Jacked (Trent Brothers #1)(55)
For reasons I could not explain, I needed her to know she could trust me, especially since I gave her plenty of reasons to be leery of me.
“You ever able to slip out of doctor mode?”
She brushed more of her fingers over mine, hesitantly at first.
“No, not really.” She smiled.
We were testing the waters, feeling the boundaries, and if the sensations coursing through me from just holding the tips of her fingers were any indication, I wanted to grab hold and pull her into the deep end with me. I had to constantly remind myself to keep it in check, even though my body was pushing forward. Rushing into another huge head f*ck with someone was nothing I wanted to jump into lightly. Been there, done that.
“I see your point and I understand your reasons, but I’ve also seen the destruction a bullet can cause to the human body and it’s not pretty. Too many people end up being innocent victims. We treat a lot of gunshot wounds at University. So much of it could be avoided. It’s senseless.”
I pulled more of her hand into mine, relishing the connection that I’d finally found a woman who understood. “People make bad decisions every day, but if it comes down to them or us, I choose us.”
The moment she sucked in the smallest of gasps between those enticing lips I knew I’d f*cked up. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
I could see as clear as day those womanly wheels turning at lightning speed, probably forming all sorts of ideas. I had to fix it before she started envisioning me in a damn tuxedo.
“I mean, not us, like in us-us, I mean us as in normal citizens. You know.”
She gave me a nod, a forced smile of acknowledgment, and a “Got it.” And that’s when I lost her hand and her attention to the menu. “Mmm, all of this food looks good.”
I slid my plastic menu off the tabletop and congratulated myself for being a dick.
Erin glanced at her watch and then went back to scrutinizing the menu. “I’m running low on time, so I’ll have to get something that won’t take too long to make. I still have to put that new plate on my car before I leave for work tonight.”
Yep, you’re officially a dick if she thinks that she’s going to be putting that plate on herself. “I’ll put it on for you.”
She disagreed, tossing those long locks of dirty-blonde hair, still maintaining the “it’s all cool” act. “Oh, you don’t have to do that. You’ve helped me enough for one day. I can handle a few screws.”
I had no doubt she could but her sweet tone had a bit of a bite to it, and though I couldn’t fault her for it, it still ticked me off. “Erin…” I waited until she peeked around the menu to finally look at me, “I’m putting the plate on your car.”
Her spine stiffened and I had no doubt she was about to give me a hard time, but my attention diverted to the big guy wearing the white chef coat headed my way, effectively halting her rebuttal. His familiar face was grinning widely at me, pulling my gaze from her, creating a wide grin of my own.
“Adam! Yo, dude!” Kip roared, clasping my hand and giving me a one-shoulder friendly bump. “Amber said you were sitting out here at a table. No shit. How you doing, man?”
It’d been too long since I’d seen my old friend. “I’m doing all right, Kip. Good to see you.”
Didn’t take him long to eye up Erin, still smiling like the overgrown jock he was who’d taken one too many tackles out on the field. Thankfully he masked his surprise at seeing someone other than Nikki sitting across from me. I was in no mood to have to explain things. He reached to shake her hand. “Hi! Todd Kilpatrick, but my friends call me Kip.”
“Erin,” she said, dazzling him with her electric smile. “Nice to meet you, Kip.”
I was glad that handshake between them didn’t linger, as Kip appeared to be at a loss for words. Ten more seconds though and I would have had to intervene. “Kip’s dad owns this place and he and I went to school together.”
“That’s right. Played football together for many years, too. So where you been hiding out, Adam? Haven’t seen you in here in months.”
I glanced away from Erin to give Kip my private annoyance for pointing that out, while hoping for a decent response to manifest itself out of thin air. I couldn’t bring myself to be honest, because blurting that I’ve made a life rule to avoid all of the places that remind me of my ex would be stupid and cruel. So I opted for simple. “Been busy.”
Kip nodded. “I bet. I’ve seen the show.” His quick pass over Erin told me he was measuring her reaction, too, trying to figure her out. “You guys are taking over the city, getting a lot of attention. Excellent. So, things good there?”
Yeah, I get to take shit criminals off the streets and the public gets insight, seeing exactly what we go through to accomplish that. “I can’t complain.”
“Maggie was all beside herself when she saw the article on you guys in People.” Kip put his hands on his hips, taking a stand that showed he was planning on hanging a bit. “Maggie’s my wife,” he said to Erin, clearing her confusion. “You’re a big-time celebrity now, ya bastard.” He smacked my shoulder. “Just don’t forget your roots.”
“That’ll never happen.”
“Good. So what’s up with the rest of the Trent boys? Your brothers all doing good?”