Page 85 of Date with a Devil
“Guarantee you he’s a bigger and worse sleaze than I am. But what are you talking about?”
“The swimming pool. You engineered that whole situation! You got me to go swimming so you could get me into my panties and see me without my makeup. Just like you said—you always take a girl swimming on the first date.”
“That was ajoke,Austen. A stupid thing Soupy would say that always made us laugh. I stole it from him.”
“So youdidn’twant to see me in my panties?”
He paused. “Well, of courseI wanted to see you in your panties. Hell, I wanna see you in your panties right now. Might take my mind off the pain.”
“Stop it,” she said. She wasn’t going to laugh, she wanted to be upset instead. “What about my makeup?”
“I’m gonna let you in on a guy secret here, Austen. We don’t see makeup. Most of the time, we can’t tell when you’re wearing it and when you’re not.”
“I wasn’t wearing any, anyway,” she said with a sniffle.
“And I never even knew, because you’re pretty with it and you’re just as pretty without it.” He took a stray strand of hair from her face and pinned it behind her ear.
She swallowed. “But what about all those girls in your pool?”
“It’s a big, badass pool and it’s heated. People see it and they want to jump in. I mean, it’s pretty simple, y’know?”
“You weren’t trying to sleep with them?”
“Not me. I was too bummedtrying not to think about you.”
She went quiet. “Me?”
“Yeah.”
“But why me?”
“You know why.”
“You shouldn’t think about me, unless you’re thinking about how much you hate me for getting you traded or breaking your hand.”
“Honestly?” Dane snickered as he inspected his swollen, badly bruising hand. “I think it’s kind of funny.”
“Funny?How can this be funny?”
“If this thing is truly broken as bad as it looks, then …” Dane trailed off, holding his hand under the cabin light.
“Thenwhat, Dane?”
“Then the Devils will have to place me on the injured reserve.”
“And what’s that mean?”
“They won’t be able to trade me,” he said with a sneaking grin. It was the very first thing he thought when he saw his hand, after the initial shock wore off. “So yeah, maybe you played a part in me almost getting traded. But right now, it looks like you’ve also put a stop to any trade talks.That’swhy it’s funny.”
“T-they really can’t trade you?” she stammered.
“Nope. Not until the off-season, anyway. Which means I get a few more months in Dallas, at least.”
He looked at her to see what she thought of that news. But for once, she didn’t betray a single emotion as she parked the car outside the ER entrance.
***
After checking in with the triage nurse, Dane was told to take a seat and wait. He and Austen found a couple of cold plastic seats and waited with the rest of Dallas’s ill and injured.
