Shelly’s eyes narrowed.
“Paintball, Shelly,” I clarified.
She laughed, and it wasn’t a low chuckle. It was a loud laugh that made people turn in our direction. “You want to take me to play paintball?”
“I’ve wanted to shoot you almost every day since I met you, so I thought it might be fun.” I tried to bite back my smile, but it was impossible.
She reached out a tentative hand and touched the scar under my eye with the tips of her fingers, gently tracing the line that Megan had left. “I love it when you really smile at me,” she said.
“I love that you make me really want to smile.” And that was the God’s honest truth.
The waitress appeared and asked, “Can I get you guys some dessert?”
“We’ll take two of your most popular desserts to go,” Shelly replied.
The waitress boxed up our leftovers and brought desserts, and I paid the bill. Shelly didn’t do that thing women often like to do when they try to pay for half the bill, and she let me pay without a fuss. This didn’t surprise me, because Shelly wasn’t like a normal woman. She was so much more.
Jesus, she was more than I’d ever imagined.
Chapter 31
Shelly
I stumbled through the front door of Will’s house, still laughing, as he followed me inside. I bent over at the waist because I was laughing so hard, and the wrinkle that was Will’s scar was pulled so tight that it looked more like a crease than a scar.
“That was so much fun,” I said, as I grabbed the tail end of his shirt, which was hanging out of his pants. I reached up and brushed his forehead with my fingertips, bringing back blue paint that was now smeared across his shiny forehead. “I think I got you pretty good. You’re still blue.”
“You hit me so many times in the forehead that it ran down inside my visor,” he said, absently rubbing at the smear.
“I did tell you that I would hit someone directly in the forehead if I was going for the forehead,” I reminded him.
“I want to see you shoot in real life one day. Will you take me to the range with you?” he asked. He stared at me, his breaths still heaving from his laughter in the car.
“Well, someone needs to teach you to aim. Because your shots were shit at the paintball place.” I laughed and rubbed my ass cheek. He’d gotten in a few good shots to my rear end. “You could always sign up for my class. After all this stuff is over with Megan.” I cleared my throat. “It would give me an excuse to see you again when this is all over.”
He shook his head. It was a slow movement, with his eyes open wide. “You think you’ll be able to get rid of me when this is all over? Really?” He took a step closer to me. I took a step back.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I fully intend to kiss you,” he said, his voice soft and rough, and it moved across my skin like a caress. “Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless you don’t want me to.” He stared at me, hard, so close that I could feel the warmth of his body.
“Do you think it’s a good idea?” I asked.
He grinned. “I think it’s the best idea I’ve ever had.” He inched even closer.
“Is this what normally happens on a first date?”
He nodded, and I could feel the warmth of his breath on my lips as he hovered his mouth over mine. He wasn’t touching me. Not yet. But God, I wanted him to. “This is what happens on a first date,” he said. But instead of kissing me, he ran his nose up the side of mine, gently and slowly. It was barely a graze, but I felt it. I felt it all over.
A bark down by my feet made me jump back a step.
“Channing,” I said, finally able to take a breath as Will stepped back.
“I hate that fucking dog,” he said, his voice droll and dispassionate.