��it took about five steps after you�d already disappeared.�
So that�s who had been running after me. I thought it was him, but� I guess my panic attacks had started by then.
Whoa. I�m still not freaking out. This is good�
�The hair threw you off.�
His eyebrows rose in consideration of my statement.
�Well, that, the guy�s clothing you were carrying, the short skirt, the glasses� I only figured that it was you from the comment you yelled back at us about Ryan�s show and� the smile that accompanied it.�
I blushed, giving him another one of those smiles.
�Here�s your check, guys.�
*
I looked up, startled by Matt�s presence by our table again.
�I�ll take that whenever you guys are ready. No hurry.�
I nodded at him, and then directed my vision back down to the table where the check sat.
Or at least where it had sat a few seconds before. It now rested in Kara�s hand as she used the other to dig through her bag... the same bag as at the races. Wonder if she still has that picture in there.
She pulled out some cash, flipped through it, and then handed the check and money to Matt, who now had a handful of our plates to deal with as well.
Did she just voluntarily buy me lunch?
�Hey! I thought I was buying you lunch!�
Shrugging, she returned to her propped up position, chin in hand.
�You were slow.�
She just paid for me to eat.
No one does that.
�Consider it my way of saying I�m sorry I ran away earlier today� and thank you for figuring out where Ryan�s show was.�
She giggled.
�I sorta forgot to include that part, didn�t I?�
*
His eyes glowed with an unidentifiable emotion. Positive but unidentifiable. Pulling his hat from his head, he ran a hand through his badly mussed up hair, confusion twisting his lips into a smirk.
How is it he can look like a little boy one moment and not the next?
�Well, you have a very big fan at the Abercrombie and Fitch store down the street. He seemed very� unhappy about me questioning your whereabouts. Think he might want to keep you to himself.�
Ugh, Mark. Pothead. Glad he didn�t run Nick off.
Wait a second.
�He told you where I was? That�s� amazing.�
Finishing whatever the hell he was doing to his head, he threw his hat on the table and looked back at me.
�Why�s that?�
Oh my god� biting back laughter, I fought to keep a straight face.
*
�Because Mark - the guy - happens to� think I belong to him. And that�s putting it mildly.�
I frowned. No way. She�s mine. We should go by there just so I can rub it into his face that you�re with me!
The light shining in her eyes became overwhelming and she burst out laughing.
What the�?
�What?�
Covering her mouth to smother her laughter - I�d forgotten she did that - she looked away. As her giggles calmed down, she cut her eyes back over to me, only to start laughing harder. Between laughs, she managed to choke out a few barely decipherable words.
�That�s cute, Nick.�
I�m confused.
Still giggling, she pulled herself to her knees on her seat, leaned against the table towards me, and ran her hand over my hair.
Oh jeez.
�That�s a good look for you. You should do this more often.�
�How bad is it?�
New laughter bubbling up, she looked down from her propped up position, nose scrunched up, smiling.
I�m so in love.
�It�s bad sweetie. It�s� everywhere.�
I glanced down, enjoying the feel of her running her hand over my hair again. A smirk came to my face at the bit of cleavage peeking out from the v-neck of her shirt.
I need her.
Like� in every way possible.
*
�You might want to put your hat back on. Unless you want� people to see your hair stick every which way.�
And I might want to sit down before I climb over this table and we start making out like high school students. I could feel his breath on my neck, causing chill bumps to form on my arms. Dropping my hand from his hair, I couldn�t stop myself from running my fingers down the side of his face.
God, he�s so� pretty.
Before I could pull away, he took hold of my wrist, pulling my hand to his lips where he planted a kiss in my palm. And his eyes stared at me with a look that could melt ice.
He�s going to kill me.
Pulling away, I sat back in my seat, legs tucked under me, digging through my bag. As he pushed his hair back, slipping the hat on, I threw a mint at him, popping a second one in my mouth.
A frown drew his eyebrows together.
�A little garlic-y.�
Grinning, he unwrapped it and inserted it in his mouth, rolling it around with his tongue a little before closing his mouth and flicking the wrapper at me.
Let�s pretend that the sight of his tongue didn�t just make all my insides go gooey.
Three
->>>>