I give him a blank look. “She’s not.”
“She’s really pretty. Her glasses are hot,” Thatcher comments, and I nod.
“So fucking hot.”
I get up and run back to her to find that she put her shirt back on. Damn it. I groan, holding out my hand toward her, and right away, she brings her brows together. “Why did you put your shirt back on?”
She rolls her eyes. “Because I’m cold.”
“Liar!” I accuse. “You just know I can’t resist you, so you’re helping me out, aren’t you?”
She pauses and then lets out a loud laugh. “Yes, that’s absolutely it. Are you okay, Owen? Need me to put a hat on?”
I grin, taking mine off and then placing it on her head. She laughs, giving me a wild look, and I’m breathless. Utterly breathless. “Yup, wear the hat. It’s hot.”
Her sigh makes my body taut. “You’re killing me, Smalls.”
“Good,” I say with a wink. “So, listen. Before we exchange numbers, my friends think you’re hot.”
She gawks at me. “Um. Okay?”
“This is your only chance to blow me off.”
She looks past me, a grin playing on her lips. “Yeah, right.”
“No, really,” I say, before yelling to Dart and Thatcher, “Hey, don’t you guys think Angie is hot?”
Angie smacks me, hard, on my arm, and I laugh as Thatcher nods. “I think you’re beautiful.”
“Fucking hot, and I’d totally do you,” Dart says, nodding. “And I’m way better in bed than Owen.”
“Wow,” she says slowly.
“I think he has ADHD or something because he has absolutely no filter whatsoever.” I shake my head. “Also, he’s lying. I’m way better.”
Her laughter is intoxicating as she shakes her head. “Stop.”
“It’s true,” I say, grinning at her. “So, give me the verdict. Me or them?”
Paxy’s eyes lock with mine as she crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m not sure what I’m choosing here.”
“To give your number away.”
She scoffs. “Oh. And none isn’t an option, is it?”
“Ha! You know you want to give me your number.”
She purses her lips. “That hasn’t been proven.”
“It has with the way you’re pursing those lips at me. You basically want me to kiss you.”
She snorts. “You’re delusional.”
“Am I, though?”
Her face turns red as she looks away.
“Can I have your number now?” She hesitates only for a second before she spits the numbers at me. Once I save her contact, I look back up at her. “I texted you.”
“Oh. I guess I’ll text you back.”
“Yeah, do that. And also, you can do me one better.”
She raises a brow. “Like what?”
“Let me take you out.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
She shakes her head. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not. I’m hungry. Are you hungry?”
Paxy looks down and sighs. It’s like she’s trying to resist me, but we both know she can’t.
I reach out, running my hand up her arm. She looks up at me. “I know you are.”
“It’s late.”
“Yeah. So, we’ll go through a drive-through and then back to my place.”
She makes a face, taken aback by my comment for some reason. Did she want a fancy dinner? I can do that too. Whatever she wants. “Wow. You assume I’m just going to sleep with you?”
I blink. “That escalated quickly.” She holds my gaze. “Um. No? I know you like the beach, so I thought we could eat on it.”
She presses her lips together as a blush fills her cheeks. “Oh.” She closes her eyes, covering them with her hand. “This is so awkward now. I don’t even know why I said that or even assumed that. Like you’d want to sleep with me.”
I watch as she drops her hand and looks at me, complete embarrassment on her face. I raise my hand, and she looks at me crazy, but I don’t care. “Can we clear something up really fast?”
She brings in her brows, eyeing me suspiciously. “Um, is it going to make this exchange even more awkward?”
“I don’t think it’s awkward at all,” I say simply, hold her gaze.
“It is. I feel stupid.”
“Don’t. I don’t think that at all.”
“You’re just being—”
“If you say ‘nice,’ Angela Paxton, I swear on everything holy, I’ll bend you over my knee and give you a very un-nice, practically naughty, spanking.”
Her eyes widen as a laugh escapes her lips. “And you say I escalated things! Jesus Christ!”
“Yes, you will be calling for him.”
More laughter from her, and I grin widely. “Now, as for clearing that something up. I want you. Hands down. I’d take you right now and fuck you so damn good, you would not walk, you would not think, and you sure as hell would not be asking if I wanted you or not.”
She swallows hard, pressing her hand to her chest. “Sorry, this is entirely too much information, and I’m having a hard time breathing.”
I don’t know how my smile grows any more, but it does. I love the color that is filling her cheeks. How her eyes are so wide and glossy. Then those lips, all parted and sweet… I want her. “I have that effect on people.”