Page 22 of Strike Fast

With a low groan, Reid straightened and dug his phone out of his pocket. “Hey, baby girl. What’s up?”

Tess watched him as he talked, loving the alertness about him, how he gave Autumn his full attention even though he had to be fighting the effects of that smoldering kiss.

“Oh. Yeah. One second.” He held up a finger to Tess to say he’d be back in a minute and disappeared around the corner. She assumed it was to have privacy, but he didn’t lower his voice so she could still hear what he was saying. “Found it. You left it in your dresser drawer.” A pause. “What, tonight? Ah, honey, I… Hang on.”

He reappeared a second later, standing so tall and sexy on the other side of the room, one hand covering the bottom of the phone. “Autumn left her wand here and she needs it for a birthday party first thing in the morning.”

“Oh.” So their date was over, then.

With a soft chuckle, he uncovered the bottom of the phone. “Yeah, it’s Tess.” He raised his eyebrows at her. “I asked her over for dinner and we were about to have dessert.”

Oh yeah, she was craving more of that dessert right now.

His lips quirked at whatever Autumn said. “Yeah, I’ll ask her. Hang on.” He spoke to Tess. “She wants us to drop it off.”

He wanted her to come with him? “Sure, fine with me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You sure? From here it’s a twenty-five-minute drive each way.”

“That’s okay.” Spending an hour alone in the car with him sounded good to her.

He lifted the phone back to his ear. “All right. We’ll be over in a while. But don’t make it a habit to leave things behind when you come over. I won’t always be able to drop everything and run it over to you.”

Whatever Autumn said in reply made Reid grin, and Tess was struck once again by how gorgeous he was when he smiled, the harsh edge to his features completely melting away. “Okay. We’ll leave now. Keep your eyes peeled for us.” He put his phone into his pocket and faced Tess. “You sure about this? It wasn’t how I’d planned the night to go.”

“It’s fine,” she said, already heading back to the kitchen to grab her purse. And probably for the best that they got out of his place for a while at least. Being alone with him here tempted her mercilessly, and this would give her a little more time to decide whether she was ready to sleep with him.

In the elevator on the way to the underground parking garage a minute later, an idea struck her. “How about we take Autumn out for dessert somewhere? A sundae or something.”

Reid glanced at her in surprise, then his expression shuttered and he seemed to hesitate.

“It was just an idea,” she said quickly, wishing she hadn’t opened her mouth. “Never mind.”

“It’s not…” He sighed as they stepped out of the elevator and started toward his Mustang. “I love the idea, but Sarah will never go for it.”

Tess frowned. “Why not? We would drop Autumn off right after.”

“But it wasn’t on the schedule,” he explained, frustration creeping into his tone. “If it’s not scheduled, she won’t allow it.”

Wouldn’t allow the father of her child to take Autumn out for an ice cream at eight o’clock on a Friday night, even when she was just sitting at home doing nothing? “Oh.”

He put her in the front passenger seat of the Mustang, then settled behind the wheel. As he was reaching to turn the key in the ignition, he paused. “Screw it. I’ll try.” He pulled out his phone and shot off a quick text before firing up the engine.

The radio came on low to a classic rock station. “This okay by you?” he asked.

“Yep.”

He slanted her a grin. “That didn’t sound convincing. Seriously, what do you like?”

“Country, but I don’t mind this.”

Without a word, he reached for the dash and switched it to a country station for her. The buzz of nerves inside her eased when the familiar strains of one of her favorite songs came on. “Better?” he asked in a wry tone.

She couldn’t help but smile. “Yes.”

“Top up, or down?”

“Down.”

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