Her head swung toward him. “What?”
“You didn’t say what you needed. Our friend here is trying to clock out. ”
“Did you need something?” Rob asked again.
“I think she does need something. Don’t you, tiger?”
Rob was clueless to the flirting, focused only on how many minutes it was till one o’clock.
Her cheeks flushed. “Well, if you must know, I thought I’d swing by to…”
“To?” Eddie raised his brows. He was desperately curious now—why was she acting so uncharacteristically shy?
Staring exclusively at Rob, she finished in a rush, “I came by to get the petition and ask you to take down the flyers. ”
Eddie cracked a huge smile. Progress. “Taking down the petitions, huh? Does that mean I’m not such a bad guy after all?”
“It doesn’t mean anything,” she shot back.
It sounded a lot like what she’d told him during their first kiss. He rubbed his jaw. “I feel like I’ve heard you say those words before…”
She grew visibly agitated.
Rob gathered all the bright yellow flyers and handed them over. “If that’s all you need…”
“Surely you remember. ” He leaned against the counter, giving her his full attention. “Doesn’t mean anything. If you don’t remember saying the words…well, maybe that means you didn’t mean them. ”
“Bye then. ” Rob looked relieved to finally be getting out of there. “If you need anything else, Tom is in the back office. ”
“Later, Haskell,” Eddie said automatically, but his gaze hadn’t budged from Laura. “Now, let’s see…as I recall, you told me nothing was changing. Nothing would be different. ”
He studied her profile, watched her chest rise with a deep breath. She turned to face him.
That was the woman he knew—never one to back off in a showdown. He loved that about her. He pitched his voice lower, wishing he could pin her up against the counter, then and there. “Were you wrong? Is it different for you now, Laura?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said weakly.
“How about I remind you?” He took a step closer and ran his hand down her smooth, bare arm.
She didn’t flinch away; she only stared up at him raptly, her lips slightly parted. She’d been with pretty city boys, but just then he wondered if Laura had ever been with a man.
She didn’t move away, but she didn’t move forward, either. But it was all good. He was happy to be the one with the moves.
He swept his hand down one last time, twining his fingers with hers. “I need to speak with you outside. ”
“You do?” She was wide-eyed, resembling that cornered cat again.
There was a distant phone ringing. Tom’s voice carried to them from the back office.
He nodded somberly. He was barely keeping his head, he wanted her so bad. “I think maybe we should take this to my place. ”
“All right,” she said finally. Her hand tightened, her fingers squeezing his. “Maybe we should. ”
Twenty-seven
Laura felt so naughty. So recklessly, wickedly bad in a way she’d previously only fantasized about.
She was blowing off work for the afternoon…to be with Eddie. He’d taken her hand. It’d felt so good, and yet she’d had to make herself not pull away. Make herself keep her cool. Keep her head.