Objective (Bloodlines #2)(58)

“What?” I ask. Silence. “What is it?” She moves her hands from her lap, revealing a large wet spot and smacks my shoulder hard.

“Holy shit! You peed in my car!?” I squawk. Her face pales and she draws her lips into each other.

“I told you I had to go, Cane!” she whines. The valet taps the window, making us both jump.

“Oh. My. God. We can’t let him park the car!” she squeals at me.

“You peed your pants,” I state. I have never seen Magnolia look this embarrassed before. It’s endearing really.

“Shhhh!” she whispers. She reaches into the back seat, grabs a shirt and shifts it around her middle, tying it at her waist. Then, she grabs the handle of the door and gets out. The seat is wet with pee but it looks as though she’s not going to sop it up. I jump out of the car as she hands the keys to the valet and quickly rounds the car. She tugs my arm to follow her. “Hurry,” she laughs, dragging me with her into the lobby. Neither one of us looks back to check on the valet.





*****


“The brass plate embedded in the sidewalk at the corner of Limestone and Main Street- right up there,” she points, “is a memorial marker honoring Smiley Pete. The animal was known as the town dog in Lexington. He died in 1957.” She pouts and makes her eyes wide. “How adorable is that?”

“You are a sucker.” I nudge her playfully in the shoulder as we approach the memorial. She'd found a walking tour book in the lobby, after she’d cleaned up and decided that we were going to aimlessly walk around and teach ourselves a little about the city. She’d also brought back a KY ball cap for me, supposedly to help hide my face some. I’d laughed and told her that I’d never had a KY hat before, never needed it. My joke had fallen flat but she still rewarded me with a quick round in the bedroom before we left.

Goodfella’s Pizzeria isn’t quite busy yet, being just in between lunch and dinnertime and it’s nice to have the place mostly to ourselves. She gets the Joe Pesci and I order an Al Pacino and we indulge until we’re both stuffed and groaning.



“You need to use the bathroom before we go?” I ask.

“No.”

“You sure?” I push.

“I’m fine,” she returns, cocking her head at me slightly.

“Maybe you should go try anyways. We don’t want another accident,” I scold. The couple that’s just sitting down near us looks over covertly and snickers. Her eyes widen before narrowing at me.

“You didn’t complain about me peeing all over you in bed last night,” she winks before pushing up on her tiptoes, and kisses me passionately for show before stalking past me out onto the city street. The woman at the table nearest has her jaw hanging open but her eyes averted, and the dude with her is full on laughing. Head hung and shoulders slumped, I slink out of the pizzeria.

“Very funny,” I snip at Magnolia who is waiting for me on the sidewalk, laughing her ass off.

“Sorry,” she laughs, “it was really funny though.” She tries to hold her giggle in but can't and doubles over. Once she gets herself under control she straightens and apologizes for laughing at me. I razz her a little but accept the apology. She one-upped me really so I couldn't be mad.

“Cane...” She stops abruptly and pulls me to halt with her. “Look.” She points ahead, wide-eyed. Up ahead is an Old Kentucky Chocolates store. Her eyes come to mine and silently plead for permission to go in. I know she could probably spend an hour in there sampling everything and spending all my money. She always had a soft spot for dessert.

“Alright.” I smile at her. “My girl likes sweets, so let’s go.” I grin at her. Her feet start moving before I’m finished talking and we’re moving double-time towards the store.

We spent a solid forty -five minutes inside and leave forty-dollars poorer. She is currently walking along side me with her nose in the walking guide while I tote the enormous bag of chocolate-covered potato chips, chocolate-covered Oreos, and other treats she just had to have. “Thursday Night Live - Cheapside Park from 4:30pm - 7:30pm for beverages, tasty food and of course, great music by live band Better off Dead. We should go!”

“Sure.” I really don’t care what we do next. I’m content exploring the city on our own and just being near her.

“Google it, so we know how far it is from here,” she directs.

“On what?”

“Your phone,” she quips. I pull my phone from my pocket and show her the cheap burner phone. “Oh.” She veers off the sidewalk and into a store. I wait outside for her not wanting to draw too much attention to our matching busted faces. She pushes through the glass door a few minutes later. “We’re like half a mile away!” Her entire face is lit up like it's Christmas morning and she just got the gift of her dreams. I’d always wondered if that would be the face I got when I proposed, but I never got the chance. “And, get this! An eighties cover band is playing tonight!” I chuckle at her exuberance and take her hand in mine and swing her into my side before placing a light kiss below her ear. “I could have guessed that from the name of the band, babe.”

“Oh, yeah, probably,” she chuckles. I watch as her hair swishes behind her, leaving her scent in the air. I love the smell of her. Sweet and flowery with a hint of honeysuckle. Her hips swing back and forth and the muscles in her legs flex with each graceful step. She looks back over her shoulder at me and smiles brightly. It reaches her eyes and it makes my chest flood with warmth.