“I have one in my office, yes.”
“Then you have to teach me how to use it before our date. I can’t carry your demise on my conscience.”
I chuckled. There was a high probability this woman was going to be the death of me, though I didn’t think it would involve a single peanut. “Fair enough. You free now?”
“Sure. Give me a second.” She turned back to the counter. “Ma’am. Sorry. I’m actually not going to need that cookie after all.”
I rested my hand on the small of her back and dipped low, putting my lips to her ear. She smelled intoxicating, like wildflowers and honey. “It’s not a big deal. You should have the cookie.”
Her breath hitched and she arched into my touch. “That’s okay. I’d rather keep my options open without the added risk of killing you.”
I didn’t quite understand until she tipped her head back, her cheeks pink, her gaze heated and aimed at my mouth.
Yep. Fuck the cookie. For that matter, fuck the EpiPen, the ten miles between us and my house, and Atlanta’s indecent exposure laws too.
“Good idea,” I murmured.
The barista cleared her throat and handed me my card back, shaking us from the moment. Then she kindly switched out Remi’s dessert for a second tea. It was a beyond horrible mix of cherry and milk, but as we walked back to my office together, I sipped it with pride.
Remi watched me with rapt attention as I taught her to use the EpiPen, which I belatedly realized was long expired. I’d never actually had to use the life-saving device, but the fact that she cared enough to learn was cute. She’d gone so far as to open her phone a few times to take notes.
In the face of crisis, I would be grateful for the ease and speed in which an EpiPen could be administered. Though, in the face of desperate need to spend more time with a woman, the ten minutes it took me to teach her how to use it was woefully short. Then again, any amount of time with Remi eagerly on her knees, rubbing her hand against my thigh in broad daylight, would never be enough.
The things this woman did to me were dangerous in all the right ways.
“And that’s all there is to it?” she asked before hopping up to sit on the corner of my desk, facing me.
I fought the urge to walk over and stand between her legs. My hands would have wandered. Then my mouth. Instead, I sank into my rolling chair and inwardly praised the surprising amount of control I’d managed to muster through the hands-on emergency tutorial. “Just make sure you’ve called nine-one-one and that’s it. You feel better about our date now?”
She slanted her head and shot me a warm smile. “I don’t know. I guess that depends on where you’re taking me.”
“Well, I figured we’d start the day with something exciting like taking my truck in for an oil change. After that, we’ll rob a liquor store, hijack a train, and knock off a few banks. Really, the possibilities are endless.”
Her eyes lit. “You drive a truck?” A smile slid around her face as she sucked her lips into her mouth, failing to hide it.
I barked a laugh. “That’s what you took from all that?”
She popped one shoulder. “I just didn’t picture you as a truck guy.”
“But you can picture me as a fifties mobster?”
She crossed her arms over her rounded chest. “Bowen—hot as you may be—you’re an accountant with a peanut allergy, who carries a handkerchief. It was safe to assume the rest was a joke.”
“Hey!” I laughed and matched her body language, folding my forearms over each other, loving the way she watched. I flexed my bicep for good measure, causing her to swallow and then regain her composure in the blink of an eye. “Are you calling me a nerd, Ms. Grey?”
“I don’t know yet, Bo,” she retaliated only to cringe. Clearly not liking the sound of the condensed version of my name, she corrected with, “Bowen, tell me more about this truck?”
I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs, again pleased with how I could distract her just by moving. “It’s silver. Four wheels. Power locks and windows. And if I’m not mistaken, it has an engine and a transmission.”
She hummed. “Wow, both? I had no idea you were such a gearhead.”
I laughed again, shaking my head. “And I had no idea you were such a smartass.”
“I guess we’re learning a lot today, aren’t we? Me with my medical qualifications, and you with…” She inched over on the desk so her dangling feet hit my outstretched legs. “Your newfound knowledge of thirst trapping. You know what you’re doing, Sir Flex-A-Lot.”
Busted.
“Is it working?” I winked and waited for her to either throw me a bone or lie through her teeth.
