He stared at her with a mixture of irritation and amusement.
“Fine,” he finally said with a shrug.
After a few minutes of small talk, their order was called. Axel shot up like a rocket, gathered the bags from the counter, and they made their way out the door. The burst of cool air felt good against her skin, and moments later she was in the passenger’s seat, the warm food on her lap as they made their way out of the strip mall parking lot.
He turned on the music, and Weezer’s version of Metallica’s, ‘Enter Sandman’ played as he explained that he was taking her to Cherokee Park. She’d never been, but he said it was nice. He then turned the volume up to an ear-splitting level, and the hard rock song vibrated through the entire truck. Axel was vibing to it, beating the steering wheel in rhythm. WAP! WAP! WAP! The music filled her core and flooded out, making her nerves jump, her ears ring … and the song? She liked it. He began to sing the lyrics at the top of his lungs, and she burst out laughing because he sounded so good.
“It’s a good song, right?!” he screamed over the roar of the music. He removed his sunglasses off his head and tossed them down, brandishing a toothy grin.
“Yes!” she screamed back, loving how his hair was now coming undone from the ponytail each time he rocked in his seat, flying back and forth like flaxen whips. She had no idea how he could see as he drove, but he seemed to be navigating the road just fine.
When they arrived at the park, which truly was beautiful and aglow with pole lights, he found a rather secluded parking space and turned the music down to a low roar. She reached into the bag, handed him a fistful of napkins and sauces, then they got settled with forks and chopsticks… music… crickets.
They talked a good while, and then, the conversation drew to more interesting concepts and ideas. Something she could sink her teeth into.
“Well, I must say, it was worth her terrible attitude. This is honestly some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever had, and that says a lot because I’ve traveled practically this whole country.”
“See?” His eyes lit up, proud of himself. It was actually really nice to see that he cared about her being satisfied. “I told you it was good.”
“Axel, let me ask you something.”
“Yeah,” he said around a mouthful of food, which he washed down with a long gulp from his drink. She now regretted not ordering a beverage, too. “What is it?”
“What made you decide to talk to me after you all but told me you weren’t interested.”
He looked straight ahead, as if mulling his answer.
“Well, that weirdo you were dancin’ with and talking to, I peeped him staring at you when you were roundin’ up to leave. I thought he’d left, but he hadn’t, and I didn’t like how he was looking at you. He was up to no good. I knew he was going to try ’nd follow you out, and sure enough, he started doing just that, so I made sure I walked you to your car and stayed put until I saw him give up and leave. And that got him off your trail.”
Her face heated as she stared into Axel’s eyes. She had no idea that man at the club had been eyeballing her, looming in the darkness. She did remember him getting a little too touchy feely, and she had to tell him to buzz off when he kept pushing his luck, then had the audacity to try and slip his hand between her thighs. She’d cussed him out then, and he moved along. Or so she’d thought.
“Oh. So you were being protective. Well, thank you.”
“Yeah, but that situation made me come and talk to you outside, so he’d go away before I had to do somethin’ to him… and I found myself liking how you were expressing yourself then. ’Bout your job, things like that. Honestly, English, I was attracted to you as soon as Melanie introduced us. I mean, hell, you were the best-lookin’ woman in there that night.” She was certain she was blushing now. There’d been many pretty women in the place, but he’d singled her out. “I also wanted Mel to win her bet, as silly as that might sound, because she was right.”
“Right about what?”
“You being my type.”
She was definitely blushing now, for heat rushed to her face. Something about Axel made her feel like he was genuinely concerned about what she had to say, and not just trying to get in her pants—though she was certain the potential of her pants being down around her freaking ankles had something to do with his suave words. She wasn’t that damn enamored with the man that she forgot he was, well, a man.