That gets me on my feet like nothing else could. “Home it is.”
I’d rather be on our balcony anyway.
Our balcony?
“Should we wait until they’re done having sex to let them know?” Joey asks, dropping his forehead on my shoulder to muffle his guffaw. “Forget I said that. Get me out of here.”
When he lifts his head again, his curls brush against my lips. I didn’t expect his hair to be so soft. Or to smell like oranges. I grab onto his elbows when he sways on his feet. He’s going to be feeling this tomorrow. “Come on, babysitter.”
I feel oddly protective as I guide him to the car and wake Derek.
Joey feels bad for making him linger. “Your wife is going to hate me and force you to quit.”
His laugh is gritty with sleep as we climb into the back seat. “I doubt that. She’s been trying to convince my sister to rename her baby after you. My schedule used to be a lot less predictable with fewer benefits. She’s already spent the bonus on remodeling the kitchen.”
Joey leans his head back and closes his eyes. “She deserves it. She’s so nice.”
“I like to think so, sir.”
I close the door and the SUV goes dark. It’s a cold night, so I’m not surprised when Joey inches closer to me. I don’t think he’s aware he’s doing it. I slide an arm around his shoulder and tuck him up against my side. It feels like the natural thing to do.
I nudge the thigh pressed against mine and grin. “I had a good time. How about you?”
“More fun than a dog on a trampoline, which is as good as it gets.” Joey nudges me back. “Don’t worry about Calamity, okay? She’s no snitch. Her family hates tabloid journalism and they’re big on keeping their word. You and Rue have more time before the sports paparazzi swarm the building.”
He thinks he’s exaggerating, but it could happen, only because I made myself a target for the first time in my career. Disappearing makes people curious. The longer it lasts, the more curious they get. If they find out that clean-cut, no-relationship, all-baseball Ransom has a child from a one-night-stand and a... It could get ugly.
What were you about to say? A boyfriend? A neighbor you made out with? A man you can’t stop thinking about or wanting to touch?
I don’t want to think about it, so my mind goes to those boxes of donations and the story about him paying for his foster sister’s college instead. Then tonight’s tab at the bar and his desire to buy breakfast. “You pick up the check a lot?”
Joey shrugs and shakes his head at the same time. “I don’t go out enough for it to matter. And money is paper. People are what matters. Why shouldn’t I share it if it makes them happy?”
“Even strangers?”
“Strangers are people. Anyway, my family never lets me do anything for them. JD threatened me with bodily harm or a strongly-worded article if I helped him with his student loans. Matilda is big on self-reliance. I guess it stuck. What did you think of Calamity?”
“She’s a little scary, but I like her,” I tell him honestly, rolling with the subject change. “I’m not sure I could handle that much personality all the time.”
“No famous Finn three-way in your future?”
“What?” I realize I’ve tightened my arm when he gasps in surprise. “Shit, I’m sorry, but hell no. One person is enough for me. I’ve got a daughter to think about now.”
His chuckle is sleepy. “You sound like a seventy-year-old man in a hot twenty-something body and I still want to jump on your balcony.” Pause. “Did I say that out loud?”
“You did.” My fingers trace a line from his shoulder to his biceps in an attempt to relax the tension I’m feeling against me. “You’re fine. But how about the next time we go to Finn’s, we don’t let anyone talk us into whiskey?”
“The next time?”
I nod into the darkness. “Oh, we’re going back. I don’t think tonight counted as a real pub experience. I didn’t play darts. I didn’t shoot pool. I still haven’t heard the legend of Green’s Marine.”
“Once upon a time, a dork on a dating spree—”
“You can’t tell me.” I run a hand through his hair, mesmerized as it clings to my fingers. “I want a grizzled old man at the bar to share that story. Atmosphere is important.”
The truth is simpler. I need plans with this man. He was right earlier, I am always trying to take him somewhere. Since we met, there’s been this gnawing feeling, this compelling something telling me that I shouldn’t let him out of my sight until I have a reason to see him again.
At first, I thought it was gratitude for letting me talk out my problems. Then I told myself it was his experience with kids that I want to learn from. But it’s more than that. After what I did the other night, there’s no point in denying it.