Page 26 of Infected By Virus

“What do you want to know?”

“What do you do for work?”

“I shoot people for a living. How about you?”

A loud burst of masculine laughter came from her left and she looked over at the next table. Virus’s club was seated there and had scooted to the end of the table closest to them, obviously eavesdropping.

“You sure you don’t wanna give Santa a try? I promise I deliver more than once a year.” His words drew a scowl from Virus.

“No can do, Santa. I have a strict policy about not dating anyone who refers to themselves in the third person.”

The laughter that followed was the perfect remedy to lift some of the tension that had formed.

Virus was leaned toward her, invading her personal space. Elbow on the table with the back of his index finger rhythmically stroking her bare bicep. It was the slightest of touches, but it felt intimate … familiar. It seemed as if he didn’t even realize he was doing it.

He gazed deep into her eyes, and she saw genuine happiness there. “You did it.”

“Yep, I did.” She didn’t need to ask what he meant any more than he needed to ask her about shooting people. He knew exactly what she’d meant by it.

“I’m so proud of you. I never doubted you for a minute. Who do you shoot for?”

“Myself.” The way his eyes widened in shock was comical. “I carved out my own niche. I do mostly book covers. However, I do get some fun commissions every now and then, but it’s mostly the independent romance authors that keep me fed.”

A scowl replaced his smile, but when she raised a brow in question, he smoothed out his look. “Sorry, we just met, I forgot.”

“We can get back to being near perfect strangers after you explain that.” She indicated his face. In doing so, she dislodged his touch to her bicep, and she missed it.

Virus just stared at her, not answering.

“Shirtless men.” The big guy from the other table called. She wasn’t introduced to him, so she didn’t know his name, but he was the biggest of all Virus’s friends.

Santa piped in an exasperated tone, like she was clueless, and she kind of was. “He don’t like the idea of you oiling up Fabio’s chest for them covers.”

It was Rae’s turn to laugh so loud it drowned out the constant buzz of kids having fun.

“There is so much wrong with that statement I don’t even know where to start.” Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to Virus.

He looked apologetic. “I have no right to be jealous, but …” The words trailed off, and she knew he was as uncomfortable with the thought as she would be if it were reversed. Hell, it kinda had been.

No matter the time and events that had passed between them, there were still a lot of emotions there.

“Yeah,” was all she could say. An uncomfortable silence took over.

She couldn’t take it anymore, so she went back to their game of having just met. “What about you? What do you do?”

“I work in security. Mostly on the cyber side, but some real-world shit, too.”

“Interesting.”

“Oh, and I got a kid. He’s six, and I fell in love with him the second I saw him.”

Rae’s heart melted at that. She’d always known he’d be an amazing dad. They’d talked about their family plans enough to know he wanted a whole passel of kids, at least back then. She’s always told him her uterine limit was three. After that, they’d have to adopt.

“That’s awesome. I always knew you’d make a great dad.” Oops, she hadn’t meant to say that. It seemed so much safer to stick to the just met scenario. Safer and easier.

“Gave you that impression since I sat down, huh?” Apparently for him too.

“Yeah, of course, since I’ve never met you before. It was the hand lick that did it. Anyone who will lick a stranger’s hand can handle a walking petri dish with a perpetual runny nose and an attitude, but also the most chewable cheeks in the world.”

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