Page 21 of Protected By West
He was smiling at her. Then he lowered his gaze back to the bottle and she followed his eyes with her own. "I hate having to hit the back of the bottle just to get it out. So I've learned to be patient."
She rolled her eyes. "There's patience and then there's this." Tracy held out her hand. "Can I have the bottle?"
Weston didn't even hesitate, handing it over. Then he leaned in against the edge of the table. "What kind of magic do you know?"
Tracy smiled at him, feeling a strange kind of warmth in her chest. "It's not magic if you tell."
She looked down at the plate where he'd held the bottle for so long. Turning in her hand she looked down at the glass. Lifting her other hand she bumped the heel of her palm against the bottle a couple of times and then watched the ketchup flow.
After she had a nice mound of ketchup, she upended the bottle and set it down beside his plate. Smiling at the way he looked at her with more than a little wonder in his eyes, she chuckled. "That's right. I'm magic."
He picked up the pepper and sprinkled it on the ketchup, drawing her gaze.
Her stomach chose that moment to speak up for her. "Are you a guy that shares?"
Weston's smile flattened a little. His eyes widened. "Excuse me?"
Tracy frowned at him. "What?" She pointed a finger at his plate. "Your fries. Are you going to share your fries?"
His expression seemed frozen for a moment and then he laughed. "You're going to drive me crazy, aren't you?"
She felt laughter bubbling up inside. "I've got a Texas driver’s license. So anything is possible."
Weston shook his head. "I can see that I'm right, but yes... I'll share... my fries."
Tracy reached out and picked up a fry, holding it lightly between two of her fingers. Then she swept the end of it through the pile of ketchup and pepper on her side of the dish.
"I like a man who knows how to season his ketchup."
She took a bite of the fry wondering what the hell she was doing.
He answered by swiping the end of a fry through the pepper-flecked ketchup on his side. "At least you're not a woman who pretends not to eat on a date."
She braced herself, waiting for her gut to twist around on itself.
He might not be wearing his badge at the moment, but Weston Cooper was still a Texas Ranger. Badge or not, he was in law enforcement. How she hadn't seen it before, she didn't know.
Maybe, she wondered,I could blame it on the drinks at the bar.
No, she countered her own delusion,he was the hottest man I've ever seen.
Looking across the table at him she let out a breath in a soft sigh.
He's still the hottest guy I've ever seen, and he wants to date me.
She knew right then that she was about to make either the stupidest decision of her life, or the best.
"Tracy, I-"
"I'll make you a deal."
He stopped short and went silent, watching her as if she might bolt from the table.
"I'll go out with you, one date for each fry you share with me."
Weston didn't hesitate.
He reached his hand out and pushed his plate closer to her. "You can have them all."
