Page 71 of The Singles Club

“I think you should fire me while you’re ahead,” I teased.

He nudged his hip against mine. “I’m currently looking for a kissing coach. Know any good ones?”

“I hear this woman named Annette is really great.”

He cringed. “Too soon for that joke. She was absolutely terrifying.”

“What did she say to you? You had gone three shades of white and looked about ready to go into shock.”

“Saturday Night Beaver.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“One of her favorite movies.”

A giggle burst out of me. “Please tell me she had more.”

He failed to hold back a grin. “The Slutty Professor, and then my personal favorite,A Few Hard Men.”

I laughed so hard, my belly ached and my cheeks hurt. “Now you have something to tell your kids on how you met their mom.”

He splashed me with water, and I got him back with the sprayer. As he turned to retaliate once more, I went to run from him, but his arm caught around my waist before I could get away. My laughing stilled as the warmth of his hand brushed across my belly. I leaned back into him, craving more of his heat, his smell, the feel of his chest against my back. I could feel his heart beating faster, and I wrapped my arm over his. “We should probably watch that movie now,” I whispered. But neither one of us moved.

“We probably should.” He slowly released his arm from my waist. I let out a long, quiet breath and focused on regaining feeling back in my legs before I stepped away from him.

I turned around, and Justin raked a hand through his hair. “Sorry about… whatever that was.”

“It’s fine.” I very much liked it and wanted more, but he was a Jimmy Stewart, and I was getting on a plane to Paris in two weeks. I twisted my necklace between my fingers. “There was a DVD I saw the other day… I think it was a William Powell movie, but notThe Thin Man.”

“My Man Godfrey?”

“That’s it. I’ve never seen it before.”

“Then that’s what we’ll watch. A must if you love the classics.”

He smiled, and I breathed easier again. We were back to our old selves as if that awkward moment never happened.

We just had to make sure it didn’t happen again.

* * *

Justin

By the middle of our second movie, Vivian had fallen asleep, and I didn’t have the heart to wake her. She looked so peaceful. I got a pillow from my bedroom and a blanket from the linen closet. I gently tucked the pillow under her head and raised her feet onto the couch. She moved, moaning a bit before cuddling into the pillow, curling her knees closer to her chest. I smiled and placed the blanket over her. I swiped the hair from her face, and she grabbed my hand and kissed it before snuggling against my palm.

Oh boy.

When I tried to pull away, she held my hand even tighter.

I shook my head, smiling down at her. “Vivian?”

“Mmm.”

“You have my hand.”

“I love your hand… and… feet,” she mumbled through a sleepy voice. “Perfect feeeeet.”

My feet? I stifled a laugh. That was a new one for me.