Page 145 of The Mercenary's Guide to Mishaps and Romance

“But I really like you.”

“I really like you too.”

“Do you think that maybe you’d want to date little ol’ boring me?” Tavish asks.

“Oh, so boring.”

He grins.

“But yes. Yes, I would.”

“We could go on a date tonight if you want.”

“Tonight? Like… you… you still haveenergy?”

“I have a lot of energy.”

“Oh hell, no. We could have sex as long as you like carry me to the bed and don’t expect me to do anything but lie there and be like ‘Ooh yes, right there.’”

“You sure know how to tempt a man.”

“And then afterward, you let me sleep for at least two days. Although… I think I’m supposed to work tomorrow.”

“I think you could call it off.”

“I just might. They probably think I’m dead.”

“Then we could have sex all day tomorrow.”

“I was thinking of sleeping but sure, we can have some sex mixed in there. But like… as long as I don’t have to get out of bed.”

“You won’t. The bed’s on the floor, so it’s rather hard to get up out of anyway.”

I grin at him. “I can’t wait.”

THIRTY-THREE

ELLIS

“I’m really fucking nervous.”

“Why are you nervous to see your own mom?” Tavish asks as we stand outside my mom’s front door.

We’ve been back from the island about four days, but I haven’t had the opportunity to see her yet. It took a bit for them to actually piece everything together enough to be comfortable letting my mom and sister go back to their lives. We don’t know the outcome yet and likely won’t for months. But at least things seem to be heading in the right direction.

“I’m not even nervous to meet her; why are you nervous to see her?” Tavish asks.

“Because I didn’t know she was like some badass going around hunting people down, pretending to be the cartel, and running bitches over with cars.”

That makes Tavish laugh.

“How are you not nervous?” I ask. “Even if we hadn’t gone through all of this, I’d be terrified to meet the mom of the person I’m dating.”

“I’ve never been nervous a day in my life,” he says. “I mean… besides being a little nervous about you.” He mumbles the last part, like I might not understand it if he speaks fast enough.

“What about me? Why the hell would you be nervous about me?”

“Because you’re so good that I’m afraid I’m going to fuck up.”

---