He let out a strained laugh as he led her to the Mustang and opened the door. ‘I better take you home.’
She climbed into the car. Home? He was taking her home? Now?
He climbed into the driver’s seat, switched on the engine and crunched the gear shift into reverse.
‘Excuse me for asking,’ she protested, having found her voice at last as the car trundled down the access road, ‘but why are you taking me home?’
He sent her another of those penetrating stares as the sheen of something dark and dangerous lit up those striking blue eyes.
‘Because no way in hell are we ending this date in a parking lot.’
CHAPTER FIVE
A PITY DATE!
Zane kept his eyes locked on the road, the headlights slicing through the dusky dark.
‘What made you think this was a pity date?’ he asked over the rushing wind. Had Iona really been that clueless about how much he wanted her? How was that even possible?
‘No particular reason,’ she said, but he could hear the lift in her voice that signified she was lying.
‘Sure there is.’
She glanced across the console and he slowed the car, so that he could divide his attention between her and the road.
A long-suffering sigh gushed out. She crossed her arms over her waist in a defensive gesture that would have been cute, if it weren’t so distracting. ‘You called me cute.’
‘Only because you are.’
‘No, I’m not. Babies are cute. Puppies are cute. I’m a grown woman and I’m not cute.’
He smiled. He couldn’t help it—the snippy tone only made that do-or-die accent all the cuter.
‘Puppies, huh?’ he said, not quite able to resist the urge to tease. ‘Have you ever owned a puppy?’
She slanted him a quelling look. ‘It’s not funny, Montoya.’
‘I’m guessing that’s a no, then,’ he continued when she maintained a stony silence. ‘Because if you had, you would know that puppies are not cute. I rescued a six-week-old lab cross from the pound a year ago. She ate a six-hundred-dollar pair of shoes, peed in my closet, drank from my john and tried to lick me to death. And that was all in the first day.’ He pictured the love of his life, who’d nearly killed him this morning by sticking her wet snout in his ear while he was in the middle of his morning reps on the bench press. ‘Not cute at all.’
‘You didn’t send her back, did you?’
The concerned tone tempted him to tease her some more. He resisted.
‘Nah, we came to an understanding. Now she only chews her toys and she knows peeing in the closet is out unless it’s on fire.’ He looked her way, enchanted by the smile edging her lips. ‘We’re still working on the other two.’
‘What’s her name?’
‘C.D.’
‘You called your dog Compact Disc? What a dreadful name.’
‘It’s not short for Compact Disc. It’s short for Cookie Dough.’
‘You’re joking.’ She giggled, the sound light and so sexy he began to wonder how they’d ended up talking about his dog.
‘Hey, it’s my favourite flavour,’ he said in his defence. ‘And C.D.’s kind of the same colour, so it fit.’
‘Now it all makes perfect sense,’ she replied, the tentative smile turning into something warm and appealing.