"In that case, I have an idea for the rest of the evening. Wanna snuggle on the couch, read Watchmen together, and later on we can see if any of our body parts tumble into each other?"
"Yeah," he said, hooking one arm around her shoulder as he reached for the book. "I think that sounds like a stellar idea."
Chapter Thirteen
"So you two are getting serious," Kayla said as she and Hannah and Shelby roamed the aisles of Toy Joy--Austin's go-to place for silly, wacky, and unusual toys for kids and adults. It was lunch hour on Tuesday and they were on a quest for the perfect gift for Kayla's eight-year-old niece.
"I guess we are," Shelby said, unable to hold back her grin. It had been almost a week since Nolan had lost his shit over her kissing Alan, and things between them had upticked during the intervening days. They spent most evenings together at either her house or his condo; they'd driven out to the Hill Country to shop and taste wine--an outing that her friends all considered a "relationship checkmark"--and though they never ran out of things to talk about, they could just as easily enjoy each other's silence without the pressure of having to fill the space with small talk.
None of that--with the exception of the Hill Country--would be on Kayla's radar. Which meant that she was judging the state of their relationship by the content of Nolan's radio show. And, he'd asked Shelby's permission before he said a single word.
"You're sure?" he'd double-checked when she'd told him it was fine. And when she'd assured him it was, he'd asked her to tell him why. Apparently he wasn't taking any chances on pissing her off again,
"Honestly, I'm not sure I can explain it. But listening to you--even back when I was mad at you that time--it was like seeing a different side of myself."
"What do you mean?"
"You make everything fun. Traffic. The weather. Sex."
"Sex is fun."
"True," she'd said. "But before you, I never thought of it that way. Nice, yes. Mind-blowing, sometimes. But fun? Like actually laughing while you're naked?" She shook her head. "A billion times no."
His brow furrowed. "Really?"
She just kissed him. "Don't get any ideas. No going off and starting a new career as a sex guru, okay? And if you're talking about me, then it damn well better be anonymous."
"Got it," he said, and from then on, anytime he referred to his "partner in crime and in bed," he called her his Paradox.
She'd asked him why, and he'd told her that was how he'd thought of her the very first night they met. Shy and quiet, but with an inferno inside. "And it's still the same," he'd added, unbuttoning her plain white blouse and then lifting her skirt to tug down her pantyhose.
"I should buy you a garter and thong, but I've come to like unwrapping the package," he'd said, then dropped to his knees and used his tongue to make her come so hard and so fast she thought she might die right then.
All in all, that had been a fabulous way to end the workday.
"
You should call in to his show sometime," Hannah said. "That would be a hoot."
She shook her head. "You guys know it's me. And I'm sure some of his friends do, too. But what if my clients were listening? Or my mother?"
"So? It's not like he's talking about robbing banks," Kayla said. "You're dating. It's all good."
"Good, yes. Public, no." In theory, she had to admit it would be fun to call in to tease him. Or to suggest all sorts of decadent things they could do together. But of course she'd never do it. No way was she risking the world knowing that she was the woman on the other side of those racy, bawdy stories he told.
And her dirty little secret? She kind of liked it. Being anonymous. Being a mystery woman. And then hearing about their lives through the unique filter of a man who'd come to mean so much to her.
"I bought you something," Hannah said, her eyes twinkling as they left Toy Joy with all sorts of silly gizmos and gadgets for themselves, along with an awesome pretend veterinarian kit.
"Yeah?" Shelby said as Hannah passed her a small wrapped box about five inches cubed. "What is it?"
"Open it tonight. Use it in the morning."
"Hannah!"
"I'm serious. You'll thank me."
Shelby looked dubiously at the small gift. "If you say so."