Step Bride: A Bad Boy Mob Roman(86)

“Who’s this guy?” he asked.

“This is Petey.”

“Hey there, Petey.” He held his hand out for Petey to sniff, and he began to softly stroke his back.

“What are you doing down here? You scared me,” I said.

He laughed. “Sorry about that. I was just out for a walk.”

I looked around. “Where’d you come from?”

He gestured back the way I had come. “Back there. I saw you from a block up and thought I’d catch you, say hello.”

“Oh, well hey.”

He grinned at me. “Hey yourself.”

There was something about him, something irresistible. I couldn’t tell if it was his muscled body or his confidence, but I hadn’t been able to get him out of my mind ever since he had approached me earlier to ask me out. He had acted like it was obvious that I would say yes, and for whatever reason, he was right. Just like back at the school, I felt compelled to be around him.

I stood up and looked around as he kept petting Petey.

“Creepy place,” I mumbled.

“What’s that?”

“Just saying how this is a creepy spot.”

He looked around and shrugged. “No different than anywhere else.”

“You’re probably right,” I said softly.

He stood up. “Where are you headed?”

I shrugged. “Just a few more blocks and then back home. Feel like joining me?”

“I’d really like that,” he said. He said it with such a serious expression, like it was the most important thing in the world. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?” he asked, the serious expression fading, replaced by his smile.

“Nothing. You just looked so serious. It’s just a walk,” I said, teasing.

“Not just a walk, the best walk of your life.”

“Yeah, why’s that?”

He grinned his perfect, arrogant smile. “Because I’m here.”

I laughed again and shook my head. “All right then. Let’s get going.”

I started moving, and Petey charged ahead. For some reason, he was being particularly bad, like he had no interest in doing anything but pulling me along behind him. I guessed it was punishment for coming home later than usual.

“So, how long have you had him?” Liam said.

“Little more than a year. He was a rescue.”

“Good looking dog.”

“You should have seen him when I got him. He was a mess, way underweight, had worms and bite wounds from fighting other strays.”

“That’s horrible.”

“He’s a great dog, though.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I like him.”

We walked together in a short silence as Petey moved ahead of us, sniffing at the ground. We hit the other side of the underpass and started to walk uphill, heading south and away. For some reason, I felt relieved to get out of there. It felt claustrophobic and strange, like the roof and all the cars were going to collapse on top of me. I had been feeling a little off-center ever since I saw those guys dumping the packages, though, and it was probably nothing to worry about. Except, for some reason, even with Liam walking beside me, I couldn’t shake the funk.

“So, how did you end up teaching?” he asked me.

“I’m not really sure, honestly.”

He laughed. “Not a ringing endorsement.”

“No, but it’s true. I studied education in college and all that, but I don’t really know why I decided to.”

“I hear you. Funny how that can happen sometimes.”

“What about you? I mean, how did you get into restaurants?”

He looked away. “It was a family business. I took after my old man.”

“What sort of place did he own?”

“He owned a bunch of spots downtown. Most of them are gone now. Some of them were sold.”

“Anything I would know?”

He shook his head. “Probably not. Real shitty, small places. A few Irish bars, a few delis, stuff like that.”

“What’s your place like?”

“The hipsters call it a gastropub, but I call it a bar with decent food.”

I laughed. “I’ve never heard that before, ‘gastropub.’”

“What can I say, I’m very sophisticated.”

I laughed again and touched his arm. I wasn’t sure why I did it; there was something about the moment, funny and intimate, and I wanted to feel him for a second. He didn’t flinch away, and I got a short moment to feel the bulging muscles under his tailored black button-down shirt. He smiled at me and moved a step closer as we turned a corner, heading west.

“Anyway, that’s enough about me,” he said. “Where did you grow up?”

“Outside of the city, in a suburb called Trevose. What about you?”