Page 94 of The Mercenary's Guide to Mishaps and Romance

“Hmm?” he asks as he glances back at me.

“I was just thinking… that if this was like… a normal situation where we met each other someplace other than the dumpster that you bashed my head into. And I could have been planning your birthday. And you didn’t live in a house that looks like someone who is planning to move tomorrow… we could have done something really fun for your birthday.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You seriously consider what we’ve done so far tonotbe really fun?” he asks. “I’ve had a blast. You even took me to meet your father.”

I raise an eyebrow in return, not quite so sure about any part of that.

I walk up to him. “Since… I wasn’t able to get you anything… and wasn’t able to keep your penis cake from getting dropped… I just want to give you a birthday present that I could actually offer.”

Then I step up to him and press my lips against his. There ismaybea fraction of a second of surprise from him before he’s all in. His hands slide around my waist, drawing me in without reservation. His lips part, and even though he smells like chlorine and is still a bit damp, it’s the best damn kiss I’ve ever had.

It’s like he’s enrapturing me with something so simple. I don’t know if it’s the constant life-or-death situations, the adrenaline, the exhaustion… but the way his tongue wraps around mine draws me in deeper. I feel breathless, like I’ve forgotten that I can still breathe.

It’s with great reluctance that I draw back, but I know that I have to before I get swept up in something that I won’t be able to return from. I really am scared that he’ll just jump up and leave like my father did. This kind of life doesn’t lead to the life I want where I get married and have kids and we eat dinner at the table every day until we realize that’s a lot of work and eat on the couch. But we eat together. We raise kids together. We have it all together.

And I know that this could just be a fling. This could just be a bit of excitement in an already excitement-packed week of my life, but I’m greedy and I don’t want that.

Another part of me knows that I’m throwing a lot at a man I’ve only known for days, but I can’t keep myself from being all in. Iwantto be all in.

“That was hands down the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten,” he says.

“You said you’d never gotten a birthday present,” I respond, feeling bad for him. What kind of child isn’t even allowed presents?

“Yeah, and it’s still the best,” he says.

“You know… I might have missed this year… but I could give you birthday presents next year… and the year after that.”

“Oh?” he asks as he raises an eyebrow.

“But you have to be here. I don’t know if you’ve caught on, but I’m not the adventuring type. I’m not going to hunt you down to send you a present.”

“It sounds very tempting.”

“Yeah… go get cleaned up. Your sutures weren’t supposed to get wet.”

“I’ll make sure to tell the next guy that before he pushes me out the window,” he assures me. “And I could be tempted to unpack my TV stand… and get a real table… and put my bed on my bedframe if there was a reason to stay here.”

I find myself wanting to be that reason. Wanting it so damn much.

With that, he slips out the door and I’m left to play with the bird who has successfully checked out every inch of the room and has also shit on Tavish’s shoes.

TWENTY-FOUR

ELLIS

“Tavish, before we go to the most secret of secret places where there are no ulterior motives, I got you a present,” Leland says as he holds a gift bag out to Tavish.

It’s nearly five, which means we’d been given a little bit of time to relax and eat some lunch and cake, but Leland is already wanting to shove us off to who knows where.

“Can I decline?” he asks.

“Absolutely not,” Leland says, but the smile on his face makes it quite clear that Tavish should be concerned.

“I don’t want this,” Tavish declares.

“Why not? I was going to get you a manual for how to hunt bears since you believe you’re a bear, but I don’t want to put money in the pocket of someone who hunts cute little bears,” Leland says.

“So the present is better than that?”

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