Flirting with Forever: A Hot Romantic Comedy(53)

“I bet she is.”

Nora stood. “I’m glad she came over. It was nice to chat with her.”

I had the craziest urge to kiss her. Not because I wanted to see if we could manage another round before my mom got here. Because she was close and it would have felt good. In fact, it would have been nice to kiss her when we weren’t banging the shit out of each other.

Which was exactly the kind of thinking that was going to get me in trouble.

She hesitated for a second, her eyes on mine. I had the weirdest feeling that she knew what I was thinking.

Did she want me to kiss her?

My mom pulled into my driveway, saving me the trouble of finding out.

She got out and waved. I felt a twinge of sheepishness, as if Nora and I had been caught. Doing what, I didn’t know. Other than the first time behind the gym—which had been nuts—it wasn’t like we’d been having sex anywhere other than a bedroom. And I hadn’t indulged in that kiss I’d been thinking about, so Mom hadn’t seen anything.

Still, she eyed us as we walked next door, as if she suspected something.

I told myself that was crazy. She didn’t know. And it wasn’t her business, anyway.

“Hey, Mom.” I hugged her and kissed her cheek.

“Hi, baby boy.” She gave Nora a hug. “Lovely to see you, Nora.”

“You, too.”

“Riley’s inside getting her stuff,” I said.

“That’s fine, I’m a little early.” Her eyes swept over both of us, that hint of suspicion still in her expression. “How have you two been?”

Nora’s gaze flicked to me, then back to my mom. Had she noticed that too? The way Mom grouped us together as you two?

I was probably reading way too much into that.

“I’ve been well,” Nora said. “How about you?”

“Good,” Mom said. “Busy, of course. But I like being busy. Tonight’s going to feel like a night off with just Riley.”

As if on cue, Riley came out with her backpack hanging off one shoulder. “Hi, Grandma.”

“Hi, honey. All ready?”

“Yep.” She opened the passenger door and tossed her backpack inside. “Bye, Dad.”

I hugged her. “Be good. And have fun.”

“I will.” She hugged Nora. “Bye, Nora. I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Bye, sweetie.”

Mom eyed us again. I wanted to ask her what she was looking at with that smug expression. But I knew better. Whatever she was thinking, she wouldn’t tell me.

Or maybe I didn’t want to know.

“Bye, kids,” Mom said as she went around to the driver’s side. She winked at me. “Have a good night.”

She backed out onto the street and drove away, leaving me alone with Nora.

“Want to go get dinner?” I asked.

Nora hesitated, looking at me like she was surprised. I didn’t know what the big deal was. It was a little early but by the time we went to a restaurant, ordered, and got our food, it would be dinner time. And it wasn’t like this would be the first time we’d had dinner together. The three of us had gone out to eat a bunch of times.

Only this wasn’t the three of us.

But fuck it. I wanted to have dinner with her. “Come on. Eat a meal with me. It won’t hurt.”

She seemed to recover from whatever had made her pause. “Okay.”

“What sounds good?”

“Just something easy. Takeout?”

For some reason—and I couldn’t have explained it if I’d tried—I pushed back. That wasn’t going to cut it. I wanted to take her out. “No, I want to go out. How about the wine bar on Main Street? Have you been there?”

“Once. It was good.”

“I’ll call and see if we need a reservation.” I stepped close enough that I had to look down on her. But I didn’t touch her. “I’ll come get you in an hour.”

She lifted her chin, her eyes flashing with defiance. But she didn’t argue. “See you then.”

I thought again about kissing her. Her lips were so close. But I decided against it. If anything, it looked like she expected me to. So I didn’t.

Instead, I turned and walked away, leaving her standing there.





Luckily for me, the wine bar had an open table. I took a quick shower, then changed into a fresh t-shirt and clean pair of jeans. That didn’t take long—I was about as low maintenance as they came—so I went back to my book while I waited for Nora to get ready.

When it had been an hour, I went next door and knocked.

Nora opened the door and the sight of her just about knocked me on my ass. She wore a sleeveless black dress with a V-neck and fitted waist that accented her curves perfectly. The woman had legs for days and those heels? Kill me. Her hair was down and I wanted to kiss that red lipstick right off her.

She stepped out and shut her door. “Ready?”

I offered her my arm. “Let’s go.”

We drove to the wine bar and found parking out front. Every eye was on her when we walked in the restaurant and for good reason. She looked incredible. I kept a possessive hand on the small of her back, guiding her to our table—just enough to let everyone know this woman was mine.