Page 71 of The Obvious Check
My eyes snap open.
Oh my God.
Have I officially lost my mind?
Chapter 17
I take a bite of the chicken drumstick and rest my feet on the cheap, red footrest in front of me. This place reeks of stale beer and cheap perfume. Not a place I’d ideally want to take my potential future wife to dinner, but when she’s stuck on a shift that I haven’t figured out how to get her out of yet, then it’ll have to do.
“Cade?” Her voice is riddled with disbelief.
I squint a little to look at her because the mirror ball above provides little light, but what it does show me nearly knocks me off my feet. Fucking perfection, as always. Even in that wig, she’s everything I want.
“Were you expecting someone else, Pretty Girl?”
“W-what are you doing here?”
I chew and then swallow before answering. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“Surprise me?”
I shrug, lifting the paper bag filled with chicken. “Yeah. If I can’t take you out to dinner, then I figured I’d bring it to you.”
“But… Luke.”
“What about him?”
Her eyes widen and her gaze darts across the room. What’s she looking for?
“Are you just going to stand there or come and eat?” I ask, taking another bite of my drumstick. “Got your favorite from the diner and managed to have a nice little talk with Chloe while I was there.”
“You did?”
I nod. “Yeah. Did you know she’s been secretly seeing some customer there?”
“Shetoldyou that?”
“No,” I say, nabbing a fry from the bag. After a few chews and a swallow, I continue, “I may have accidentally caught them making out while I was walking in. I promised not to taunt her about it if she told me your favorite order.”
“The grilled chicken sandwich?” she asks, her voice carrying the tiniest bit of hope.
“Yup.” I hold it up, still wrapped in silver foil, and her eyes lock onto it. Her mouth is practically watering. “It’s here in all its glory, just waiting for you to sink your teeth into it.”
Like me.
She hesitates before stepping toward me, her movements slow and careful, like she’s unsure if she should be doing this. Like she’s fighting an internal war I can’t see.
I clench my jaw, forcing my eyes to stay locked on hers. Now is not the time to fuck up. Now is not the time to let them drop and take in her delectable body even for a second. She needs to know I’m here for her and just her.
But it’s damn near impossible when she’s wearing the same white one-piece from the first time I saw her—the one that made it unbearable to look away from. At least I already know exactly what she looks like in it. Every curve, every dip, the way it clings to her body like a second skin. Maybe if I think about that, it will make it easier.
Nope.
It only makes me want to look more. Hell, every part of me is screaming at me to look.
But I don’t.
Instead, I focus on her face, taking in the uncertainty swimming in her eyes. The tension in her shoulders. The way she’s struggling to breathe like she’s bracing for a blow.
