“No. Rose. But no one knows that, so mum’s the word.”
“My lips are sealed.”
“Your lips are something, that’s for sure.”
The words tumble out of my mouth without a thought. I feel my eyes widen as Macy giggles like a little schoolgirl next to me, and Ashlyn smirks.
“I see how it is.” Collin leans closer to me. “Why is this the first I’m hearing about your obsession with my lips, Kasper? You been holding out on me?”
“I have no comment on your lips. I was playing a part,” I murmur.
He lets out a low laugh and continues making languid circles on my wrist. “So, do you want to tell the story, or should I?” he says louder, for the benefit of our audience.
Here’s the thing. I absolutely do not want to tell any story as it pertains to Collin and me. But I absolutely, positively do not want Collin to tell any story about us. I can only imagine the tall tale he’d come up with. It would probably include me swooning over his six pack or something outrageous—which, for the record, I have never done nor will ever do, his impressive ab muscles aside.
“I’ll do it,” I say, turning toward our seatmates.
Collin nuzzles his nose into my hair, right near my ear. “I can’t wait to hear this.”
I resist the urge to elbow him.
Macy shifts in her seat, as if getting comfortable.
For the love.
“So, it all started when I moved to Wisconsin.” I detail for them the way Collin pulled me over. “I thought he was the biggest jerk. I mean, yeah, he’s nice to look at, but he was so obviously a control freak who enjoyed his position of authority over me, so I spent the rest of the drive cursing his name.”
“Little did she know, she’d be seeing me in a matter of minutes at her sister’s engagement party,” Collin puts in. “I believe I started charming her from there on out.”
“Hardly,” I scoff. “But yeah, Collin showed up at Poppy and Mack’s. That’s when I found out he was going to be my boss.”
“That’s so hot,” Macy says.
I resist the urge to gag. Even Collin seems a little uncomfortable.
He clears his throat. “Again, it was nothing inappropriate.”
“Not at all,” I agree. “I made the decision to ignore him as best I could. I’d do my job and do it well, because that’s what I do.”
“That’s true.” Collin leans forward.
I dip my head and allow myself a small smile.
“How’d you win her over?” Ashlyn asks.
I open my mouth, but Collin beats me to the punch.
“Slowly but surely.” He presses his hand to my knee. “If you want to know my side of things, then I have to admit I could barely string two words together when I pulled Noli over. I have never had a traffic stop with anyone as beautiful—or as sassy”—he nudges my side—“as her before.”
My cheeks are molten lava.
“Anyway, we crossed paths quite a bit, and my physical attraction to her didn’t go away, but then I watched her work, and my respect for her grew.”
“Aww!” Macy clutches her heart. “What about you, Noli? When did you start to see Collin in a new light?”
I bite my lip. Collin talking about being physically attracted to meandrespecting me has my head spinning. “Well, umm…”
Stay as close to the truth as possible.
