He laughed. “No. But I wish I’d made that connection. What I’m trying to say is, I want to see you again. Is that a possibility?”
“Walker . . . can I be blunt?”
“I don’t know—you’ve been so vague in your answers prior to this,” he said dryly.
“That candor gets me in trouble more often than not. So here goes. You’re hot. Like hard-core hot. I honestly can’t imagine why I thought you’d be single. And guys like you don’t take an interest in women like me.” I held up my hand to keep him from interrupting. “That isn’t me fishing for compliments. So I have to know: Are you asking me out because you’re assuming that I’m okay with a hookup?” I had some pride. I didn’t want to be the weird chick he’d thrown a bone. I really didn’t want to be the tagline to his “This one time a woman kissed me in a bar and I ended up banging her next to the Dumpster” drinking tales shared around the construction site.
Walker angled forward. “Were you trying to be insulting with that question?”
“No! It’s a legitimate question, given that I threw myself at you and said hello with my tongue. It’s not a stretch for you to be hopeful that I’d up the ante to saying hello on my knees if we went on an actual date.”
The ferocity in his eyes and in the hard set of his jaw made him look even more like a Viking about to wage battle. “If I thought you were just looking for a hookup, I wouldn’t be sitting here. I’ve had a better conversation with you in the last half hour than I did the entire time I was with my last two girlfriends.”
He paused and looked at me—really looked at me. The way I’d always wanted a man to look at me, and it knocked the breath from me.
“From the moment I saw you, I felt that same unexplainable pull.”
“You did? Seriously?”
“Yeah. So let’s see where this goes. Say you’ll go out with me.”
Maybe it was crazy to say yes, but I did anyway.
His phone in his pocket started to buzz. He didn’t ignore it—I was on the fence whether that was a good or bad thing.
He answered with, “Hey. What’s up?” He frowned. “Are you okay?” He briefly closed his eyes and ran his hand over his beard. “Where? Yeah. I know that area—I don’t know what the hell you’re doing there. Just stay put. I’ll be there in fifteen. Is the tow truck already there? Okay, good. When it gets there, do not get in with the driver.” He held the phone away from his ear for a moment as the woman on the other end yelled at him. “Dallas. Knock it off! Jesus. You do not get to bite my head off when you’re calling for my help. I hear any more insulting shit and you can call your mom and dad for a ride.” Walker looked at me and covered the mouthpiece. “I knew that’d shut her up.”
I snickered.
“I’m leaving now. Stay put. Call me if you get freaked out.” He pocketed his phone. “My youngest cousin is having car trouble and I won the lottery to go fetch her.”
“You’re a good cousin.”
He stood and said, “I’m a sucker,” without any real malice in his voice. Grabbing a handful of my hair, he tilted my head back and kissed me.
Holy hell, did he kiss me. The kiss was short, but there was nothing sweet about it.
After ending his onslaught, he eased back slightly so he could gaze into my eyes. “That was in case your douchebag ex is still watching.”
“Uh. Okay.” Eloquent, Trinity.
Walker lowered his lips to mine again for a slower kiss. A deeper kiss. A kiss packed with raw hunger that sent me spiraling. I had to clutch his shirt to ground myself and keep from getting dizzy.
When he pulled back, my dazed look brought out his satisfied male grin.
“What was that one for?” I managed.
“That one was just for me.”
Swoon.
“I have your number so expect a call from me soon. Real soon, because I cannot wait to see you again.” Then he was striding out the door.
As I tried to unscramble my brain, I was aware of a few things:
The man took kissing to a whole new plane.
I couldn’t wait to hear that gravelly voice on the other end of the line when he called me soon. Real soon because he couldn’t wait to see me again.
My euphoria faded fast.
Not only had I given him a fake name, I’d given him my old phone number. There was no way he could get in touch with me.
So I left the bar in the same type of crappy mood I’d arrived in.
Happy Hour. What a freakin’ lie. Happy Hour could suck it.
Two
WALKER
After washing off the dirt from another lousy day on the Smith Brothers’ job site, I slipped on board shorts and a tank top. A swim in my pool would erase the remnants of this shitty week and I could start the weekend with a better attitude. I snagged a beer out of the fridge and barely had a chance to enjoy that first frosty sip when the doorbell rang.