Page 70 of Sunflower Persona
He can be wrong.
“Why orange?”
“It at least has a food in the name,” he says with a shrug. “You’d choose yellow, right?”
“The brightest one in the box,” I confirm.
“Nothing is as bright as you, Low,” Gage says, and my jaw drops.
That smooth motherfucker.
“Gagriel Maher, did you just use a line on me,” I admonish with a laugh.
“Gagriel?” he asks, his lips twitching into the start of a smile.
“Don’t change the subject. You were totally hitting on me.”
“Of course I was,” he says in that gruff monotone of his. “I’ve got to woo my girl.”
His girl.
The certainty in his voice leaves no room for questions, and my heart melts into a pile of goo. I really like the sound of that.
“I don’t know if I’m sufficiently wooed yet. Maybe you need to keep trying.”
“Is that a challenge?” he asks.
The heated look that darkens his eyes makes my thighs clench together and my mouth water. He doesn’t wait for me to respond, which is a good thing, because I’m pretty sure he stole my voice with his gaze. Shadows fall over the table as he leans forward, encroaching on my space, and I lean into him, drawn in by some unseen magnetic force until our faces are only a few inches apart. Our breath mingles in the space between us, and for one long, tortuous second, he says nothing at all.
Then he stands.
That abrupt motion rips through the tension like a porcupine in a bounce house. My whole body straightens as my eyes follow him, and from my seated position, he towers over me. Before I can question him, he moves again. This time, his movements are fluid as he slides into the booth next to me and puts one arm over the back of it so it rests behind me. He isn’t quite touching me, but the intention is perfectly clear. It’s a claim.
“I didn’t like how far away you were.” His gravelly whisper kisses my ear, and a shudder runs through me straight to my aching core. “Next time we go out, I want you to sit next to me. I don’t want to have to reach across the table to touch you. Is that good with you?”
I didn’t know someone could turn me on with their words alone, but when he goes all in-charge on me, I turn into Niagara Falls.
“Yes, Gage,” I rasp in a breathy whisper, and the man beside me groans.
“You are so perfect,” he tells me.
His arm drops to my shoulders, and he pulls me against him. I don’t hesitate to cuddle into his side.
“I haven’t told you how beautiful you look yet. That was my mistake. I just got so tongue-tied when I saw you standing there looking like all my sweetest fantasies come to life.” He continues to whisper the words loud enough that only I can hear them as his fingers start to trail down my arm. The touch sends delicious tingles through my whole body.
He opens his mouth to say more but is interrupted by the server bringing our meals. I expect him to jerk away from me, but he doesn’t even glance in their direction as they put our plates on the table. I, on the other hand, feel like a kid who got caught with their hand in a very muscular cookie jar. My whole face feels hot, and I can’t bring myself to look at the server either, but for an entirely different reason.
“How was that for wooing?” Gage asks with a soft chuckle.
“Consider me wooed.”
He presses a gentle kiss to my temple, and only then does he pull his arm back so we can eat. My mind is too riled to focus on the food in front of me. For now, I’ll count down the minutes until we can leave and go somewhere with a little more privacy. I don’t know how far I want to go tonight, but I wouldn’t mind a repeat of what happened in my dorm room. We just have to get through dinner first.
Chapter 22
Gage
Kori snorts and chokes on a bite of food as she tries to contain the abrupt fit of laughter. Nothing I said was anywhere near funny enough to get that sort of response, but her joy makes my gut twist and bubble in an unfamiliar way that isn’t actually uncomfortable.
