Page 20 of Love Without Demands

A wicked smirk crossed his lips. “Then I’ll have to punish you.”

It seemed as though the freezing weather outside had turned into a balmy ninety degrees because the back of my neck was suddenly sweating.

Jerking my head down to hide my heated cheeks, I put my name and number into his phone and said, “Then I’ll have to make sure to be a good girl.”

Fuck me sideways. Did I just say I’ll be a good girl?

“That’s… I mean… not likethat,” I said, trying to backtrack, but Cruz simply chuckled.

“I heard what I heard, Lehra. Now you just sit over there and put your number in my phone like…” he wiggled his eyebrows, “a good girl.”

Oh for fuck’s sake. Why is that so hot?

“Are youtryingto embarrass me,” I scolded, laying his phone back in the console as the heat of a thousand suns reddened my face.

Cruz grinned like Satan himself. “Look at you blushing. I bet your face gets all pink when Dwight calls you a good girl in bed, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t, um, he doesn’t…”Jesus, shut the fuck up, Lehra.“Why don’t you tell me your happy thing?”

His brow furrowed, and he cast me a glance before schooling his face into a smile once again. “My happy thing is that I have plans to play in the snow on Saturday with my niece and my friend Lehra.”

If there was a sweeter answer, I couldn’t imagine what it would be. “It will be fun. I look forward to meeting Noelle.”

“We’re here,” Cruz said, double parking in front of a gourmet sandwich shop. “Tony said we’re supposed to park out front, and they’ll load the food for us.”

Workers began filing out with hundreds of gold boxed lunches, and a few minutes later, the back of the van was full.

“Does Bouvier do this often?” Cruz asked as he headed back to our office.

“A couple times a year. It’s a nice treat. I’m not sure why Tony asked me to ride along. I wasn’t much help.”

“Of course you were. You were an excellent sidekick.”

I brushed imaginary lint from my shoulder. “You’re right. There’s no way you could’ve driven those five blocks without me.”

Cruz smiled warmly. “I could have, but I’m glad you came anyway.”

“Me too,” I said, feeling a lot brighter than I had a little while ago.

“You look so cute,” Nicolette said on Saturday when I found her and Artie in the park. I was wearing a red puffer jacket with a baby-pink pom-pom hat and matching gloves, along with jeans and black snow boots.

“You look like Cupid,” Artie cooed.

“So like a chubby baby with a weapon?” I joked, lifting a sardonic eyebrow. “That scarf is gorgeous, Artie.”

He flung the tail of the chunky teal scarf dramatically over his shoulder. “Thank you. My granny made it for me.”

“I hope you guys don’t mind, but I invited someone to join us. It’s Mr. Bouvier’s driver. He’s keeping his niece today, and I thought it would be fun for her to get to play in the snow.”

“That’s cool,” Nicolette said. “What’s the driver’s name?”

I opened my mouth to speak and then froze.Mother of all fuckers.When my friends and I were discussing sexy names, I’d stupidly blurted out Cruz. No way they wouldn’t remember that.

But I was granted a brief reprieve when I spotted a large man holding hands with a little girl in a purple coat. “Oh, there he is.”

My friends’ eyes shifted in that direction and then widened. “Dear heavenly father, bless me, for I have sinned,” Artie breathed out before doing the sign of the cross.

I slapped at his hands and hissed, “Cut it out. You’re not even Catholic.”

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