Page 24 of When We Break

“I have character references,” I add. “And I can give you a background check if you want. I don’t have any arrests in my past unless you count the time when I got caught toilet-papering the math teacher’s house when I was sixteen. My dad made me sit in jail overnight just to teach me a lesson.”

“And did it work?” she asks.

“Hell yes, it worked. I’m not cut out for prison.”

She laughs again, and I can see the moment she softens. “Dinner sounds nice.”

“Are you free this evening?”

“That quick, is it?”

I grin at her and can’t resist reaching out to tuck a lock of that gorgeous red hair behind her ear. She doesn’t pull away.

“My luck just changed, and I’m going to take full advantage. I don’t want you to change your mind and break my heart.”

“Hmm.” She swallows and glances at the clock on the wall. “I have a class coming in fifteen minutes, and I’ll be done for the day at six.”

“Pick you up at seven?”

Skyla bites that lower lip, then nods. I wisely hold back my fist pump. “Seven it is. But I can meet you.”

“That’s not a date, Skyla. I’m a gentleman. I’ll pick you up and drop you off when the evening is over.”

She lets out a chuckle. “You’re good at pushing, aren’t you then?”

“I know what I want. You’ll need to send me your address. And to do that, you’ll need to give me your number.”

“Pushy cowboy,” she mutters as she crosses to a table, sets down the flowers, and retrieves her phone. “All right then, it’s my number you’re getting out of me, Beckett Blackwell.”

It’s about fucking time.

I give her my phone after unlocking it. “Go ahead and text yourself.”

She does, and when her phone buzzes with a notification, she passes me back my cell, opens her phone, and shows it to me.

“There, was that so hard?”

“We’ll talk about it later,” she says and lifts her gaze to mine. Jesus, I want to pull her in and kiss the fuck out of her. Push my hands in that thick hair and hold on tight as my mouth memorizes hers.

I want to lose myself in her. Fuck her so hard that she’ll forget anyone who came before me, then I want to talk to her for days.

“Thank you,” I say.

“For what, exactly?”

“Saying yes. I’ll make sure you won’t regret it.”

Her smile lights up the whole room, but then a car door slams out front, signaling the first of her class to arrive, and cueing my time to leave.

“I’ll see you at seven.” I lean in to kiss her cheek and breathe in her soft lavender scent before I pull away and walk to the door.

I have to go get ready for a date.

Because shefinallysaid yes.

* * *

At seven on the dot, I pull up in front of the house in a neighborhood I don’t know all that well. It’s a newer subdivision with larger lots, so she’s not close to her neighbors. A wrought iron fence, at least eight feet tall, surrounds the property, and she even has a gate and cameras. Her security system is impressive.

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