“See? Those documentaries are good for something. I’m sending this to Tori.”
“Good.”
“And my brother who’s a cop.”
Cop for a brother, huh?
She smiled, quickly sent the images, and then pocketed her phone. A moment later, she climbed into the front seat of his truck. Climb being the key word. She was definitely on the petite side.
He settled behind the steering wheel, turned on the engine, and backed out of the driveway.
“So.” He glanced her way. “What kind of movie are you up for?”
*
Kristen stared outthe window at the passing trees and narrowed her eyes.
Usually, she was all about the action flicks, which would probably have made Mr. Hero here all too happy. But because she was still buzzed and grumpy at having her not-so-subtle advances turned down, she decided to have a little fun with him.
“Hmm. Let’s see. What’s playing?” She paused. “Isn’t there that new Nicholas Sparks movie out?”
Silence. Complete silence.
“You know, the one with the cowboy? Or wait, maybe a Dallas Cowboy football player. I’m probably getting them confused.”
She cast him a sidelong glance when he still didn’t say anything and noted his jaw was hard and there was a gleam of disbelief in his eyes.
“So? What do you think?”
“I, uh, haven’t heard of it. What about that epic natural disaster one? The one where—”
“Oh, I really can’t stand gratuitous violence.” Lie. She loved the hell out of it. “I guess I’m just in the mood for a good romance.”
“Don’t people usually die in his movies? Is that romantic?” His words were terse, laced now with desperation.
“Not everybody.” She forced a sigh and rolled her eyes. “Just enough to make you cry and feel things. Oh yeah, and I can’t promise not to use your shirt and super-hard chest to dry my tears.”
He cast her a sideways look. His gaze had the resigned, fearsome look of an animal caught in a trap. But there was a glimmer of heat she almost missed.
Maybe she wouldn’t have noticed the interest at all if she hadn’t been so aware of how wonderfully clean and male he smelled.
Or the way his T-shirt tightened over those giant biceps when he spun the steering wheel to make a turn. Or just how he was hands down the hottest guy she’d even come close to sleeping with.
So completely opposite from Paul, who was cute in his own hipster-geek kind of way. Paul was the kind of guy you settled down with to have a stable marriage and family. Blake? The guy you went back to fantasizing about when your sex life with your husband got boring.
He gave a slow sigh of surrender. “You really want to see that movie?”
What were they talking about again? Oh yeah. Movie choices. Yeah, she did. Her new plan being to sleep off this haze while the film played.
“So badly, Blake, I can’t even explain. I was supposed to go with some girls back in Vegas this week, but I ended up here in Seattle instead.” She stifled a drunk yawn.
At the time, she’d been grateful to use Seattle as an excuse to bail on their usual girls’ night out. Romances were fine, but she drew the line at depressing ones.
“All right, then. Let’s go see it. That is, if it’s playing at the theater anytime in the next hour.”
A pang of guilt coincided with the tipsy giggle of amusement. Just to watch him squirm a bit during the credits would be worth it.
And luck was not on Blake’s side, poor guy. The theater he’d picked had a showing that started in ten minutes.