“That’s good. I’ve had enough fun for tonight. I’l cal for the car, and we can head out in a few,” I replied, reaching into my bag for my phone.
“Actual y, Neil was tel ing us about this great little bar, and we were going to go that way. Do you two want to come?” Mimi interrupted, stopping
my hand. She squeezed it, and I saw her shake her head almost imperceptibly.
“No?” I asked, raising both eyebrows.
“Great! Ol’ Wal banger here’l make sure you get home okay,” Neil said, clapping Simon roughly on the back.
“Yeah, sure,” he said through clenched teeth.
Before I could even blink, the four of them were on their way to the hil evator, saying sloppy goodbyes to Benjamin and Jil ian, who just laughed
and shared a high five.
Wal banger and I stared at each other, and I suddenly felt exhausted. “Truce?” I said tiredly.
“Truce,” he said, nodding.
We left the party together. We drove back across the bridge, with the late-night fog and silence enveloping us. He’d opened the door for me
when I approached the Rover, probably some ingrained training from his mother. His hand had rested on the smal of my back as I climbed in, and
then it was gone and he was around to his side before I even had a chance to make a snarky remark. Maybe it was best; we had cal ed a truce.
The second truce within the span of mere minutes. This was going to end badly, I could tel . Stil , I would try. I could be neighborly, right?
Neighborly. Ha. That kiss was al kinds of neighborly. I was trying as hard as I could not to think about it, but it just kept bubbling up. I pressed
my fingers to my lips without even realizing it, remembering the feeling of his mouth on mine. His kiss was almost a dare, cal ing my bluff—a
promise of what would fol ow if I al owed it.
My kiss? Straight up instinct that frankly surprised me. Why had I kissed him? I had no idea, but I did. It must have looked ridiculous. I’d slapped
him, then kissed him like some scene from an old Cary Grant movie. I’d thrown my entire body into my kiss, letting my soft places curve against his
strong. My mouth had sought his, and his kiss had grown as eager as mine. There was no fairy tale music, but there was something there. And it
had quickly hardened against my thigh…
His messing about with the radio brought me back to the present. He appeared quite focused on the music as we drove across the bridge,
which made me quite nervous.
“Can I help you with that? Please?” I asked, looking nervously at the water below.
“No thanks, I got it,” he said, glancing at me. He must have noticed the way I was peering over the side of the bridge, and he chuckled. “Okay,
sure, go ahead. I mean, you knew every word to ‘Welcome to the Jungle,’ so you might pick out something good,” he chal enged.
He returned his eyes to the road, but even from the side, I could see the approving grin. Which, and I hated to admit it, made his jaw look like it
had been chiseled out of the hottest piece of granite ever unearthed.
“I’m sure I can find something,” I sassed, reaching over his hand and leaning toward him. His hand grazed against the side of my breast, and
we both flinched. “What, you tryin’ to cop a feel there?” I snapped, selecting a song.
“Did you or did you not just place your tits in the path of my hand?” he sniped back.
“I think your hand just moved in front of the girls’ trajectory, but don’t sweat it. You’re hardly the first that these celestial beings have brought into
their orbit.” I sighed dramatical y, looking at him sideways to see if he could tel I was joking. The corner of his mouth rose into a grin, and I al owed
myself a smal smile as wel .
“Yes, celestial. That’s the word I was going to use—as in, not of this earth. As in, suspended in the heavens. As in, courtesy of Victoria’s
Secret.” He grinned, and I pretended to be shocked.
“Oh my, you know of the Secret? And here I thought we sil y girls had you al fooled.” I laughed and settled back into my seat. We’d crossed the
bridge and now returned to the city.
“It takes a lot to fool me, especial y when it comes to the opposite sex,” he replied, as the music came on. He nodded at my choice. “Too
Short? Interesting selection. Not many women would have chosen this,” he mused.
“What can I say? I’m feeling very Bay Area tonight. And I should tel you now, I am not like most women,” I added, feeling another smile sneak
across my face.
“I’m beginning to get that,” he said.
We were quiet for a few minutes, then suddenly both started to speak at once.