her chest and spread down her arms. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a man’s full attention on her and it was terrifying...and kind of wonderful.
She leaned against the bar. “So why did you hit me in the head?”
His eyebrows raised and his smug expression deepened. “Did I? I’m sorry.”
Her eyes fell to the thick, strong lines of his neck, and she could feel her nipples perk up inside the bra. Lily resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest. Thank goodness the bra was hard, so he couldn’t see how her body was reacting. She huffed with a grin. “No, you’re not.”
Garrett leaned a little closer toward her. “Okay, Lily. Truth?”
One corner of her mouth tugged up. “Yeah, truth.”
Garrett reached out and touched her shoulder. Before she could object, his fingers wrapped around her upper arm and drew her closer over the bar. Shivers of pleasure dotted her skin, followed by hot streaks when his fingers ran down the length of her tattoo.
“I wanted to see your ink. Since I can’t leave here, I figured I’d get you to come to me.”
She shrugged off the lightness that admission gave her. The sensation of his warm fingers trailing along the big white-and-orange flowers on her shoulder and down to her wrist caused a fog machine to open up in her head. Slowly, his index finger outlined the arch and curve of the hunter-green leaves and lighter kelly-green vines that swirled throughout the artwork.
Lily drank in his appreciative expression as she cataloged the handsome lines of his round chin and the firm, masculine outline of his soft, full lips. She found herself leaning into the press of his hand, just as his fingers trailed away. Little wonder she was tingling from head to toe—it was the first time she’d been touched by a man in almost a year.
And her ex had nothing on Garrett.
“Beautiful work.”
She took a drink, immediately missing the feel of his hand on her, but hating how weak her legs were just then. With one touch, he’d thrown her into a fun house with a crooked floor.
“Thank you. Do you have any?”
A shout came from the other end of the bar; Garrett grabbed a bottle from the fridge behind him and tossed it to someone Lily couldn’t see. He turned back to her with a shake of his head. “Nah. I, uh...well, it’s probably a strike to my manhood to admit, but I have a thing about needles.”
She snickered despite herself. “You’re what? Six-two—”
“Six one and a half, thank you.” He took a swig from his beer around a chuckle. “I know, I know. Someone like me, scared of needles. It’s sacrilegious.” His voice was deep with a resonance that shivered through every nerve in her body. “Since we’re being truthful here, you should also know that I’m...” He looked around as if to see if anyone would overhear before locking his gaze on hers. “I’m also deathly afraid of spiders.”
She feigned horror. “No!”
He wagged his eyebrows, a move that was equally boyish and sexy, drawing yet another chuckle from her. Lily’s own brows came together with the realization that she was completely at ease. Sounds from the bar rushed in her ears—foreign and sudden, as if she’d blocked out the noise. Before she could ponder that, his fingers traced along her collarbone to the tie around her neck holding the coconut bra in place.
“As a native Hawaiian, it’s my sworn responsibility to tell you that I approve of your coconuts.” The pads of his fingers were rough, as if they’d known countless hours of manual labor and rowdy play. Lily’s skin heated under the gentle scrape of his touch along her neck, her knees threatening to give out altogether. Lily gripped the bar; Garrett’s hand sank beneath the shade of her hair, following the string to where the ends were tied. It would only take one quick pull—just one—and he’d have the strings free.
Her chest squeezed at the intimate, familiar way he touched her. She should have been indignant, not turned on and mesmerized by the hard and soft pressure of his fingers retreating along the path they’d come. Garrett’s hand fell away, but his gaze felt like a caress over her cheek. His voice was low, with a tinge of husky amusement. “So what flavors did you get?”
Her middle quivered as if she were about to perform improv in front of all these strangers. “Flavors?”
Garrett reached under the bar for a large plastic container. “The candy.” He produced a handful of packets, throwing them down on the bar. “Root beer. Orange dreamsicle. Berry.” He flipped one over. “Black licorice.” His smile fell at the same time she made a disgusted face.
She shuddered, a move that seemed to shake off most of the effect of his unexpected—if not welcome—touch. “Throw that away.” She laughed.
“Agreed.” Garrett tossed it in a trash can behind him. “So?” His eyes narrowed a bit, his head cocking slightly as if he was studying her. She reached between the faux grass of her skirt to the pocket of the khaki shorts she wore underneath and grabbed the packet.
“Oh, this? Orange dreamsicle.” Her brain started a little happy dance. It felt good to flirt with him, and, amazingly, her tongue-brain connection was working like a charm at the moment.
Garrett’s eyes tracked her movements. “Hmm, do you like that flavor?”
Lily shrugged, drawn in by the heat of his gaze. His pecs bunched close together as he shifted. She had to look; trying not to look at him was like trying to stop the earth’s rotation. “Yes.”
She’d flirted before, of course. But never with quite this much sexual undertone. Mostly, she had no idea how to respond, though her inner wildcat was trying her damnedest to play this game. It was fun and made her feel feminine and aware, for the first time in too long, that she was young and single.
Garrett slid a hand over to hers, his fingers briefly grazing over her knuckles. “In that case, you know where to come if you want more.”
Lily was halfway to taking a drink and nearly spilled the bottle at the grainy sound of his words. Tongue-brain connection lost.
Garrett moved back to help someone while Lily took a deep breath. The clink of bottles and glasses surrounded her; the low tone of Garrett’s voice washed over her as he spoke to a customer. He was quick to mix up a couple of drinks, flashing just the right amount of smile and charm as he interacted with a woman next to her. Lily did a double take to her left. A line of women had formed next to her, all glancing hopefully—excitedly—at Garrett. He’d ignored one woman in order to talk to Lily, but this line was too long and estrogen fueled to be defeated.
This was probably her cue that the fun was over. And it had been fun, and freeing and exciting and just the tiptoe back into a male-filled world she’d been hoping for. She turned to leave.
“Don’t go.”
Lily glanced back to see him holding up one finger in her direction, bidding her to wait as he set the last drink on the counter.
“You’re busy,” she said. It was true, but she didn’t really want to go. Still, being in the way wasn’t going to do either of them much good. Garrett’s attention was a balm for her ego, no doubt. Especially with the tension that had crept in earlier to eat up her
