand again, his lips quirking. “And sorry for the awkward yet probably memorable introduction.”
“Good to meet you too. Thanks for not being a dick,” I reply. We both chuckle, looking to Dee, who is watching our exchange with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.
“See ya, Dee. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Then Flynn gives us a chin lift and walks in the direction his son went.
Dee’s cautious gaze locking with mine. “Um . . . wow. That was . . .”
I purse my lips to stop myself from laughing at her. Fuck I wanna kiss her. Before our date. Before we leave the house. It may be backward, but it’s all I can think about now.
My attention goes to her mouth, her tongue darting out and tempting me more. When I look up, I’m met by her hooded emerald eyes, and I lock my knees to stop the urge to wrap my arms around her shoulders, pull her close, and kiss her till she’s dazed and her mind is clear of anything else but me. It’s a surge of possessiveness I wasn’t expecting—one I haven’t felt in a hell of a long time.
I dip my chin and watch the emotions flit across her face. It’s like turning pages of a book to sneak a peek inside, and I love how she’s not holding anything back. Her lashes flutter closed, and I fight against the almost overwhelming urge to brush my lips against hers. But I want to take my time, build it up until that moment comes when we’re both consumed with the need to taste more than we need to breathe.
Poised with my mouth less than an inch away from hers, I wait as her eyes slowly open.
“Rhodes?” she whispers, making my lips curve up.
As I straighten, she scrunches her nose and frowns, looking adorably confused. I grab hold of her hand. “We’d better get going. We wouldn’t wanna be late, would we?”
Her eyes widen before narrowing on mine. “You’re a tease, Rhodes Anderson.”
I can’t help but laugh under my breath as I open the front door and usher her outside. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while, Dee Duncan.”
“You’d better.”
Chapter 8
Dee
I’m still trying to recover from the events of the last ten minutes when Rhodes leads me to his SUV and closes the door behind me before rounding the hood and hopping into the driver’s seat beside me.
I click my seat belt on in autopilot, my mind going a million miles a minute, trying to work out if there’s a worse way this date of ours could’ve started.
“So . . .” Rhodes says, leaving my street and driving toward the freeway. “Flynn seems nice.”
I do a double take to make sure I heard that right. “That’s your reaction?” I spin in my seat and bug out at him.
His lips twitch. “Am I supposed to be mad? Maybe cancel the date and call it quits now when I’ve been looking forward to today all week and the highlight of my day was watching you walk down the stairs wearing a smile that could light up a room and knowing it was just for me?”
“Well, when you put it that way, I guess I—”
“Those jeans help though.”
My mouth drops open, but it’s half-assed indignation because he likes my butt, and I like that. A lot.
When I don’t say anything, Rhodes frowns and reaches over the center console and rests his hand on mine. “Did you expect me to run for the hills? Was I surprised to meet Flynn? Yes and no. You said he was going out with Harvey today, I just figured they might’ve left already. Was it a little awkward at first? Sure. But we said we weren’t going to censor ourselves, right?” He squeezes my hand before putting it back on the wheel and driving onto the freeway onramp heading downtown.
“We did.”
“And we also agreed not to agonize over it. I meant what I said. Flynn isn’t a dick, and I like that. It would make it a lot harder if he was. Let me tell you though,
