Rock Bottom (Dawson Family 6)

Dean sets me down, hands lingering on my waist, and we lock eyes. Everything fades away and I have to shake myself back to reality.

“Thank you,” I tell the confused old man. Dean puts his arm around me and looks through the pictures with me.

“That one,” he laughs.

“I like it too. I’m impressed with my acting skills.” I send the picture in the group text, snickering.

“Is that a chat with your mom and brothers?” Dean asks.

“Yeah. It’s kinda lame, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think so. I’m in an ongoing chat with my brothers, Quinn and our mom too.”

“We’re cool kids,” I laugh. Only a few seconds later Mom replies.

Mom: Not funny, Rory.

Sam: Good one, sis.

Mason: What’s concerning is how no one around you seems to notice

“You should probably send another. You know, prove I’m not actually kidnapping you.”

I bump my elbow into Dean’s side. “You afraid you’re going to get arrested or something?”

“Your brother is an FBI agent.”

“Fine.” I put my head next to Dean’s and snap a picture.

Me: I’m willingly going with this guy. He said he has kittens and ice cream in his van.

Dean laughs and slips his arm from my shoulder to my waist. I put my phone back in my purse before I see anyone’s responses to the photo I sent. Sam probably recognizes Dean and will wonder why he’s in Miami with me.

“I never asked you,” I start. “How were you able to get off work on such a short notice?”

“Everyone was rather eager to get rid of me,” he laughs. “I usually take a vacation in January and hadn’t since the divorce.”

“So it sounds like they knew how much you needed a break because your family cares about you.”

“Fine, if you want to get all sappy.” We get to the end of the path and stop. “What time is your flight?”

“Eight-thirty.”

“That’s early. Mine’s not until noon.” He flashes a smug smile. “And it’s first class.”

“Ohhh, nice. I’ve never flown first class.”

“I hadn’t either until this trip. Too bad I didn’t know you were going. I probably could have gotten Archer to transfer Quinn’s ticket into your name too.”

“I couldn’t accept that.”

“You could. First class is fucking sweet.”

I laugh. “I’m not fancy enough for first class. I feel like someone would call me out and tell me to go back where I belong.”

“I kind of felt that way too, standing in line behind some lady dressed in head to toe designer clothes. Or at least I think it was designer.” He shrugs. “I don’t really know.” We sidestep away from the path, moving out of the way of the other tourists. I tip my head up to the sun and groan.

“I’m not ready to leave this. Have you looked at the weather at home yet?”

“No. How bad is it.”

“It’s snowing.”

Dean makes a face. “It’s going to feel even worse coming from here.”

“I know. Seriously. Why do we live in the midwest?” I laugh.

Dean tugs me forward, and I stumble over the uneven boards. He wraps his arms around my waist and brings his face to mine, lips just inches away. My heart is in my throat again, but he turns his head instead of kissing me.

“So tomorrow night,” he starts.

“I’m working midnights.”

“That’s awful.”

“I know,” I groan. “ I don’t know why I agreed to do it. My scheudle got all shuffled around so I could come here, and at the time, an early flight, sleeping during the day, and then going in for a midnight shift didn’t sound bad. Now it sounds awful.”

“It does. You don’t have to work the day after that, do you?”

“Thank goodness no.”

“The night after you work midnights then.” Dean takes one hand from mine and grips my waist. “Can I take you out on another date?”

“You can.” I’m smiling ear to ear, heat rushing to my core. Fuck, I want him. “Or you can come over and let me cook for you.”

“You did mention your father owned a restaurant. I’m going to have high expectations.”

“In that case, I will have to pick up something and pretend that I made it,” I laugh. Dean pulls me closer and I snake one hand up over his shoulder. “When do you get off work?”

“I can leave the office by five most days. If it’s any later, I’ll text you.”

“Okay. You know where the super upscale, luxury apartments in Eastwood are, right?”

“We have those?” he raises his eyebrows.

“Oh yeah. Top of the line everything. You do know where they are though, right?”

“Yes. Quinn and Archer lived there while their house was being built, so I’m pretty familiar with that complex. It needs updating, but it’s nice.”

“Yeah, I can’t complain. I figured I’ll stay there for a while until I get things sorted out.”

He tucks my hair behind my ear. “Makes sense.” We turn around and head back to the hotel to get dinner before spending our last few hours soaking up every last second of Florida heat we can at the hotel bar.