A Little Combustible Chemistry (Cactus Creek 0.5)(7)

He cringed in sheepish male hindsight. “Though I’d probably settle for at least getting your name.”

Right, names. Or the lack there of, in their case. The whole reason she’d stopped kissing him to begin with. She stuck an awkward hand out in belated greeting. “My name’s Danica. But everyone calls me Dani.”

He intertwined his fingers with hers and drew her in close, turning an awkward moment into an insanely sexy one in a few seconds flat. Lowering his head slowly as if to give her a chance to say no, he laid a soft, barely there kiss on her lips when she didn’t.

“Nice to meet you, Dani.” His two dimples flashed as he said her name. “I’m Luke.”

Their magical, movie soundtrack moment was interrupted, however, by a dread-filled, hushed voice on the other side of the door. “Dani?” Javier’s whisper was tinted with panic. “I’m really sorry but we need to get more coriander.” A low murmur joined his. “And cooking tequila too.”

Dani screwed her eyes closed in embarrassment and called out, “I’ll bring them out, guys.”

She was barely through her sentence when she heard the two of them scrambling away from the door. There was definite cursing in Spanish. Along with some praying.

The sound of lethal pointy-toe boots stomping after them was the obvious reason why.

“I really ought to get out there,” she groan-laughed. “Cooking with one hand while protecting their crotch from Xoey’s wrath probably isn’t all that safe. Or sanitary.”

“As a protective guardian of the same anatomy, and an avid non-fan of any variety of jockstrap cuisine, you have my sincere appreciation.” His earnest look caused another round of mirth to unwind through her. “Just so we’re clear,” he added quickly, “you do know a kiss after a dinner invite is a universal ironclad yes, right?” His tone was matter-of-fact, his eyes adorably optimistic.

“That so?” She let loose a grin and tossed out, “Did I agree to anything else?”

“Just a few other things I won’t be able to stop thinking about until our date,” he teased right back.

She stared at him for exactly one missed heartbeat before that whole bout of temporary insanity she’d been worrying about earlier flared up and caused her to do the most un-Dani thing ever.

She tackled him.

Well, she sort of just pushed him back into the storage room but in her mind it had been far more primitive. Hands on the ridges of his torso, she tugged him in for one final kiss.

And released him a long minute later with a whispered, “I’ll be thinking about those things too,” as she basically floated to the door.

“Jesus Christ.” Luke’s tortured breath trailed close behind her.

By the feel of the rustling at the small of her back, he was attempting to adjust the fit of his jeans. When that resulted in apparent failure, he muttered in her ear, “You had to wait till after I finally got my soldiers to stand down from earlier, didn’t you?”

If there was a complaint in there somewhere, it was altogether undetectable.

And Dani was entirely unrepentant.

She did, however, manage to keep her giggle contained to a tickled grin when a quick glance at his ‘problem’ revealed that yes, his southern post was indeed at full attention…in a very impressive call to arms.

After one gentle, but nerve-firing farewell slide of his hand down her back, she made her way to the kitchen to deliver the items she retrieved for the cooks before grabbing the liquor cart and heading back out front as well.

Thankfully, her bartenders appeared too busy to even notice how long she’d taken to return with the liquor bottles. So far, so good.

With ninja stealth, she slinked warily past them on the way to—

Bam. A shiny black designer boot clacked on the floor before her to block her escape.

Busted.

Stretched sideways like Gumby, and apparently with eyes on the back of her head, Xoey topped off the triple sec on the kamikaze she was pouring before tossing the customer a wink and twisting around to throw an arm over Dani’s shoulders. “I’m impressed. And frankly, a little jealous, boss. Even I’ve never ‘passed the earth’s stratosphere’ during Seven Minutes in Heaven at work.” Her thoughtfully up-raised eyes showed her adding it to her things-to-do list.

Oh geez. Dani sighed. Xoey was nothing if not goal-oriented.

“So, spill,” pressed Xoey. “Was he good?”

“At what?” Dani’s liquor bottle restocking took on a new, extravagantly deep focus.

“At whatever’s telling everyone you know what Victoria's secret is.”

Dani swore and spun around to button her top back up. Luckily, it’d only been a fairly chaste peek, but the disappointment echoed by two guys awaiting drinks—and a gleefully smug Xoey—still served to mortify her. She cast Xoey a blistering glare. “We didn’t ‘travel’ that far in there,” she hissed. “By the by, since we’re on the subject, remind me to fire you later.”

Xoey pranced back to her ‘tending spot to salt the rim of a mug for an agave citrus lager. “Okie dokie. My drought-ending skills are far more vital to the human race anyway. Yours will be the Cinderella story to launch my career.”

Dani hurled a bar towel at Xoey’s peek-a-boo midriff, laughing despite herself. She never could stay mad at her crazy friend for long. The reason why that was escaped her, however, when not a moment later, Xoey cheerfully threatened, “From you or from him, either way, I’m getting the sordid details, Dani.”