Page 40 of Mr. Flirt

I smiled and moved my thumb along her cheek. “Deal.”

Chapter Fourteen

Dirty Talk

Lucy

Who was I? Where did these words come from? I wasn’t just flirting. I was knocking it out of the park.

And what had I agreed to with Shep? There was no way hearts wouldn’t get broken with this man. He was everything and more, writhing around in a blanket of red flags.

Besides his humor, his intelligence shook me to my core. I could bring up anything with him, and he punted it right back to me, full of facts and opinions.

Now, he was standing at my stove, cooking me an amazing dinner while I stood nearly shaking in my socks that I’d just committed myself to a night full of sex.

What was it I’d said?

Mad, passionate love was going to be made tonight?

Gaaah!

It was like I’d put my courtroom hat on and the snarky, sexy remarks just flowed. I always treated the courtroom like my stage, and somehow, I’d carried that over to Shep.

And the weird thing was that the person in the courtroom was more me than ever, and I was actually showing that side to, of all people, Shep.

The cocky, playful stud of a man who owned a gaming company and kept nipping at my heart with each encounter.

“Halibut should be done in a minute,” Shep said, spinning around in one of my frilly aprons and holding a wooden spoon in the air from the risotto he had just stirred.

“Do your friends know how dynamite you look in ruffles?” I ran my fingers over the pink apron he was wearing.

“No, and if you tell them...” He grinned and bent over to open the oven and pull the halibut out.

“First, I’d have to meet one.”

Shep turned off the oven, put the glass dish with the halibut on the stovetop, and turned off the pot of risotto while flipping the asparagus in the pan on the back burner.

“Saturday. My place. My sister is coming over with her family, and my buddy who just got married will be there too.”

“I’ll think about it.” My stomach turned into a maze of knots, tightening with every second. Meet people? As in his people?

I cleared my throat. “You really know your way around a kitchen.”

I opened a couple of beers and put them on the dining table while he plated our dinner.

If I tripped over the chair now, I could spend my night at the emergency room instead of putting myself in a hot mess of a situation, showing Shep just how inexperienced I was at the whole intimate relationship thing.

Okay, sex. I suck at sex.

And I was pretty certain he was the king of copulation.

“You okay over there?” He turned to me, holding two plates.

I chuckled. “Yeah. I was just wondering how bad of a self-injury I could produce to get a ride to the ER tonight.”

His eyes widened. “You mean in bed?”

I shook my head, laughing. “No. To avoid sleeping with you.”

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