Page 81 of Sit, Stay, Love
Tearing off a piece of paper towel, he gently dabbed at the oily smear. She leaned in closer and pushed her chin towards his hand. He froze, holding her gaze for two beats too long.
‘What?’ she asked, sitting back, her cheeks tingling under his stare.
His teeth bothered his bottom lip. Then he sighed, screwed up the paper towel and tossed it onto the table. ‘Nothing. Just that you’d better not eat at the party if that’s how you’re going to do it.’
Her eyes narrowed before she pressed her face against his shoulder and wiped her mouth back and forth.
‘Hey! This was a clean shirt,’ he sputtered.
She laughed and gave him a shove. ‘Serves you right.’
He squinted, a smirk twitching on his lips, and shoved her back.
She gasped in mock offence, pulled back her fist and thumped him.
‘Ow!’ he cried.
Then they shoved each other, laughing as they tussled on the couch, until Toby collapsed onto the cushions with his hands up in surrender.
‘Child,’ she said with a grin.
He shook his head and chuckled, sat up and tossed the remote into her lap. ‘The Probst dimples are waiting for you. Though, I don’t know if I should encourage your obsession with old guys.’
‘Jeff Goldblum is not old inJurassic Park! Ian Malcolm is in his prime, and, well, Kevin Costner is ageless. And it’s not Jeff Probst. It’s his dimples! You know how I feel about dimples.’
Toby’s eyes narrowed. ‘Yeah, I’ve seen what James’s dimples do to you.’
She tutted loudly. ‘Anyway, when did you get so ageist?’
‘I’m not. I’m just pointing out your thing for older men.’
‘Okay then. What about Regé-Jean Page, the duke fromBridgerton? He’s young – andhot. And all the Chrises. Hemsworth, Evans, Pratt and Pine. Hot, hot, hot and hot.’ She emphasised each hot, with a jab to his arm.
Toby put up his hands. ‘Okay. okay. You don’t need to list off every guy you lust after.’ He rubbed where her finger had prodded.
‘You started it.’
He laughed. ‘And I’m quickly regretting it. Just press play.’
She turned on the television and grabbed another slice of pizza.
‘I am a bit nervous about the premiere, though,’ she said over the tribal beats of theSurvivortheme. ‘I haven’t been to something like this before. I’m worried I’ll look completely out of place. Or that I’ll rock up with shit on my shoe.’
‘You’ll probably look better than most of the celebrities,’ he said.
‘I doubt it. They’re all gorgeous.’
He sniffed. ‘In case you haven’t noticed Sera, you’re also gorgeous.’
She rolled her eyes.
‘Don’t roll your eyes at me. You’re beautiful. The freckles on your nose, your pale green eyes and that hair of yours that still manages to look as sexy as hell, even when you don’t brush it – which you hardly ever seem to do. And you can wear anything. Even my enormous sweatshirts look good on your…’ He took a hard swallow. ‘Perfect body. Don’t put yourself down. You’ll be the most stunning woman there.’ He looked away and took a bite of his pizza.
She gaped, mouth dry and heart thundering in her chest. When she tried to breathe, her lungs seemed to have forgotten how.
‘You’re staring at me,’ he said without turning to face her.
A quiet breath left her lips, followed by a soft inhale. ‘I…’ She breathed out again. ‘Thank you, Herriot.’
