Page 28 of Hang the Moon
Her face flushed the prettiest shade of rose pink to matchher skirt. “I just—I wasn’t expecting you to come right out and say it.”
“Was it a secret?” He laughed. “Worst-kept secret ever, then. I wasn’t exactly covert.” There were probably prehistoric cave drawings, hieroglyphs detailing his feelings for her. That was how obvious he had been. “Darcy still gives me grief about it to this day.”
“You were cute. I was flattered.”
He ducked his chin and gripped the back of his neck. “Cute, what every teenage boy aspires to be.” He lifted his eyes and stepped closer, leaning against the door frame. Close enough to breathe in the fruitiness of Annie’s coconut body lotion. His tongue curled against the back of his teeth, his mouth watering. Sunscreen and watermelon Jolly Ranchers, coconut and sunshine—even in the dead of winter Annie had always smelled like summer. “I was delusional. You were so far out of my league.”
The corners of Annie’s mouth tightened when she swallowed, the smooth skin of her throat jerking, her lids fluttering as she stared up at him from beneath a fringe of dark lashes. “I don’t know about that.”
It was true. “You were beautiful and funny and my older sister’s cool, popular best friend.” All of which was still true. “And I could barely string a sentence together in front of you.”
She scoffed, her blue-green eyes bright as she rolled them to the ceiling. “I was not—”
“Youwere.” He dropped his hand, tucking both inside his front pockets so he wouldn’t revert to bad habits and fidget.He’d never known what to do with his hands around her. “And my idea of flirting was challenging you to a milkshake-drinking competition.”
Annie’s throaty chuckle made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, his heart rate ratcheting up like he’d run a mile at breakneck speed. “You might’ve missed the mark on that one.” Her tongue poked out between her lips as she lifted her hand, holding her fingers a smidge apart. “Just a little.”
He clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth, shaking his head. “I knew I screwed up somewhere.”
“I’m sure you know what you’re doing now.” She leaned her head back against the door, her blond waves cascading over her shoulders, the tips of her hair flirting with the swells of her breasts.
His mouth fell open as he stared at her.
“I mean...” Her eyes darted from side to side, pink creeping up the front of her throat. “You created a dating app, for Christ’s sake.” Her laugh was sharp, high-pitched. She scratched the side of her neck. “According to Darcy, you don’t have any trouble meeting women.”
Perhaps he didn’t have trouble meeting women, and maybe he knew how to talk to them without flailing his hands like a fool—most of the time—but he had yet to meet therightwoman. Someone he clicked with. Someone who made his heart race and his palms sweat with a single smile.
Someone like Annie.
He’d had more fun playing tourist in his own city with her than he’d had on the last ten dates he’d been on. She made himlaugh, and if the way she had checked him out meant anything, he was positive the attraction was mutual.
His brows rose. “You and Darcy sure talk about me a lot.”
“She cares about you.” She shrugged and stared at his shoulder. “And I care about her.”
What would it take to become someone Annie cared about? He wanted to find out everything there was to know about her, not just to prove her wrong about romance’s being dead, but to satisfy his own burning curiosity.
What he’d told Margot this morning was no longer true. Not the whole truth, at least. This was no longer merely about a point of pride, the principle of the matter.
Thiswaspersonal.
“I know you’d probably rather be spending time with Darcy, but I hope, in the meantime, I’m a suitable stand-in.”
She smiled up at him. “More than suitable. I appreciate you showing me around. Today was fun.” Her nose wrinkled. “Minus the mortification.”
“Come on, we bonded, Annie.”
“Bonded?” She laughed. “Okay.”
“I told you I’d be happy to even the score. Humiliate myself somehow.”
It was bound to happen at some point organically.
Her brows rose. “Promise?”
He held out his little finger. “Pinkypromise.”
“Ooh.” She hooked her fingers around his and he held tight for a second longer than appropriate. “Serious stuff.”
