Page 12 of Romeo

She mourned the fact that her meal was doing just that as she waited for him to leave.

Her spine stiffened and her teeth clenched as she heard the distinct crunch of stone under heavy biker boots heading her way.

The picnic table actually shook slightly when the person she was hiding from in plain sight sat down. Her ears picked up the crinkle of the paper as he unwrapped his burger.

Holy shit.Who would’ve thought that imagining herself invisible didn’t work?

She pulled in a breath, braced, and turned to face him, only to find him staring at her as he chewed.

After swallowing the bite, he made the straw squeak obnoxiously against the flimsy plastic lid by sliding it up and down several times, Unfortunately, the steady rhythm of the annoying sound reminded her of sex.

“Fuck, that shit’s good,” came out on the heels of a satisfied sigh after chasing his bite of hamburger with a long sip of the freshly squeezed lemonade.

She forgot the deep and rich tone of his voice.

She forgot how he smelled. A mix of warm leather, exhaust, and a hint of some sort of cologne. Not overbearing, unlike his personality.

She certainly forgot how intense the man sitting across from her could get.

“And you are?” she asked smartly.

He snorted, shook his head, and took another massive bite out of his burger. Maddie watched his tongue jut out to capture the juices running down his fingers.

She quickly grabbed a napkin from her small pile and tossed it in his direction, even though it was too late. Instead of the temperature dropping as the night got later, watching what he did with his tongue suddenly made it heat up.

It became uncomfortably warm.

It had to be her hormones, even though she was way too young to be having a hot flash. “What are you doing here, Romeo?”

His burger was temporarily forgotten in his fingers when he said, “Funny, was gonna ask you the same thing.”

“I’m here having dinner.”

He lifted his burger. “Same.”

“I was looking for peace and quiet.”

He shrugged and repeated, “Same.”

“I never saw you here before.”

A grin flirted with his full lips. “Same.”

“I’m surprised you remember me.” She glared at him while warning, “Don’t you dare say ‘same.’”

“Hard to forget someone who gave up?—”

She raised her hand to stop him. “Don’t.”

He put his burger down, took another long sip of his sweet drink, popped four fries into his mouth and chewed as he asked, “What’re you doin’ here, Maddie?”

She swept a hand over her own half-eaten burger and barely touched fries. “Eating my dinner. I thought that was obvious.”

“Know what I meant. What are you doin’here?”

“I live here. Well, nothere,” she pointed at the ground, “but near here.”

His head twitched. “Since when?”

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