Page 97 of One Lucky Hero (Men in Uniform 1)

“A couple of tomatoes from the crisper.” Violet put on her oven mitts and pulled the meat from the oven, where she’d been keeping it warm.

“What’s a crisper?” he asked.

“Good God, did your mother teach you nothing?” She laughed as she came up behind him and pointed to the drawers at the bottom of the fridge.

“Hey, if you’d called it the drawer or even the tomb of rotten lettuce, I’d have known exactly what you were talking about,” he said.

She kissed his shoulder, patting it as she walked away. “Of course you would have.”

Violet pulled the lid off of the taco meat and scooped a chunk onto the fork. Holding her hand under it so it didn’t drip on the floor, she blew on it before offering it to him. “Try it.”

He opened his mouth and wrapped his lips around the fork. Violet swelled with pride as he chewed and moaned, closing his eyes.

“God, that is awesome.”

“Why, thank you.” She started to turn away, but he grabbed her hand, shocking her as he ran his tongue along the length of her palm, catching every stray drop of juice. The muscles at the juncture of her thighs clenched, imagining him using that tongue right where it ached the most.

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; “Hey, where’s the food?” Daisy’s voice rang out louder than necessary from the other side of the door, and Violet groaned.

“Yeah, what are you trying to do, starve us? Abuse!” Casey chimed in.

Taking the plunge, Violet said, “So, this might be a bad time to ask, but are you busy this weekend?”

Dean lowered her hand but kept ahold of it. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, I need someone to drive the U-Haul while I drive Daisy’s car up to Oregon State U on Saturday. I wouldn’t have asked, but unfortunately, everyone else is busy. You could look at it as a mini vacation, though you’ll probably have Casey riding with you, talking your ear off. And then on the way home, I’d be there, too.”

“Huh.”

“What does ‘huh’ mean?” she asked.

“Hello, we are dying!” Daisy called in a singsongy voice.

“Hang on!” she yelled. “So?”

“Well, I was just deciding whether or not I should overlook the fact that I’m your last choice.”

“Oh, come on. I didn’t want to ask you to do it because I didn’t want to overstep whatever this is,” she said.

“So I can save you from short, annoying dudes and psychos, but I’m not the guy you think of to help you move?”

Violet caught his grin and scowled. “I can’t believe you are messing with me right now.”

“Oh, come on, it’s kind of funny. I mean, I bet that we could fit everything your sister owns in the back of my truck, and yet you didn’t even think about using me for my vehicle.” He ran his finger down her nose and tapped the end. “I think that means you might like me.”

“Oh, yeah? How do you figure that?” she asked.

“ ’Cause you were afraid if you asked, it might scare me off. Am I right?”

Violet pursed her lips. “That would be presumptuous on my part, especially considering that this isn’t supposed to be anything serious, right?”

Dean’s hand cupped her cheek as his dark gaze held hers. “I might have been wrong.”

“About what?” She held her breath, waiting for him to say what she hoped he would.

“That casual is all I could give you. That we could be just friends who occasionally kiss and make out.”