Page 46 of A Lucky Shot

He held out his hand, curling his fingers in a give-it-here gesture. “Your first check up. Need to see what you’re swiping on.”

This was going to be the most embarrassing experience of her life. Way worse than the time her leotard split up her backside during a competition, and she’d had to keep dancing for a full forty-five seconds in front of a panel of judges with her butt crack hanging out. It felt like she was about to show more of her ass right now.

“No.” For good measure, she stuffed her phone into her cleavage and crossed her arms over her chest.

Josh’s face opened into a dangerous smile, his dimples deep enough to swallow her whole. If she was standing, she’d pat her hands over her butt to check if she had put on underwear that morning, but she sure as sugar wasn’t wearing any now.

“Do you really think hiding your phone in your tits will stop me? I will gladly go in to retrieve it if you don’t hand it over.”

“You wouldn’t! Not with everyone around?”

“Care to test what I’d do to you in public?”

Something deep in the recess of her lizard brain stood up straight and waved madly. The last thing she needed was his hands on her again, no matter how much she cared to test what he’d be willing to do to her in public. Instead, she fished it out, trying to hide her reddened cheeks. She swiped to the end of her phone’s screens before dropping it into his open hand.

“I’ve never been so jealous of a phone in my life,” he muttered. After a few seconds of scrolling, he looked up in dismay. “What the hell is this?” he asked, appalled. “This is your profile pic?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“There’s another dude in it, for starters.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Who is he?”

She leaned over his shoulder, getting a whiff of the heady sandalwood and citrus scent that clung to his warm skin. She shook her head and focussed on studying the screen. “Oh, that’s Grady.”

“Grady.” He said the name like an epithet, and continued to scrutinize her photo. “Did you pull this photo from Instagram? You did! This is the Valencia filter! How old is this?”

“A few years.” She shifted between her feet. “I liked my hair in that picture.”

The sea air had done both wonders and nightmares for her hair. Libby had snapped the candid shot outside a shop on La Jolla beach years ago after a dance competition. Cass had turned at the last minute so her curls, still long at that time, bounced around her shoulder blades. Grady, her former dance partner, held her hand up to frame her. Sure, there were a few other people in the shot, but the palm trees had looked so pretty against the background of the setting sun.

The outfit was still one of her favourites. The second-hand vermillion fit-and-flare sundress swirled at her knees and gave serious vintage vibes. She’d altered the neckline to a sweetheart and added boning for shape to the bodice. It made her feel assertively feminine when she wore it. She could still wear heels back then, too, kicking up her foot to show off the three-inch rattan espadrilles.

Too bad half of her was hidden behind a mailbox in the photo. And her hair covered most of her face.

Okay, it was a bad picture.

“Men don’t have patience for profiles like this,” he said, frowning as he swiped through her photos. “I can’t see any of you.”

“Maybe I don’t want to show off everything right away?”

He side-eyed her and scanned her bio. “‘I like to have fun?’” Josh scoffed. “Everyone likes to have fun. What kind of fun? Crochet? Cliff diving? So vague.”

“I like crochet, but that wasn’t what I meant,” she said, squirming.

“How about … I make all my own clothes, so I know how to take them off quickly?” he deadpanned, and pretended to type it in.

She looked at him, horrified, and made a half-hearted attempt to steal her phone back. “Don’t you dare!”

“You’re a gorgeous woman, and men are visual creatures. Let them see who you are,” he said. “With that hair and those curves and those lips? It worked on me.”

A wave of pleasure washed over her, but she whipped her head back and forth, checking who was in earshot. Seeing everyone otherwise occupied, she turned her widened eyes to him. “Josh!” she hissed through gritted teeth. “Keep it down!”

“All I’m saying is play to your strengths,” he said, clearly relishing her discomfort. “We need to up the game. I’m in charge of your swiping, and I’m rewriting your bio.”

“What if I don’t like it?”

“I think I know more about what will appeal to men. At least, from the state of this,” he said, wiggling her phone with the offending profile in front of her, “you don’t.”

His sexy dimples softened the landing of the teasing barb, and she turned her own wry grin to him. “Okay, but I can veto.”

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