Page 33 of Reaper

“Maybe we could start with cards? Although I should probably warn you, I’ve never played.” She nibbles on her bottom lip.

Stepping forward, I reach out and pull her lip free from between her teeth. Her eyes go wide at my touch as she freezes, but she doesn’t flinch. Hell, I’m not even sure she breathes.

If anyone’s going to bite that lip, it’s me.

Shaking my head, I try to clear my thoughts. She’s not ready for that.

“Sure.” I clear my throat as I step away. Heading back to my desk, I dig around in the drawers until I find a well-used stack of cards.

“Alright, let’s start off easy,” I tell her as I toss the box down and start shuffling. “Where do you want to sit?”

“I think we could both fit on the bed?”

“Take a seat.”

After she settles back against the wall, I lay across the bed in front of her. I’m close enough I could reach out and grab her but not close enough to crowd her.

“Okay, I don’t remember the name of the game, but it’s not hard.” I start telling her the rules of the game and how much each card is worth. The goal is to match all your cards before the other person and not score. The winner will score less than the loser.

“That doesn’t sound too hard,” she says as I deal her three cards.

I set the rest of the deck between us.

“Nah, it’s simple fun.”

For the first two hands, we don’t talk. The silence isn’t awkward, and I find that I genuinely enjoy her company. Usually being around others is the last thing I want on a day like today. Earlier, I had to reassure the Medina Cartel that I had everything under control. Being on their bad side isn’t something I want.

After I went to our auto shop, where I dealt with an asshole customer who swore up and down that we scratched his car. Thankfully we take videos of all cars when we take them in and when they leave, proving that the scratch was already on his vehicle when he dropped it off.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I look up and see Natalie staring at me with her head tilted to the side.

“Tell me about you,” I say, changing the subject. “What’s your favorite movie?”

Natalie sets down her hand. All her cards accounted for, signaling she’s out. “I don’t have one, I don’t think.”

“Fifteen,” I call out my points as I toss down my hand. “Beginner’s luck.” I wink as I grab the cards and start shuffling.

“I’m sure my luck will change.”

“So no favorite movie, huh?”

“No. I didn’t get a lot of time as a kid to watch TV and if I would have tried with William, he would have lost his shit.” Her eyes drop. “Sorry for cursing.”

Reaching forward, I touch her chin, making her look me in the eyes. “As far as I’m concerned, you can say whatever fucking curse word you want as much as you want. Never filter yourself when we're alone, understood?”

Reluctantly Natalie nods.

“Good girl.”

I bite back a smile when I see her eyes widen, and a blush covers her face.

She liked that.

“You know what I think?”

“What?”

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