Finding Focus (30 page)

“Better than sex?” I laugh. “Are you kidding me?”

“No, that’s what she called it. That’s what all the ladies at the bingo hall called it.”

“And was it?”

I notice the flush in her cheeks and the movement in her neck when she swallows hard.

“Yep, pretty damn good,” she squeaks out.

“You have the recipe?”

“I don’t, actually. I wish I did, though.” She pauses for a second, biting her bottom lip. “Damn, I miss that cake . . . and sex,” she mumbles so quietly, I almost miss it.

“What?” I ask on reflex. My mind and dick needing clarification on that last part.
Did she just say she misses sex? God, please let that be what she said. Actually, God, please let that
not
be what she said.
I feel my whole body stiffen. Dani missing sex could quite possibly switch this from slow to fast in record speed.

“Nothing,” she mumbles, focusing on something out her window. Needing a minute to get myself in check, I’m secretly glad she doesn’t want to elaborate.

“So, tell me about NYU,” I say, clearing my throat and trying to change the subject.

“NYU was good. I really loved the school. It’s what I always dreamed it would be. When I was younger, the only thing I wanted was to get out of Mississippi and live in a big city. NYU was all of that.”

“Were you in a sorority? Did you live on campus?” I ask, knowing I’ll have to prompt her to get more info.

“No sorority,” she says, laughing. “That wasn’t quite my scene.”

“What was your scene?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” she sighs, shrugging.

“Did you get in any trouble?” I ask.

She laughs again, leaning her head against the seat and turning her gaze to me. “No. Well, at least not until I met Piper.”

“I can see that.”

“I was just a small fish in a big city, but when I met Piper, she would drag me out on the weekends, and we’d go explore a new section of New York. It was a lot of fun. She knew much more about New York than I did. Having grown up in Connecticut, she’d been there quite a bit.”

“What did you major in? Photography?”

“No, I majored in journalism and minored in business, but I took a lot of photography classes.”

“Well, you’re brilliant at what you do. I think you’re a natural. The way you see things is something that can’t be taught. It’s like you just know.”

“Thank you.” She looks back over at me. “Really. That means a lot.”

“I speak nothing but the truth.”

“So, what about after college?” she asks. The way she dodges questions lets me know she doesn’t like talking about herself any more than I do.

“Deacon and I actually opened Grinders before I graduated college. We took out a business loan together and found a place downtown. It worked out great. We already had an apartment close by we were living in while going to school, so it made sense.”

“Do you guys still have an apartment there?”

“Yeah, it’s where we stay when we work late. It’s better than making the forty-five minute drive home at three in the morning.”

“That’s really cool.” She looks down and then shakes her head in disbelief.

“What?”

“Nothing. It’s just . . . I feel like I know you so well. I mean, we’ve had a dozen sessions of twenty questions,” she says, laughing. “But you still seem to surprise me . . . impress me.”

“I’m not trying to impress you.”

“I know. And that makes it even more impressive.”

“Okay, you can stop with the compliments now,” I tell him, feeling my cheeks heat up.

“There’s nothing impressive about opening up a restaurant.”

“No, but it’s impressive to know what you want to do with your life and go after it. So many people sit around waiting for their dreams to come true and sometimes it never happens. They just waste their life away . . . waiting.”

“Yeah, I’m not one of those people.”

“No, you’re not. You’re not a waiter. You’re a go-getter.”

“Now you sound like my dad.”

We sit in comfortable silence, listening to the playlist I put together for our trip. Jimmy Buffett has been singing about cheeseburgers in paradise for the last few miles.

“Speaking of cheeseburgers,” Dani says, and I laugh. “Our next stop is a hamburger joint. Do you like hamburgers?”

“Who doesn’t like hamburgers?”

“Vegetarians?”

“Deep down, I bet even vegetarians crave a big ol’ juicy hamburger.”

She laughs. “I couldn’t be a vegetarian. I like bacon too much.”

“Bacon is the gateway meat.”

“The what?” she asks.

“Gateway meat. It’s the one that sucks them in.”

“Them, who?”

“Vegetarians. It’s basically the marijuana of the meat world.”

She laughs so hard, she claims she might pee her pants. It’s adorable. If she’s not being cute, she’s being adorable, and if she’s not being adorable, she’s being sexy. There’s seriously nothing she could do that wouldn’t affect me.

The rest of the drive goes smoothly with random conversations that make me fall harder and harder for Sheridan Paige Reed.

She decided she wants to drive to Pensacola, Florida today, the farthest destination on our trip, and then slowly make our way back home.

The girl is a genius.

When we find the motel she saw on the internet, we pull into the drive. Both of us hop out, needing to stretch our legs after being in the car for a few hours. It’s still a little early for dinner, so we decide to check into our rooms—
plural.
If we’re going to take things slow, I can’t sleep in the same room as her.

Great Southern Motel.
I’m not sure how great it is, but at least it looks clean. I think I’ll take over on the lodging for the rest of the trip.

“So, I guess we can take a nap or something until dinner time.” She scrunches up her nose, squinting against the sun in her eyes.

“Sure.” I’m not sleepy, though. I’m used to a lot longer, much more tiring days than this. Hanging out and riding in the car with Dani is hardly work. It’s actually something I wouldn’t mind doing every day.

“How about I meet you back out here at seven?”

“It’s a date.”

“A date?”

“Yeah.” We haven’t been on one of those and I want to. I wouldn’t necessarily pick Jerry’s Drive-In, but it’ll work. “Maybe after we eat, we can drive down to the beach. It’s been awhile since I’ve been here.”

“It’s a date,” she says, a warm smile gracing her beautiful face.

I decide to kick my shoes off and lie back on the bed for a few minutes, but a few minutes turns into a forty-minute nap. When I wake up, it’s darker in my room and quiet, except for the water running on the other side of the thin wall in Dani’s room. I still have enough time to clean up before dinner, so I grab my toiletries and turn the shower on, trying not to think of a naked Sheridan Reed on the other side of the wall.

Fifteen minutes later, I’m showered, shaved, and in clean clothes. Looking around the room, I decide to steal the blanket off the bed and toss it in the car, just in case we want it later at the beach. For
sitting
, of course.

When I walk out of the room, Dani is closing her door behind her, and she looks gorgeous—rested, fresh-faced, her hair curled around her shoulders.

“Hey, good lookin’.” That earns me another show-stopping smile. “You goin’ my way?” I ask, pointing to the car.

“Actually, I think you’re going
my
way.”

I laugh, nodding. “That, I am.” I can’t help the ridiculous smile on my face. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier about the direction I’m going.

“What’s that?” she asks, pointing to the folded up blanket.

“For the beach later.”

“Good thinking.”

“Always gotta be prepared,” I say, smiling as I toss it in the back seat before opening her door for her.

“Were you a Boy Scout?” she asks, sliding into her seat.

“Yes, I was. So you know you’re in good hands.”

I shut the door behind her and run around to the driver’s side, ready to get this date started.

A few minutes later, we’re at Jerry’s Drive-In. From the name, I thought it would be one of those places where you park and order from your car, but when we pull into the drive, it looks more like a diner.

“This place has been here since like 1938,” Dani says, grabbing her camera out of its bag. “I love old places like this.”

“Well, let’s go get our burger on,” I say, jumping out of the car and running back around to open her door. She smiles at me when she gets out. Leaning over the door, she kisses me right on the lips.

“What was that for?” I’m not complaining, but it was sudden and unexpected. And it’s the first time she’s initiated a kiss.

“For being sweet and you. Also, thanks for coming with me. This wouldn’t be nearly as fun by myself.”

“Thanks for letting me tag along.” I breathe her in and close my eyes, trying to commit everything about this moment to memory. “Is this an occasion?” I ask.

“It’s our first date.”

“Good, so it’s okay if I do this.” I reach up, cup her jaw, and pull her lips back to mine. She tilts her head to the side, inviting me to deepen the kiss, and I do, completely losing myself in her.

For a split second, I forget we’re standing in the middle of a parking lot.

I forget we’re taking it slow.

Dani’s hands grip the front of my shirt right before she breaks the kiss, inhaling deeply. I look down to see her eyes closed and a small smile on her lips.

“That was . . .”

“The best one yet,” she says.

I chuckle, wiping some of her lip-gloss off the side of my mouth. “We should go in,” I tell her, before I give in to my urges, push her up against this car, and try to compete with the kiss we just had.

When we walk into the tiny restaurant, the waitress takes our drink orders and asks if we need a minute to decide what we want to eat.

“We’ll have the double bacon cheeseburger,” Dani says, handing the menus back without even looking at them. “Two of them. And two Cokes.”

Kay, the waitress, smiles at us, telling us our order will be right out.

“What if I didn’t want a bacon cheeseburger?”

“Too bad. I read all the reviews online and that’s supposed to be the best thing here. I couldn’t let you make a mistake by ordering something sub-par.”

“Thank you for looking out for me.”

“Always.” She smiles as she looks around the restaurant. “While we’re waiting on the food, I’m going to take a few indoor shots. I called ahead and talked to the owner. He’s supposed to be around here somewhere so I can ask him a few questions. I figure we can drive back by tomorrow and I’ll get my outside shots then, when the lighting is better.”

I watch as Dani walks around the place taking pictures, loving the way she focuses in on something other people wouldn’t even notice. After a few minutes, a guy in a white apron steps out of the back and introduces himself. Dani shakes his hand with confidence and sits down at the bar, pulling out her journal. They talk for a few minutes and he beams at her. I know he sees what I see—beauty, intelligence, wit. She’s something special and watching her makes my chest tighten and my insides feel warm.

When she glances back at me and sees our waitress setting two plates down, she points to our food and shakes his hand again before joining me back at our booth.

“These look amazing,” she gushes, sliding back into the booth. She snaps a few shots of the burger on her plate, glances at the screen on the camera, and tries again, until she gets the perfect shot.

I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to fit my mouth around this thing, but Dani doesn’t hesitate. She just picks it up with two hands and dives in. As she bites down on the burger, the ketchup oozes out and clings to both sides of her mouth.

“You’ve got a little something . . .” I say, pointing to my own mouth.

“What?” she asks, still working on the mouthful of cheeseburger. “Here?” She points to her cheek, but not exactly where the ketchup is.

I shake my head. “No.”

“Here?” she asks, pointing to the other side.

“Nope.”

She shrugs and takes another huge bite.

This girl. I love her.

Whoa. What the fuck, Micah?

I choke on air and reach for my drink.

“You okay?” she asks, setting her burger back on her plate.

“Yeah,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck, trying to get my shit together.

“You going to eat that burger, or are you just going to look at it?”

I laugh, shake my head, and pick it up with both hands. Mimicking Dani, I just go for it. All in.

“You got something right there,” she teases, pointing to my face.

Once the car is parked near the beach entrance, I glance over to see Dani taking her shoes off.

“I want to feel the sand on my feet.”

“Good idea.” I push my seat back so I can reach my feet, pull my boots off, and stuff my socks down in them.

“Ready?” I ask after tossing them in the backseat and grabbing the blanket.

“Yep.”

“When’s the last time you were at a beach?” I ask, reaching over to hold her hand as we walk down the boardwalk.

“Years.”

“Me too. Which is crazy since we live so close. Deacon and I used to meet some old college friends down here, but we’ve been busy the last few years running both restaurants.”