“Your G-spot, your clit, and the back of your throat? I wish I could’ve seen their faces when you said that.”
She glares at me from the passenger seat. “At least now they know I’m a skank for sure, and they don’t have to gossip about it.”
I come to a stop at the edge of the bowling alley parking lot and give her a hard look. “You keep referring to yourself as a skank, and we’re going to have a hell of a problem.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because you’re probably going to be pissed when I put this truck in park and drag you over my lap to spank some sense into your ass.”
Her eyes widen with shock. “You wouldn’t.”
I tilt my head to the side. “Wouldn’t I? No one gets to talk shit about you around me, including you, and I’ll do what it takes to make sure you understand that.”
When she goes quiet, I have a choice to make. I can either take her back to Holly’s gran’s house and drop her off, or I can take her back to my place. If I give the choice to Banner, I know what she’ll pick, but I’m not ready to let her go tonight. Even if she chooses not to sleep in my bed, I still have a strong need to see her in my space.
I turn right instead of left, and Banner, even in her buzzed condition, picks up on it.
“I thought my place was the other way. I know I came from that direction. I think.”
She cranes her neck to look behind us, but in the darkness, there’s not a single landmark for her to see. The county can’t afford to keep this road lit up, so all the streetlights have been dark for years.
“We’re going to my place.”
She whips around to face me. “Why?”
“I want to show it to you.”
She goes quiet. “What are we doing, Logan? We barely know each other. A couple weeks of texting and two one-night stands don’t make us a couple.”
My hands tighten on the steering wheel because her words are the truth, even if I don’t want them to be.
“There’s a reason you came running to Gold Haven, even if you won’t admit it.”
“It was a free place to stay,” she says.
“There was a lot more to it than that, Banner, and we both know it.” I look across the cab of the truck at her. “I’m pretty sure Greer would’ve put you up in New York for as long as you wanted. The fact that you chose to leave and walk into my world might not mean anything to you, but it means something to me. I could be reading into shit all wrong here, but there’s something between us that’s bigger than texts and one-night stands. Do you really think I needed to come to New York to deliver that car myself? No fucking way. But there’s been something about you from the very beginning that called to me, and I had to follow my gut.”
Her voice is quiet when she speaks again. “So, where do we go from here?”
I slow for a stop sign and meet her stare. “We’re going to get to know each other. I’m going to take you out on dates and show you what we’ve both been missing. You’re gonna fall in love with me, Banner. That’s where we’re going from here.”
Her eyes widen again and go glassy for a moment before they break away.
I drive through the intersection and go straight toward my house.
“I’ve never fallen in love with anyone, so you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
I let a smile stretch across my face. “I’m man enough for the job. There’s no doubt in my mind about that.”
* * *
Bringing Banner to my house has me looking at it through new eyes. It’s not fancy, but I bought the place as a heap and turned it into a home I’m proud of. It’s a long way from the rusted single wide I grew up in as a kid, and I know I’m lucky to have it.
I’ve seen Banner’s apartment—or her former apartment—so I know she’s used to more, but when we pull up in front of the cedar-sided house with a covered porch along the front and the motion light kicks on, she sucks in a breath.
“I love it.”
Relief fills me at her declaration.