Page 76 of Dirty Like Jude
“Ver-o-ni-ca,” he said, slow, drawing out the syllables with that low voice of his and that slight, soft drawl. I wasn’t sure if it was because they’d grown up in some tiny town in the interior, but both he and Piper had it. The dropping of some g’s and the soft a’s. “How could I forget a name likeVeronica?”
I smiled at that. “It’s just aname.”
“No,” he said. “It’s just like you. Pretty. Sexy.Unforgettable.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “Are these the lines that usually get you into girls’pants?”
“Told you,” he said. “I’m not tryin’ to get in yourpants.”
“Oh. Right. Iforgot.”
“If I was tryin’ to get in your pants, I’d be in yourpants.”
I laughed, loud. “Wow. You are…confident.”
“It’s got nothing to do with confidence. I justknow.”
“Knowwhat?”
“That if I tried, you’d be okay withit.”
I was so floored by that, in so many different directions, I didn’t even know what to do with it. “I can’t even figure out if I should be offended bythat.”
His eyebrows went up. “Didn’t mean to offend you. Just meant, I cantell.”
“How?”
He seemed to be thinking about how to answer that. His eyes looked like black lava in the candlelight, and I felt the heat of his gaze all the way to my deepest depths; like he could see right into me. It almost made me want to hide. “It’s the way you look at me,” he said. “The way you smile atme.”
My heart thumped harder in my chest as his gaze slid over my face. “Is thatso?”
“Yeah. It’s so.” His eyes searched mine. “You used to smile at me differently. Like I was just a guy. One of a million guys you could tempt and toss away. You don’t look at me like thatanymore.”
I felt the slight smile on my face graduallyfading.
“I think you like me, RoniWebber.”
Well, fuck. Now it felt like he had the upper hand, and I didn’t like that atall.
“I think if you tried to get in my pants right now, I’d smack yousilly.”
He grinned, dimples and all. “That a challenge,darlin’?”
“Nope. Just warning you. I’ve got a mean righthook.”
“Yeah? Where’d you get thatfrom?”
“Summer when I was twelve. I had this sixteen-year-old neighbor who thought he was all that. You know how it goes.” I shrugged. “I had a good butt for a twelve-year-old.”
His smile faded. He said nothing about the neighbor thing. “Just when I thought I’d actually figured youout.”
“I guess you thoughtwrong.”
He stared atme.
I smiled, and his gaze dropped to mylips.
“I wouldn’t wanna feel that righthook…”
