Page 36 of One Unexpected Gift

Sky’s skin tingled with awareness, and she felt her cheeks warm. “My music choices make you think of me naked?”

He clicked his tongue. “That mind of yours is swimming in the gutter. Oh, yes, swimming. I can picture that as well. One piece or two? Please tell me two.”

“None of your business.” She laughed, wanting so very much to make it his business.

“Back to your original question. I never said naked. I said not fully dressed. I’m picturing you in tiny shorts and a sports bra jumping around to House of Pain. Then wearing a Guns N’ Roses vintage tank top and those same tiny shorts while bench pressing and jamming out to Metallica. Boxing threw me off a bit. I’ve got the Rocky soundtrack playing in my head. Do you wear one of those sweatbands? Black shiny shorts pulled up high and a black sports bra?”

“That’s specific.” And somewhat accurate.

“Tell me more about the bathing suit. It’s one of those scrappy things that barely hides the goods, right? Humor me and tell me that’s the case.” He pulled into the movie theater parking lot and put the Wrangler in Park.

“I prefer skinny dipping.” She clucked her tongue and hopped out of the Jeep. She heard him moan from the other side of the car.

Laughing, she met him at the hood, and they held hands on their way into the theater. He ordered them a large popcorn and drink to share and let her pick the seats. She found two dead center. Nick looked at them and then toward the back.

“No back row makeout sessions, huh?”

“Maybe later.”

“Promise?”

She settled in her seat and held the tub of popcorn on her lap. “That’ll depend on how good the movie is.”

“Challenge accepted.”

***

Nick leaned back and made an exaggerated yawn stretching his arm along the back of Skylar’s chair.

“Smooth.”

He heard the chuckle in her voice and decided to push it a little further. Timing it perfectly, he reached his free hand across and joined her hand in the tub of popcorn. She stilled and tilted her head to him, a smile forming on her lips.

“What?” He shrugged and toyed with her fingers before scooping up a handful of popcorn. With one arm around her shoulders—sort of—and the other hand full of popcorn, he didn’t have an easy way to eat only a few kernels.

Lifting the mound of popcorn to his mouth, he stuck out his tongue and ate a few pieces at a time. Not the smoothest move. Next time he’d only pick up a few pieces. The lights dimmed and the previews came on.

Nick tried not to make it too obvious that he was checking Skylar out the entire time. His peripheral vision was decent, but the dark theater made it challenging to gauge her interest. Was she a talker during movies? Did she get annoyed when other people talked?

Normally, it annoyed Nick when people distracted him while watching a movie, but he didn’t care about the film. It was an excuse to be with Skylar. For the next two hours, his attention would be on her and not the big screen.

The movie opened with a high speed chase. The music was loud and fast paced and the cinematography was decent. Again, he didn’t care, which was unlike him. Nick shifted and moved his hand to her shoulder, then walked his fingers to her neck, letting them get lost in her hair.

She flicked her gaze to him for a brief second before returning it to the screen. She didn’t push him off or shy away, so he continued gently massaging the back of her head. A moment later, her head dipped forward giving him more access to her neck. It could have been the bass from the music, but he swore he could feel her body tremble with a moan.

“Are you into fast cars?” he whispered in her ear, purposely rubbing his lips against her lobe.

“I... uh... sure.”

He liked how tongue-tied she was.

“Is this movie okay?” He let his words caress her ear and then her neck, keeping his lips from touching her.

“Mmhm.”

Nick danced his fingers across the nape of her neck and smiled when she tilted her head away giving him more access. She kept her focus on the movie, but her body was responsive to his every touch. Not wanting to push it, and wanting her to want him more, he dropped his hand and returned both to his lap.

He picked up their shared lemonade and sipped, then returned it to the cup holder all the while keeping his eyes locked on the movie. She squirmed in her seat, and he felt her eyes on him. Nick bit the insides of his cheeks to keep from grinning.

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