Heath (Wild Boys After Dark, #2)(45)

The teenagers hooted and hollered as they chose their prize.

Heath laughed as he paid again, and two more players joined them.

“We’ve got this.” Ally spread her legs wider and held the gun with two hands, her eyes narrowed, focused on the target.

Heath smiled at her concentration. “That’s my competitive girl.” He stepped back and let her do it on her own.

When the kid beside her won, she whipped her head around to Heath with a challenging look in her eyes. “Again?”

He laughed and paid for another round. “Want me to try?”

“I’ve got this.” She lowered her chin, aimed, and when the buzzer sounded, she hit the target dead-on, without wobbly arms and without looking away for even a second. Her monkey climbed to the top of the tree and her bell sounded.

“We did it!” Ally jumped up and down and flew into Heath’s arms again.

“No, babe. You did it.”

Ally chose her prize and hugged the stuffed cat to her chest, beaming as they crossed the boardwalk toward the beach. “I’ve never won anything before, and I wouldn’t even have tried if it weren’t for you.”

“You were a natural.”

“A natural, huh? I wonder what I could do with a real gun,” she teased.

“I’d much rather see what you can do with cotton candy.” He pulled her in close. “I have a feeling that you have the ability to master whatever you put that brilliant mind of yours to. Now, if I could only figure out how to get your sights set on me.”

He jumped from the boardwalk down to the beach and reached up to help Ally.

“I’ve got you in my crosshairs, Dr. Wild,” she said as she leaped off the boardwalk and into his arms.

Without missing a step, Heath spun her around and kissed her, knowing he was her easiest target yet.





Chapter Nineteen


THEY WALKED ALONG the shore and had dinner at a café before heading back toward the city. Ally watched the lights move slowly by as they inched along the busy city streets. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had this much fun, and as Heath reached across the console and took her hand in his, she didn’t want the night to end.

“It’s hard to believe it’s only been a few hours since we left your place this morning. I feel like we spent a week at Coney Island.” Ally traced a vein in his hand.

“Is that good or bad?”

Ally sighed. “Very good. Do you want to stay at my place tonight?”

Heath smiled, his eyes never leaving the road. “Do you even have to ask?”

She rested her head back and closed her eyes, reveling in the sincerity of his answer and the way it made her pulse quicken. She listened to his breathing hitch, as if he swallowed a laugh, and when she opened her eyes, he was grinning ear to ear.

“Why do you look so happy?”

“Because you’re letting me in.” He brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to it.

“I think I let you in the first night I met you,” she reminded him with a playful smirk.

“Yes, but now you’re letting me into Ally’s private oasis. There’s a world of difference.”

They stopped at his place so Heath could pick up a change of clothes and drop off his car. Ally was pleased that this time he didn’t mind showing her how he really lived. She’d heard about the fancy garage units. Probably everyone in the city had, it was so elaborate, but Heath acted as though it was just like any old garage, and she appreciated that. During the cab ride over to her apartment, Ally wondered if her apartment would feel confining after sleeping at Heath’s, and was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t feel any less beautiful than it ever had. Heath moved through her place with comfort, toeing off his shoes by the front door and setting his wallet and keys by the bed. He picked up Fifi and snuggled her for a few minutes while Ally took off her sandals and gave Fifi fresh food and water.

A few minutes later the activity of the day caught up with them, and they both collapsed onto the couch. Heath stretched out with Ally beside him, and when Fifi sniffed around his feet, he lifted her onto his chest, where she promptly curled up and fell asleep.

Several hours later Ally awoke in her bed with a soft blanket draped over her. The apartment was pitch-dark, and the clock on the bedside table read 3:00 a.m. She drank in Heath looking deliciously handsome, sprawled across her bed with only a sheet strewn across his hips and Fifi curled up against his chest. Ally’s hand covered her heart. She felt her life falling into place. Sometime between Saturday morning and this moment, she’d become wholly Heath’s. She was completely in love with him. She sat there for a few minutes, savoring the sight of his big, strong body snuggling her kitty, and when her body finally remembered how to move, she rose to her feet feeling like she was walking on a cloud.

Changing into a negligee, she wondered how things could move so quickly—from the way she breathed to the weight of the air in the apartment. She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and saw Heath’s toothbrush hanging in the ceramic holder beside hers. A damp towel hung over the towel rack. She touched it and felt her heart squeeze. She was bummed to have missed the opportunity to shower with Heath and delighted at the thought of him making himself at home in her apartment. She peeked behind the shower curtain, imagining him going quietly through the motions of his nighttime routine while trying not to wake her. She wondered if he’d talked to Fifi, the way she did as she got ready for bed each night. She saw his shampoo, body wash, and shaving cream in a toiletry bag on her sink. His razor was sticking out of the top. Seeing all those things sent a tingle through her limbs that spread like wildfire around her heart.