Page 18 of Three Not-So-Little Words (The Lawson’s #3)

eighteen

You’re On

Drew

“ I t should be illegal for you to look that good,” I say to Ronnie as I look at her in the passenger seat of my truck.

One side of her mouth pulls into a sly smile. “Flattery will get you everywhere, my friend.”

It’s hard to keep my eyes on the road when she’s so fucking sexy. Her long hair is pushed to one side and hangs in loose curls. Her eyes pop with dark brown shadow. Her tits are popping out of her low-cut shirt and bounce with every single bump I hit.

She asks, “So, where are we going for dinner?”

“I have a confession,” I tell her. “I don’t know a lot of good places to eat since I’m new around here.

I Googled one place that I planned on, but it turns out that it’s been closed down for a while.

I thought maybe you’d have some suggestions, or we can just drive around until something sounds good. ”

“Hmm. Okay. What kind of food do you like?”

“I’m not picky. We can go anywhere you want.”

“How do you feel about Mexican?”

“Love it.”

“I’ve got the perfect place. We are only about five minutes away.”

“Perfect.”

She spends the next few minutes giving me turn-by-turn directions until we pull into a Mexican restaurant called La Grande Margarita.

We walk inside, and as I hold the door open for her, I look at her ass. I just can’t help myself. Maybe dinner before sex was a mistake.

Once we are seated and looking at the menu, she says, “This place is the closest I’ve gotten to authentic Mexican food around here. And the margaritas are to die for.”

When the waitress comes over, Ronnie orders a meal with assorted tacos and something called a margarita flight.

The waitress looks at me, and I say, “I’ll have the same thing.”

When we are alone, I ask, “So, how was your week?”

She smiles. “Remarkably uneventful. And I loved it.”

“Uneventful is always nice.”

“How was yours?”

“Not bad. Getting settled in at the shop. It’s an adjustment, but I think I’m going to like it.”

“Do you miss fighting?”

It’s the same question that Colton asked, but now, I think my answer will be a little different.

“Yeah,” I say. “But only because it was something I was really good at. There wasn’t much of a learning curve for me. Walking away from it was a little unsettling.”

I know she and I are keeping this whole thing casual, but the way Ronnie is looking at me makes me feel comfortable enough to open up a little.

I also fear that she’s going to ask me why I left.

That’s not a conversation that I want to have because it’ll bring up Colton.

And she’s made it very clear she doesn't want to know.

She goes a different direction, though.

“How did you get into fighting to begin with?”

The waitress interrupts us by dropping off of margarita flights.

“Holy shit,” I say, realizing it’s five different flavors of margaritas.

“They’re so good,” Ronnie assures me as she takes a sip of one.

I try one of my own and agree that they are pretty fucking good. Then, I get ready to answer her question.

I think for a second because we are trying to keep this whole thing casual, so I’m not sure exactly how much I should share. It’s not that I’m keeping some huge secret, but it gets into territory that I don’t tell strangers.

Fuck it.

“When I was a teenager, I was going through a pretty rough time. My home life was shit, and I didn’t have anyone around to give a damn about whether or not I stayed out of trouble.

By the time I graduated high school, it was pretty obvious that I was going to end up either in jail or dead.

I went to Florida with a couple of friends, and I ended up getting into some fights while I was down there.

A man named Gordon who owned a local gym saw me, broke up the fight, and asked me if I was ready to start making money rather than getting into trouble. ”

Ronnie swallows the sip of the margarita she just took. “So, you dropped everything and moved down there?”

“Pretty much. I didn’t even go home to get the rest of my stuff for a good six months.”

Her eyes flick up to mine. “And did you leave that bad home life behind?”

“Eventually. Turns out that some things are harder to shake than you anticipate.”

She holds up her drink to cheer. “Amen to that.”

I clink one of my glasses against hers. Since we are sharing, I decide to press my luck a little.

“So, what do you do fora living?”

“I’m a travel photographer.”

“Wow. How did you get into that?”

Much to my surprise, she doesn’t hesitate to answer the question.

“I always knew I wanted to do something where I traveled. I…uh…had a friend growing up, and we made a pact that we were going to see the world together. It just worked out that I took some photography classes in high school and had a knack for it. I took all of my graduation money and traveled to a few pretty places, took some pictures, and submitted them to every travel magazine I could find. One liked what they saw, and I’ve been with them ever since. ”

“What about your friend?” I ask. “Did they end up traveling the world with you?”

Her lips pull up into a small smile. “Nope. Just me.”

I know better than to push on that issue any further, and moments later, our food arrives.

After I take the first bite, I immediately know why Ronnie loves this place so much.

“Wow,” I say with a full mouth.

“Right? I told you. Best Mexican food outside of Tijuana.”

Neither of us say anything for a couple minutes while we smash the food in front of us. I watch her take the last bite of her taco, shoving half of it in her mouth at once.

“Sorry,” she says, wiping her mouth and giggling.

“Hey, don’t be sorry. That may be one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen.”

“Well, then, you’re in for a treat because I love to eat.”

“Me too,” I say with a wink.

“Speaking of eating, how in the world did you get so good at that ? Most guys aren’t quite so…enthusiastic.”

“Beautiful, I learned something a long time ago.”

“What’s that?” She asks.

“If you pay attention to what women like and make them feel good, chances are, they’ll want you to do it again.”

She laughs. “That may be the most simple way I’ve heard that put but also the most accurate.” She leans forward so that no one around can hear what she’s about to say. “I think you’re onto something because I definitely want you to do it again.”

I mimic her moves and rest my elbows on the table. “Are you trying to get me hard in the middle of the restaurant?”

She tries to hide her smile. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

A few minutes later, the check comes, and I reach out my hand to pay it, but she stops me.

“Hey, this isn’t supposed to be a date, remember? You don’t need to pay for me.”

“I mean, dinner was my idea. I figure that it’s only right that I pay for it.”

I can see her wheels turning, as she tries to come up with a reason to fight me on it.

I add, “I’ve got it. Really, it’s not a big deal, and you don’t owe me a damn thing.”

With a stiff jaw, she says, “Fine. But when we leave here, we are going to do something else that I am going to pay for. Then, we will be even.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Laser tag?” I ask as we pull into the parking lot that she gave me directions to.

“Yep.”

“Man, I haven’t done this in years.”

She looks over at me. “I mean, if you’re scared, I can just hand you a twenty to cover dinner, and we can go back to my place.”

I think about it for a minute and weigh my options. As ready as I am to go back to her place and get the naked party started, playing laser tag with her sounds like fun.

“You’re on.”

We get out of my truck and walk inside. Ronnie walks a few steps ahead of me so that I can watch her ass again. I know what she’s doing.

And so does she.

When we get close to the door, I take a couple of quick steps, so I can get ahead and open it for her.

Once we are inside, we head for the counter. A couple of kids run by, one of them almost running into Ronnie.

“Damn kids,” she mumbles.

“Don’t like kids?” I ask.

“Nope.”

Well, fuck.