Page 20 of Hard to Handle
Lynx
“Where’re you goin’?”I asked, teasing Reagan as she pulled back when the song ended.
“You’re bad for my health, Lynx Caine,” she grumbled.
“Hmm.That sounds like a compliment.”
“It wasn’t.”
Getting close to this girl wasn’t easy, but I hadn’t anticipated it would be.However, the fact that she’d let her guard down even a little was promising.
Baby steps.
“I need another beer,” Reagan murmured as she started toward one of the many coolers.
I fell into step with her.“Thanks for the dance.”
“It was against my better judgment,” she countered, not looking at me.
Still, it made me laugh.I could tell she was admonishing herself for dancing with me.But the feel of her against me, the smell of jasmine from her shampoo would stick with me for a while.So, I couldn’t complain about her snippy attitude.Shehadgiven in with very little resistance, which was far more than I'd thought I'd get this soon.
Grabbing a beer and twisting off the top, I passed it over to her.I watched as those walls fell back into place, and the Reagan who turned toward me was the acquaintance I'd had all these years.I couldn’t call what we had a friendship because neither of us had tried hard at it.That was all thanks to the douchebag she’d been dating for so long.At least on my part.
But now…
“How’s your dad?”Reagan asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Good.”
“Really?”She looked sincerely curious.
“He is.Still home, still workin’ in that garden of his.”
“I need to stop by there sometime,” she said, her gaze drifting past me.
“He’d like that.”
She nodded, lifting the bottle to her lips.
“How’s your mom?”I asked, keeping the conversation at her comfort level.
“Same.Always workin’.”
“She still doin’ accounting or whatever?”
“She is.Same place, too.”
“And your grandfather?”I inquired.
“Still an ornery old fart.”
Yeah.I knew Vic Trevino and ornery was putting it nicely.The man was a grizzly.And he didn’t much care for the Caines.In fact, it had shocked me when I found out that Wolfe and Rhys were … doing whatever they were doing.Mainly because I knew how the Trevinos felt about the Caines.It wasn’t what I'd call a rivalry, but there was a little animosity there.Hell if I knew why.
I maneuvered Reagan around to one of the open tailgates, then held her beer while she hopped up.Once she was situated, I joined her, keeping a good foot between us so that I didn’t send her running.
“Things good at Amy’s?”I asked, trying to keep the discussion open.
“Yeah.”Reagan smiled.“Unless you count the fact that I ran out of hot water this mornin’.”
