I gave Dani a big smile. “Golden retrievers are enthusiastic.”
“Don’t you want to know where I volunteer first?” Dani asked. Her tone was off. Maybe a little hard? Shit.
“Yes, sorry. Of course. And I promise I’m not trying to steamroll you. I just like to help when I can. What use is a stupid amount of money if you can’t do some good in the world with it?” Cora said with a chagrined smile.
“My fault. I was going to mention Meredith to you first, but I got excited when Cora started talking.” I reached out, running my thumb across her palm and hoping that I sounded supportive and not patronizing, all ignoring the sparks below my belt.
Dani sucked in an audible breath, and I couldn’t help but brace myself. I knew we were coming on too strong for her. She’d probably never agree to come to Tipsy again.
“I volunteer at One Center, just past City Park,” Dani said.
“Oh! That youth center does amazing work. How did you get involved?”
“I had a few clients that went there and I wanted to help out,” she said.
“That’s great. And I don’t think we’ve teamed up with you guys on anything yet. If you’re okay with it and think the organization would be amenable, we could rope Meredith in and see how we can help,” Cora said without missing a beat.
“Umm, yeah, sure. I can talk to the director about setting something up.”
I didn’t miss the surprise in her voice, and I was grateful that Cora hadn’t stumbled at all when she’d easily agreed to help after finding out where Dani volunteered.
“But please, don’t feel obligated. That’s not why I’m dating Gabe.”
“Dani.” I linked my fingers through hers when she tried to drop my hold.
“No, no.” Cora waved her hand. “Of course you aren’t. And there’s no feeling of obligation. I started the foundation because we want to help wherever we can. We’re only starting our third season, so we’re still actively looking for the best ways to support the community, especially in the areas that sometimes get forgotten by our types of organizations. We want to use the team’s clout for good, you know?”
“Sorry, reflex,” Dani muttered.
“From dating Jenzy?” I asked, hating that her instinct was to be on edge. It was a shitty way to live.
“What? No,” she said.
“Jenzy? You mean Jensen?” Tally asked. “What does he have to do with this?”
Dani gave me a look before she focused on Tally. I couldn’t read her expression.
“Umm. I dated Roger, just for a few months at the end of last season, but I ended it,” she said.
“Bet he didn’t like that. The man hates to lose,” Tally muttered. “Oh man, is that why he was being extra dickish to you the other night, Tucks?”
I waved him off. “Yeah, but it’s fine. I can handle whatever he wants to say to me. And yeah, when he said shit about me dating Dani, I put him in his place. He needs to get it through his head that she was done with him even before she and I got together.” Then I wrapped my arm around Dani’s waist and pulled her close into my body. Dropping my head down, I kissed her behind her ear. It felt like what a boyfriend would do.
But my heart froze in my chest when her scent filled my head, and heat spiraled through me at the brief touch of my lips against her skin. What would she do if I nibbled on her earlobe?
Fuck it.
My teeth grazed her skin, and her indrawn breath went straight to my hardening cock. It took everything in me not to groan out loud. My entire body tingled with an overwhelming need to kiss every inch of this woman. I’d instinctually shifted my body into hers, and it would have been so easy to trail my lips along her jaw and take her mouth like I was dying to. And since we were dating, wouldn’t that be the normal course of action? Okay, maybe not in such a public place. We really needed to hammer out our levels of PDA, and I wanted Dani to decide how far to take this. I’d basically just laid claim on her, which she probably hated, justifiably so after all the shit Jensen pulled. I pulled back, putting the ball back in her court.
Hopefully, she’d choose kissing and not punching me in the dick.
When she twisted fully into me and her hand curled into my dress shirt, I wanted to whoop and throw my fist in the air.
But her lips landed on mine and the air left my body as she gave me the kiss I’d been aching for. My hand trailed down her curves, cupping her hip as I slanted my head to deepen the kiss. She swiped her tongue against the seam of my lips and I parted for her, letting her in.
Fuck. She tasted incredible. The peck I’d given her the other night after our date had nothing on this.
My cock was bordering on painful, and I was grateful that the dim lights of the bar hid how much I wanted her. Not to mention that Simone would have objected to me picking Dani up and setting her onto the bar top.
