Page 13 of Love Unwrapped
She missed the buckle for the third time, forcing her to lower her gaze. Her normally steady hands were trembling as the driver’s side door opened. Oh God, it was happening. She fisted her hands and turned her face to the side window, staring out at the dark night. She was attracted to Blake. What a horrible occurrence. She could scream her irritation with her horrible taste in men. This would never do.
“We got a request for pizza. But I think we took too long because she just called back to say they’d called in an order. Bree said she knew what you liked. We’re picking it up on our way back.”
She said nothing as she tried to understand how this had happened. Why were her feelings toward that awful man beginning to soften? She closed her eyes, rested her chin in her hand, assessing her body’s very visceral reaction. The shortness of breath, the tingle prickling her skin, and that tell-tale warmth building between her legs… Not good. She bet her nipples were tight and reached for her T-shirt, pulling room in the front. Yeah, that wasn’t good at all. No, she’d blame that on the briskness of the night air. She hadn’t brought her jacket, thinking they’d be back at the shop earlier. But she’d created her own issue by delaying Grams and avoiding Blake.
More absurdly, at some point she had decided she believed Blake—not necessarily about him having a four-year thing for her, but about his time with Nat. If Blake had had any interest in Andi, Nat would have sensed it and exploited it until she manipulated the situation and he was unknowingly driving the getaway car. Over the last ten years, her sister had stolen thousands of dollars’ worth of clothing, electronics, and money from Andi alone. Of course, Nat wouldn’t do the stand-up thing and tell the truth where Blake had been concerned all those years ago.
Blake’s hand landed on her knee, jerking her out of her thoughts. She whipped her head around. Whatever look she gave finally broke through the unnatural calm that had taken over Blake’s personality since they’d first arrived. “I think that look’s about more than the idea of pizza.”
“Stop touching me,” she snapped, pointedly staring at his hand still on her knee. She was keenly aware of the gentle squeeze he gave before removing his palm. “So you’re saying you want me to believe you pulled my hair like a kindergarten boy to gain my attention?”
“You’re still thinking about that?”
Apparently she was.Who knew?Her frustration built, blocking the attraction.Thank God. He made her unpredictable, and for someone who craved order, that was enough to get her back up. Blake took the turn from the parking lot to the road, giving her a side-eye in speculation.
“Since I was little girl, I’ve tried to do the right thing. Nat was always the difficult one. She’d take my parents to the edge over and over again. I never saw you as attracted to me. All the girls in school thought you were so cute. Everyone was trying to get your attention, I don’t believe you wanted me like you said.” She shook her head. It made absolutely no sense.
“I thought you were one of those intuitive attorneys. I guess not.” Blake seemed to pay her little attention as he swung the van in a sudden hard left turn, causing her to grip the dash and door handle to stay in place. His sloppy turn executed the perfect parking job, coming to a sudden stop right in front of The Pizza Joint, a local favorite in Sacramento. Andi looked out the front window to the festively decorated store front, all decked out in their Christmas finest—faded decorations she remembered from her childhood. Her stomach grumbled. She loved this place, but again, she wouldn’t be swayed from asking the hard questions that had plagued her all afternoon.
“Blake, what happened to you when the bomb blew up? What does ‘bomb blowing up’ mean?”
“Not having that conversation, Prin…” He stopped himself from saying the word. A giant smile took over his handsome face as he winked and opened the door before stepping out. He turned to face her where she still sat in the passenger seat. “Stopped myself. That should count as a point in my favor.”
“I saw a scar under your sleeve the first day at the bakery. Is that from the explosion?” She rushed out the question before he could close the door on her.
He lifted the edge of his T-shirt sleeve to let her see the drag-like scars across his skin. “These? Yeah, part of the thing I’m not talking about.”
The scars were puckered, a light pink in his deeply tanned skin for as far as she could see, trailing toward his underarm. The van door shut her in face as he started around the hood in his annoying casual swagger, a strut he pulled off so well. When she realized he was coming around toward her side of the vehicle, she scrambled to shove open the door, darting out, the seatbelt still locked in place. She barely had the thing unlocked and off her shoulder before her feet hit the ground. Andi ignored his indulgent smile as he lifted both his hands in surrender, clearly understanding he was not to touch her door. Man, he was annoying. She ignored him and started for the front door of The Pizza Joint, feeling victorious in some tiny way.
Had she looked, she might have been able to avoid the large puddle before her foot plopped down, sinking into the muddy water. She expelled several outraged huffs, her hands flying in the air in her disgust as she tried to avoid her second foot having the same fate. She lost her balance, and the flying hands became flailing hands as her panic became real. The ground came up fast as she pitched forward. Andi closed her eyes and tried to turn her head, hoping she wouldn’t execute a complete face plant on the sidewalk. Seconds before the inevitable impact, her entire body became weightless. Strong arms grabbed her, flipped her, and she came to rest, cradled in Blake’s arms.
“Oh,” she gasped and reached out, holding on to him, looking down at the ground, making sure they were out of harm’s way.
“You okay?” Blake said, taking several steps the other direction and her head whipped around, her ponytail following. She was inches from him. Adrenaline pounded her heart and a puff of breath hit Blake square in the face.
“I didn’t see it.”
“Are you okay?” Her panicked gaze slid to the sound of bells banging nearby. She tracked the noise to the front of the store as a man in a dirty apron hurried forward and other patrons came out.
“We should’ve blocked this off. I told you it was dangerous,” a woman said. Her words started an instant argument with the man in the apron, and Andi turned back to Blake.
“You okay? I grabbed you pretty hard,” Blake said, holding her like she weighed nothing.
“I thought I was a goner. I didn’t see the puddle.”
“It’s more like a lake. I didn’t really see it either,” he explained, his grip tightening around her, pulling her snuggly against his body. His heart pounded against her shoulder, matching her own. The stare held between them.
“You two come inside.” The woman from before instructed. “Your pizza’s on us. Hal should’ve blocked off that area like I told him too.”
Chapter 8
The man in the apron shooed everyone back inside the restaurant as the woman came over to them. She had on a nametag that saidMartha. She fluttered around them, clearly worried. “Come. Come. Inside with you. We’ll get you cleaned up.”
Andi had scared the crap out of him when he’d seen her headed for the ground. Then when he’d saved her from the pavement, he’d breathed a sigh of relief, but that relief was short-lived as his body acknowledged how right she felt in his arms. When she whipped around to face him, he’d nearly forgotten himself and kissed her. The woman from the pizzeria had brought him back to the present, and while Andi was safe now, Blake was loathe to set her back on her feet. He’d rather keep her snuggled against him, enjoying her wiggling warmth.
“You can let me down now.” Andi, who seemed to gather herself quicker than him, pushed against his shoulders.
Blake sought any reason to keep her exactly where she was. He glanced around and caught sight of her foot. He nodded that way to direct her attention there. “You’re a mess. You can’t walk through the restaurant, dragging mud with you.” He patted himself on the back for his reasonableness. He couldn’t wait to see her argue that point.
