Page 9 of Never Always
“Can you drive? I had some champagne and while you’re keen on breaking the law, I’m not. I don’t really do anything that could land me hard prison time or service hours. It was only two glasses, but I’m too close to a point oh-eight to risk it.”
Grange is staring at me, shaking his head. “Who are you?”
I clear my throat. “What? The hair and makeup? I know I don’t look like myself, but I can assure you it’s me, Tennyson Kline. In the flesh.”
Grange laughs. An impossible sound I didn’t know was possible. Especially after the fury I saw ten minutes ago. “That’s not what I mean, Fire. Sometimes it’s like you fell off an alien spaceship and you’re visiting earth for vacation. You are incredibly… different.”
“Don’t call me Fire,” I say, tipping my chin up. “I’ve been made fun of my entire life for this hair color and for being different, and I’m not about to let your bad mood ruin mine. I almost had a successful date in there. He was going to play chess with me. It was almost a win!”
He jerks his head to signal for me to get out of the car as he opens the passenger door. We trade seats and he slides my driver’s seat back as far as it will go. “Since I can never drink a drop of alcohol again, I have no problem driving. Fire isn’t derogatory, so I’ll call you that anytime I want. More importantly, is chess truly your idea of a date?” Looking down at the carved wooden box now on the floorboard, I realize what he’s asking and then look up to meet his eyes.
He starts the car and I sigh in relief. His focus is on the road, and not me and my awkwardness. “Not with you, no. You just looked like you could use some help in there. Not that I don’t think you would have killed him. You’re a SEAL, so killing is sort of your thing, right? Just that maybe you could use an out. Chess is your out tonight. Nothing more and nothing less.”
“And chess will also be your date with the geek tomorrow?” he asks.
I shrug. “He probably won’t agree to go out with me after that. Which is fine. Don’t they say workplace romances are always bad ideas? I’d never suggest that you would ever date me. That’s improbable in every known scenario.”
My gaze stays straight out the windshield, the only safe place.
“Killing isn’t my thing, no. As an aside. Every guy in there tonight wanted to date you.” Grange thrums his thumbs on the steering wheel to the beat of the music playing softly. I crane my neck to look at him because there’s no way I heard him correctly. He adds, “Thanks for the out.” His voice is so low, I barely hear it. Replying would make it too awkward, so I shove my manners down and avoid telling him he’s welcome and focus on the first statement.
“Every guy in there did not want to date me. Take out the married or otherwise attached individuals and that leaves burly sailors and politicians who most definitely have no interest in me.”
He shakes his head again, eyebrows raised. “They don’t want your vote. They want to date you so they can fuck you.”
My eyes widen the same time his grin does.
Chapter Five
Tennyson
“THAT HAS TObe the most offensive thing a man has ever said to my face,” I retort as Grange flicks on the directional at a red light. He leans his head on his fist, keeping his elbow propped on the window frame.
Tilting his head, he eyes me. “Men don’t speak very many truths around you then?”
I pull at my ear and breathe. “Of course they do. You could have said that about ten different ways and any of which wouldn’t be so rude.”
“My way was more accurate. Straight to the point. If I said that any other way, the implication could have been left up to interpretation, and Fire?” He pauses for effect. “You can’t read social cues to save your life, so I’m black and white with you. It’s easier this way.”
“Easier for who? You’re going to give me a heart attack with your language.”
He grunts. Something in between annoyance and a laugh. “If I had said, ‘you looked really sexy tonight. That dress. Your hair. Your bare legs. Your long neck and pouty lips.’ What would you have thought?”
My whole body breaks out in what I can only assume is hives because I’m hot. I feel itchy. My emotions are all over the place, and his words create havoc on everything I thought I knew about myself. Why am I all of a suddenattractedto him? Pressing my lips together, I try to make my lips look smaller. “I would have called you a liar. Straight up.”
“See?” he says, voice booming in the small cab. “Even straight compliments are over your head.”
I lose my breath, or forget to breathe, I can’t be sure which is my problem right now. He asks where in the parking garage he should park, and it occurs to me he knows where I live. We’re at my condo complex. I was so wrapped up in his presence that I neglected everything else. What if he was taking me to an abandoned warehouse to hack up my body for drug money? Or worse. My stomach sinks. “To the left. My parking spot is one seventy-nine.” I point and he parks.
“So we’re clear those compliments were hypothetical reasoning, not actual compliments,” I deadpan, trying to calm my accelerated heart rate as he puts the car into park. There’s a light right above my car, and it beams in, lighting half of Grange’s face.
I angle my body toward his, an unconscious movement. He puts a hand on the center console, wrapping his fingers all the way around it. “No,” he states. “That was not hypothetical. All of those things are true. You’re a fox.” Half a smile pulls across his face, the other half is disguised in shadow. He shakes his head once. “The only reason I’m telling you this is because I think it’s what’s wrong with you.”
“What? What does that mean?” I stammer. “Nothing is wrong with me.”
He sighs. “Is your mom a fox, too? Do you have a handsome older brother? A beautiful sister?”
The trepidation in confirming comes from admitting he has me pegged. “What if I do?” I let a hand slip up to tug on my ear. I deserve it right now.
