Page 6 of All by My Elf
“Okay. Um ...” His fingers flexed against her nape. “Never have I ever gotten a speeding ticket.”
Yes, he’d definitely been paying attention.
She folded one finger down. “Only because you don’t drive much. And in my defense, I haven’t sped once in the Mincemobile.”
“As you’ve said before, you’re afraid if you go too fast, our phyllo penis will fly off and impale another car.” His tone was as dry as her winter elbows. “Without permission.”
“Enthusiastic consent is important,” she agreed. “How did you know I normally speed?”
“Sometimes when a car zips past us on the open road, you look at it with this indescribable expression of heartfelt longing and teeth-gnashing envy. It’s simultaneously adorableandhilarious.”
She didn’t think anyone had called heradorablein two decades.
Did he think of her as a kid sister? “You realize I’m older than you, right?”
“By twenty-three months.” His shoulder pressed against her ear as he shrugged. “Barely any time at all. Your turn, Nina.”
“Good.” She knew exactly what to say. “Never have I ever pretended not to see someone waving at me when I’m inside the Mincemobile.”
He sighed, and she felt his forefinger fold down against her spine. “Inmydefense, I’m naturally an introvert. Making chitchat with strangers is far, far harder for me than givinga lecture or guiding a seminar. Especially since a seminar might last three hours, max, but we sometimes deal with the public all day. You’re much better with everyone than I am. Unruffled and sweet, but firm too. You don’t put up with rudeness.”
“That’s a very kind thing to say, but I think you underestimate yourself.” She smothered her pleased smile against his knit-sweater-covered collarbone. “People love you. I mean, if theydidn’tlove you, they probably wouldn’t flash their boobs at you quite so much.”
He scoffed at that. “I could be anyone. Believe me, it’s not personal.”
“Hmm.” She disagreed but wouldn’t argue the point. “Your turn again.”
“Speaking of getting flashed ...” His jaw worked, nudging against the side of her head. “Never mind. I probably shouldn’t do this one.”
“Go ahead.” High on pheromones, aching with the need to trail her fingers down his back to somewhere less civilized, she waved a reckless hand in the dark instead. “Whatever it is, I won’t be offended.”
His words emerged slowly, as if he were testing each one as he spoke. “Never have I ever been tempted to flash someone right back.”
Well, damn. Slowly, she folded a second finger down against his shoulder blade. “How did you know?”
“As I said, you’re very sweet with everyone. Very polite and nonthreatening.” He paused. “But sometimes when you get flashed or mooned, you glance down at your ... uh ...”
“Breasts.”
She’d never realized he was scrutinizing her so closely. But why? Idle curiosity? His restless intelligence combating the monotonous boredom of days spent on the road?
He swallowed hard. “You glance down at your ... breasts. Like you’re considering something. And I always figured that something was probably flashing people in return.”
She nodded, her chin bumping against his chest. “Just to shock them, the way they want to shock me.”
“But you’re never shocked.”
The man had her pegged. Unfortunately, not in the way she would have preferred.
“I’m not as proper as they think I am. Nor as easily discomfited.” The only thing that flustered her on a regular basis? Her secret desire for the man in her arms. “Besides, I refuse to give them the pleasure of a reaction—orthe pleasure of seeing my breasts. Which is why I may contemplate flashing people back, but I never actually do it.”
“They don’t deserve that kind of joy,” he agreed.
If that statement weren’t mostly an echo of what she’d just said, she might have wondered at his wording. Wondered whether he truly associated her breasts—the prospect of seeing them, anyway—with outright joy.
“My turn.” Time to take a hard right turn from talking about her breasts, before her resolve not to rub them against his own very hard, delightfully broad chest wavered. “Never have I ever regretted getting my doctorate.”
He sucked in a hard, sharp breath, and she winced.
