Oink. Oink. Oink.
“Tell me that is not the noise of a toy we bought my dog?” Mike looked horrified.
I giggled as Maggie Maye squeaked her blue pig toy. “It’s cute. It’ll teach her to understand animal sounds. Pigs go oink. Cows go moo.” The song had played over and over again at the pet store, so I’d added the toy to aggravate Mike. “But what does the fox say? I don’t really know. That song never really cleared that up for me. Don’t you agree? Or should I play it again?”
Mike touched my face and stared into my eyes.
Oink. Oink. Oink.
Maggie Maye pranced about, squeaking her blue pig.
Oink. Oink. Oink.
His finger brushed against my lips, and I wanted to feel his lips against mine again. I wanted—no, I needed more.
In that moment, nothing else mattered except for him and me. He leaned in closer. “Will you come over the day after tomorrow? I want to cook dinner for you.”
When Mike greeted me at the door, shirtless, I’d nearly had a spaz attack. Watching him cook dinner for me might make me combust on the spot. “I’d love that.”
Hopefully we’re having zucchini for dinner.
I froze, waiting to see if I’d said that out loud. Lately, things slipped out of my mouth without any sort of warning. Normally, I had some sort of self-control. But not with Officer McHotty.
Crinkles formed at the corners of Mike’s eyes while he smiled, which meant he was laughing at something silently. Is it me? Maybe I had a booger. Gross. But if that was the case, he would probably have a look of disgust because, yeah, gross… boogers. Instead, the smile lines deepened.
“What are you laughing at?”
“What were you just thinking?”
Phew. I hadn’t said it out loud. I shrugged. “Nothing, really.”
Success! I had maintained control.
“I know you were thinking something. Your eyes got really wide like you were wondering if you’d said it out loud. Then they got even wider, and I’m guessing you probably thought of something else and went off on a tangent.”
Shit. Think. Think. Think.
Discussing zucchinis and accidental bats in the cave—aka boogers—probably wasn’t a good idea, so I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Well I was going chirt, chirt, chirt, chirt, chirt in my head, thinking that might be what the fox said.”
Mike gave a deep laugh. “I don’t think that was it.”
I grinned. “Maybe not, but I have successfully filtered something from even you.”
Once again, we got lost in each other’s eyes. I felt like I was on cloud nine. Mike stared at my lips, and I licked them without thinking, feeling the heat begin to rise within my core. He leaned in closer, his breath tickling my skin. “I wish it was the day after tomorrow already, Syd.”
“Me, too.”
He closed the gap and brushed his lips against mine. They were so firm and commanding. I could feel his hunger for me. And I wanted him to devour me. Mike Murphy was becoming a need.