Wait With Me (Wait With Me, #1)(49)

“So it’s about me?” I ask, brows furrowed cautiously.

“No.” She scoffs. “It’s just about a mechanic. Get over yourself. Not everything in my life is about you, Miles.”

I chuckle at her eye roll but feel a sense of relief at her reply. “It’s going to be about a kinky mechanic. I like it.”

“Actually, it’s not going to be heavy erotica like my Bed ‘n Breakfast series.”

My brows lift. “No?”

She shrugs. “No. I mean, there’s still going to be sex, lots of sex, but it will be sweeter sex. Like, maybe I won’t write anal in this book.”

I mock gasp. “How will you handle that?”

She rolls her eyes. “I’ll probably still write it, but I’ll give it to my readers as bonus content or something.”

I chuckle at that idea. “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t do something a little bit different.”

“Okay, enough about me,” she states, shaking her hair out. “Let’s play a game.”

“Like what?” I ask, looking around. “I didn’t bring any cards.”

She rolls her eyes and props her head on her hands. “Miles, we don’t need cards to play Truth or Dare.”

I sit back in my chair and take a drink of my beer. “Who goes first?”

“Me, of course. I’m the guest, and this is all still in the interest of research, so…Truth or Dare?”

I exhale heavily. “Truth.”

She jerks back, seemingly surprised by my selection. She taps her finger to her lips and says, “Okay, do you ever get horny in the garage at Tire Depot?”

Her question has me barking out a laugh. “What?”

She smiles a sly smile. “You know, are you ever working on a customer’s car and your hands get really dirty and you’re really digging into a repair, and you pop a boner?”

I laugh and shake my head. “I’m afraid not.”

She looks dejected.

“But classic car work, on the other hand…” My voice trails off as her eyes light up. With a chuckle, I add, “If it’s a classic car and I’m elbows deep in it, and I connect two pieces, and someone is behind the wheel, and I tell them to try to start it…and an old car that hasn’t run in fucking decades suddenly roars to life? Then hell yes, my dick totally gets hard.”

“Ha-ha! I knew it! Perverts attract perverts. My writing makes me horny way too much.”

I laugh at her and say, “Truth or Dare?”

“Dare,” she replies instantly.

I quirk a brow. “Oh, someone has secrets they want to keep in the dark. Interesting.”

Her face seems to flush, even in the firelight.

But I decide we’ve talked enough for one night. “Okay, I dare you to go skinny dipping in the lake.”

Her brows shoot up into her hairline. “The lake that birthed my blessed tire? No way! Who knows what the hell else is in that thing?”

I shake my head. “I knew you wouldn’t do it.”

“Oh, and you would,” she grumbles back.

“I’ve swum in that lake before. It’s not disgusting. One little bicycle tire doesn’t change my opinion on its cleanliness.”

She pouts. “But it’s probably going to be cold.”

I shrug. “It’s fine. I knew you wouldn’t do it. You’re all talk, no action.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yep,” I reply, pinning my eyes to her.

“Need I remind you who’s been sneaking into Tire Depot for weeks on end now?”

I scoff. “You call that dangerous?”

“I’m consuming those complimentary beverages without a service, Miles.” She waggles her head back and forth with some serious sass. “That’s basically just as bad as thieving.”

I laugh at her choice of words, then narrow my eyes and reply through clenched teeth, “Such a cold, hard criminal.”

She narrows her eyes back at me, clearly not enjoying my sarcasm. “Fine, I’ll do it, but you have to do it with me.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because I’ll be naked,” she replies, taking her shirt off and flinging it at me. When the fabric falls down from my face, I see the complete outline of her nipple through the sheer pink bra she has on.

When I see my hickey, my dick jumps to life. “Fair point.”

I stand, and we both make our way down the path toward the water to our earlier fishing spot on the boulder. It’s a perfect jumping-off point.

Mercedes takes a deep breath in and ditches her shorts and flip-flops, kicking them off behind her, her arms crossed in front of herself for warmth as she stands before me, slightly hunched in a matching pink panty set.

I reach back and yank my shirt off over my head and toss it over by her shorts. She eyes me brazenly and waggles her brows at my package. “Jeans too, buster.”

“Buster,” I mimic her word with a shake of my head and push the denim down off my legs and kick it off along with my shoes.

She reaches back and unclasps her bra, flinging it over with the rest of our stuff. She’s no longer hunched and hiding now, though. She’s standing proud and poised, perfectly at ease with herself as she bends over and slides her panties off.