Page 9 of A Lucky Shot

“I’m just here for the weekend. Blow off a little steam.” She finished her hot dog before pulling out her phone, and he snuck a glance at the text she sent to her friends from over her shoulder.

Not dead. He smells really good

Well, she smelled amazing, too, but if he had it his way, that body might kill him tonight. He swallowed his chuckle, along with the last bite of his hot dog.

She sheathed her phone, retrieving a pack of gum and offering him a piece. When he finally moved in to kiss her, fresh breath would be preferable. He held solid eye contact as he put the piece in his mouth, the spicy sweet bite of cinnamon flooding his mouth.

“What do you want to do now?” she asked in a breathy voice, her eyes still locked on his lips.

Right. Movies. She was in town for a film fest. And there were a few more he wanted to see. He wiped his fingers on a crumpled napkin and tossed it into the bin. “I had the last pick. Your turn.”

“Horror? I couldn’t get the girls to agree to another thriller.”

“Are you telling me you’re not like other girls?”

Whatever that could pass for an admonishing glare flashed across her cherubic features. “I’m exactly like other girls. Other girls are awesome. I like rosé and bubble baths and pampering. I just also happen to like horror movies and other ways of getting my heart rate up that don’t involve motocross.”

How could such a sweetheart put him in his place so decisively? It was like a superpower. Josh tipped his head back and laughed. “Fair,” he said. “Other girls are awesome, too.”

But this awesome girl—this awesome woman—was right in front of him. And after that little hint of other ways of getting her heart rate up, he was pretty sure she was steering the night in the same direction he wanted, too. But even if she was in town just for the night, they were having a different kind of fun right now. A kind of fun he hadn’t had with another woman in a long time.

If he was wrong and their night didn’t finish where he thought it would, he had backups.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her down the street. “Alright, beautiful. Let’s get thrilled.

CHAPTER THREE

CASS

“See? Now that’s how you resolve a story.”

Cass’s heart rate still hammered in her chest, but it wasn’t from the film’s ending.

Josh furrowed his brow at the blank screen. The arm that wasn’t slung over the back of her chair rested on his knee, foot propped up on the empty armrest in front of him. He gestured with the arm around her shoulder, and she let him nudge her in a little closer.

“Disagree. Too tidy. Nothing left for interpretation. Plus, whoever was in charge of lighting needed a handler. I’m all for a good lens flare, but it’s like he thought he was J.J. Abrams or some shit.”

“Lens flares? Are you kidding? Amateur hour.”

Josh parroted her earlier words back to her. “Amateur film fest. Everyone has work to do.”

“Fine,” she said with a grin. “I’ll admit the reveal was pretty good.”

“Pretty good? You were freaked out. You nearly cut off circulation with how tight you gripped my arm.”

“And you’re one to talk? Like you didn’t grip my knee,” she replied, eyes alight.

“Not why I gripped your knee.” His scowl turned into a smirk, revealing a devastating pair of dimples, and any hope of resisting him popped like a soap bubble.

“Um, excuse me?”

Cass spun her head towards a gawky teenager fidgeting at the end of the row. “The film ended twenty minutes ago, and we need to finish cleaning up so we can let the next showing in.”

Josh led her through the maze-like lobby, out a back door, and onto the steps of an unfamiliar street. Headlights and traffic signals dazzled off every surface, tires making an electric sizzle on the wet asphalt as they rolled by. She stopped on the last step from the bottom to get her bearings, failing to orient herself in the darkness that had fallen over the city.

He leaned against the metal railing, one foot on the stair beside her to box her in. A few raindrops collected at the ends of his hair to drip down his cheekbones. Cass wanted to lick away the drops rolling down his neck.

“What do you want to do now?” she asked, mouth dry.

---