Page 29 of Tackle

The chili dogs were divine. Biting through the casing with a pop, Emerson closed her eyes and groaned. “So good. The perfect ratio of chili to cheese.”

She opened her eyes to find Oz wore an odd expression.

“What? Do I have chili on my chin?” She swiped at it with her napkin but it came away clean.

“No.”

“Then what?”

“Nothing.”

“Oz Olson, you had a weird expression on your face.”

“It’s—” He stopped to take a large bite, nearly downing half his dog.

“What?” she teased, getting an idea of what it was about.

Swallowing, he set his hot dog down. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

She shook her head. “Not even on threat of my life.”

He smiled, catching on to her game. “Fine. Let’s just say, watching you eat that is making it difficult for me to sit here comfortably.”

Yep. That’s what she thought. She couldn’t help but tease a little more. “Are you saying, watching me eat this hot dog is turning you on?”

“You know that’s exactly what I’m saying.”

She waited for a beat, then asked, “Because of its shape?”

“What?” he practically shouted and a few heads turned their direction. He lowered his voice. “Why would the shape have anything to do with it?”

“You know,” she glanced around to see if people were staring before leaning forward a little and in an exaggerated whisper said, “because it’s phallic.”

His eyes grew wide. “You bit into it. I’m not a masochist.”

A surprised laugh escaped before she could stop it, gaining more stares. She took another bite, chewed and then swallowed, waiting for people to lose interest before casually asking, “Then what?” She’d thought for sure its shape had been the reason.

His eyes flicked to the people sitting a few tables away before landing back on her. Shaking his head, he gave her another smile. “You’re really not going to let this go, are you?”

She sat up straighter. “I think you know the answer to that.”

Conceding to the inevitable, he told her, “You moaned.”

Okay, she wasn’t expecting that. “I moaned?”

“Yes, and maybe even purred a little.”

Her eyes went wide. “Imoanedandpurred?”

“Yes.”

Her eyes flicked to the hot dog then back to Oz. “Well, itisgood.”

Oz laughed and pointed at her dog. “Eat!”

She grinned. “Is that your way of changing the subject?”

His answer was quick and firm. “Yes.”

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