Page 174 of Catfish

“Huh?”

I point towards my driveway. “Your lights are on.” Peering behind his shoulder, he lets out a mumble of words and holds out his finger for me to wait.

I watch him run over to take out his keys and jog back over to my front porch. Wearing jeans and a plain gray T-shirt, I didn't notice it before, but I've never seen him dressed down. Even at the bar last week in Ohio, he had on a teal dress shirt that I made him roll up the sleeves on, and he looked ridiculous with a black baseball cap, but it worked.

Now, he looks just...damn.

“Sorry about that.”

“What are you wearing?” I blurt, not stopping my gaze from taking every inch of him in.

"What happened to your dress?" He practically spits it out, which seizes my attention back to his face.

“Huh—oh, I had a—um—event tonight, involved a of drunk people. Dude almost fell over, and my dress was the collateral damage.”

Wade glowers at me. “He decided to use your clothing as something to prop himself up by?”

“He was drunk.” My body flicks back to pissed because I’m defending the asshole right now. "Shit happens. I have a lot more dresses." My cold beer is snatched from my hand, and Wade tips it back, swallowing a few massive gulps before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Did you want...a beer?" I can't help but notice his tense shoulders, the way he looks uneasy on my porch, and how he appears as if he's about to snap and, for once, not at me.

Blue eyes flick up to meet mine. “No, but you do.” He takes a sudden step towards me. “Invite me in.”

The heaviness of his presence, the fact that he’s here at my house, sends my already wrecked nerves into edgy ones.

“Do you...want to come in, Governor?” I shakily step aside, giving him the option, which he takes but not before he lets his bicep skim across my breast.

I’m starting to learn that Wade isn’t all for personal space after all lately.

Taking in my space, I watch him inspect my front room—the black sectional, my large flat-screen TV over a fireplace, and my awesome-ass throw pillows that I got on clearance at Walmart. My plain kitchen is next.

I feel exposed and odd as he steps deeper into my house, taking everything in. His eyes slowly taking in every inch of how I decorated and where I spend some of my time.

“This house suits you,” he finally says, walking to my fridge and pulling the door open.

"Thanks." He takes out a fresh beer, pops the cap, and hands it over to me. "Did you remember what you wanted to change for the fundraiser? I'm glad you thought about it now because we're getting close to the time where it's going to be harder to move things around."

He shakes his head as he draws up his beer. “Not yet.”

I shift my weight, hoping to God he just says what he wants and leaves. I'm not in the mood to entertain, nor am I in the mind space to fuck with him right now.

Wade points at my shoulder while still holding his beer in his hand. “You sure that’s what happened to your dress?”

“Why do you keep asking me that?” I rebuff, aware that I’m getting defensive. “Do you want me to tell you I was ravished in the backseat of a car or something?”

A brow of his rises. “Were you?”

I step aside so he can get a full view of the door. “You’re more than welcome to leave, Governor.”

Emerging closer, he swallows up inches but leaves a few remaining when he stops. It’s enough to set my skin on fire and my mind reeling with Ohio and how he left me in my hotel room with a whole new understanding of how women can get blue balls.

“I know that you don’t need saving, Miss Shelton, but I’ll be damned if someone that works for me gets attacked. So keep it to yourself if you want to, but I always find out what I want to.”

“Well...good luck with that?”

He smirks, taking another sip of his beer while keeping his blues pinned to me. “Won’t need it...but thank you.”

I adjust my jaw and hand over my beer. “I’m going to go change, make yourself at home.” I jerk my head toward the TV. “The controller for the TV is on the couch—” I begin to walk down the hall to my bedroom. “—if you even know what that is.”

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