Wylde (Arizona Vengeance 7)

Clarke appears as if I just turned her day from good to insanely fucking awesome.

“Hey… what are you doing here?” she asks, brushing a lock of hair back from the corner of her glasses.

“In the area, so I just thought I’d drop in,” I reply as I walk toward her. I don’t hesitate because I don’t know how long we’ll have this cherished bit of privacy, but I lean in and give her a long, slow kiss. She fucking purrs as she melts into me, and I have to end our embrace before my body reacts.

When I hear Veronica laugh, I figure Kane or Baden must be entertaining her. I take Clarke’s hand, then lead her to the front of the store.

The men turn to us as we approach, and I take a moment for re-introductions. They had met briefly at Erik and Blue’s wedding, but, this time, with my hand at her lower back, it’s clear we’re much more than just a one-off wedding date.

“What were you guys up to today?” Clarke asks.

I tell her about the food drive to feed the homeless at various shelters today, and yeah… I like the way her eyes warm at the knowledge and how it obviously endears me to her even more. Anything I can do to keep building up that trust so she can forget about the vile shit that douchebag did to her and realize not all guys are the same.

“In fact,” I continue. “We were just on our way to grab some lunch. Want to come with us?”

Clarke shakes her head regrettably. “I’d love to, but it’s just not possible.”

I look pointedly over at Veronica. “And yet, I bet Veronica wouldn’t mind you leaving for a bit.”

As if taking some pre-agreed-upon cue, Veronica nods a little too exuberantly. “She’d love to go with you. I can totally watch the store.”

Clarke cuts Veronica a chastising scowl. “Have you forgotten I asked you to come in to help me get the stocking done so I could leave early to cook for this big lout,” and here she slaps her hand into my stomach, “a nice meal?”

That she made the effort to handle her duties so she could leave work early touches me.

She did that for me.

Veronica laughs as she shrugs, shooting me a look that says, “I tried”.

Clarke reaches down, laces her fingers with mine, and gives me a squeeze. “I’d really love to, but I do want to get out early to hit the grocery store, and, well… I just want some extra time before you come over to make things perfect.”

She blushes the minute the words tumble out of her mouth, her gaze cutting over to Kane, Baden, and Veronica as she realizes she said something sweet with a little bit of innuendo laced in, and she did so in front of an audience.

“I just mean,” she blurts out, “that the dish I’m planning to make is complicated. It takes time, and I don’t want to be rushed.”

Chuckling, I lean over and put my mouth near her ear, whispering for her benefit and no other. “I cannot wait for you to feed me tonight.”

She blushes prettily, because while the words were innocent in and of themselves, the low rumble by which I delivered them so privately to her spoke of other things that might not be.

I bestow a kiss on the corner of her mouth and pull away, turning toward my friends. “You guys ready to go?”

Kane and Baden bid farewell to Veronica and I wonder if either might be hitting me up later for more info about her. While she is indeed beautiful and incredibly single, the one thing I noticed in the small interaction between Veronica and the guys is she hadn’t overtly flirted with either.

“Oh, Aaron… wait,” Clarke calls, causing me to stop and twist back toward her.

Kane snickers. “Aaron? No one calls him Aaron.”

I shove an elbow backward, catching him in the ribs. I haven’t had to explain to Clarke that most people call me Wylde because it was me living up to my reputation with the women.

Clarke moves behind the counter, bends to grab something, then comes back around toward me with a book in her hand.

I look down as she hands it over, proclaiming. “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.”

I grin, taking it from her. Holding up the paperback, I examine the illustration. “Awesome.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Kane asks with a laugh.

Shooting him a glare, I reach into my back pocket for my wallet to fish out some cash for the book. When Clarke’s hand comes down on my wrist, my attention goes back to her.

She shakes her head. “My gift to you.”

I’ve never had a woman give me anything before, and the fact it’s from Clarke and there’s probably nothing more personal she could give me than a book hits me deep.