Because Shelby was still processing Lisa’s words, she forgot to hide behind her menu. Lisa winked at her as she passed by.
Shelby picked up her plate and slipped into Lisa’s vacated chair as the waiter placed a plate of lasagna in front of Nick. “Okay, that last thing she said is freaking me out. How could she know? About the forgiving yourself thing. Maybe she’s legit?”
Nick laughed. “Shelby, think about it. Most people carry guilt about something, it was just a lucky guess.” He took a big bite of lasagna. “This is amazing!”
“I know, right? It’s my favorite.” She took another bite off her own plate and pondered the rest of what Lisa said. “Could the other woman she thought you were in love with be Beth? You were with her for a few years.”
Nick’s fork stopped mid-bite. He stared into her eyes for a moment before he slowly shook his head. “No. It’s not Beth.”
“Oh, okay.” A weird sense of relief filled her as she finished off her meal.
When she was done, she pushed her empty plate forward and watched Nick eat. Joyous lust for his rich, cheesy lasagna lit his handsome face. He probably had that same expression when he made love to a woman.
After he scooped up the last of the red sauce with his garlic bread, he glanced up and caught her staring. “What?”
“Nothing.” She pulled herself together and held out her hand. “I need my Bluetooth back.”
He handed it over. “This didn’t do me any good, but you seemed to enjoy it. Next time, can you hit the mute button when you’re laughing your ass off? It’s distracting.”
“Okay. But when she got to the part about you needing a cleanse . . .” Shelby started laughing all over again.
“Yeah, that was hilarious.” Sarcasm laced his tone, but Nick smiled as he signed his name to the bill. “Let’s go.”
She waved to the owner on the way out. When they got to Nick’s car she held her hand out and waggled her fingers. “Keys, please. I want to drive back.”
“I never let anyone else drive my car.” Nick’s grin grew wicked as he tugged his keys from his pocket. “But maybe I’d be willing to make an exception.” He leaned closer and whispered, “If you kiss me again.”
The heat smoldering in his eyes sent a bolt of desire straight to her belly.
She wanted to. But she really, really shouldn’t. “Deal.”
Nick’s brows spiked as he dropped the keys into her hand.
She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek.
“That’s not nearly good enough.” Nick reached for his keys.
She held them behind her back. “Too bad. Next time you’ll just have to be more specific.”
Laughing, Shelby hightailed it to the driver’s side before Nick changed his mind. She was a good driver and couldn’t wait to scare the crap out of him on the way home.
CHAPTER NINE
“Chester loved his bright-red sneakers. Hopefully, all the girls would too!”
Chester Goes To His First Birthday Party
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, will this be the sexiest outfit of them all?” Shelby chanted into her full-length mirror as she slipped a dangly earring into place. She wore a scoop neck pink top with a push up bra underneath that worked the girls nicely, super tight jeans, high heeled ankle boots and a tight cropped leather jacket to top it all off. Her hair was poofier than usual and she’d given herself dark, smoky eyes. “Or do I look a hooker?”
Jo laughed. “You look hot! If Greg doesn’t notice you in that, then he’s either blind or into men now.” She tossed Shelby’s bag to her. “Come on, we’re late. You can drive seeing as I’m nearly out of gas.”
Shelby caught her purse and then dug the keys out. “See, that’s the beauty of a Prius. I’m rarely out of gas.”
Jo waited by the car for Shelby to pop the locks before sliding her long body inside. “You’re just still trying to convince yourself you don’t miss the Porsche.”
“True. I drove Nick’s yesterday and it was fantastic!” Probably best not to share the part about how Nick wouldn’t let her out until he’d gotten his proper kiss. Although, there was nothing proper about it—it was smokin’ hot. And it was the last time she’d let him kiss her, no matter how incredible he was at it.
Shelby laid a hand over her nervous stomach and refocused on the mission at hand. Greg. “Thank goodness for this rain. No touch football for me tonight.”
“Yeah. That was a lucky break. Would you have played if it hadn’t been raining?”
Shelby had asked herself the same question. It was Nick’s cocky voice in her head that had convinced her she wouldn’t have played. Just to prove Nick was wrong about Greg. Probably.