“Yours,” she said. “But we can stop, if you want. It’s late.”
He’d already tapped the button for a new randomly generated number, and he held up his phone to show her the six on the screen. “And miss a chance to get a compliment? No way. Tell me something good about myself.”
She compressed her bottom lip with her teeth, as if thinking. He didn’t know if she even realized how close she was sitting to him by now. If he turned at all they’d be practically nose to nose.
“Don’t be so quick with it,” he said dryly. “I’ll get a big head.”
“You smell really good,” she blurted, then covered her face with her hands, like she needed to physically retreat from the words. But he wasn’t about to let her off that easily. He lifted his arm, giving it a sniff.
“Do I?”
“It’s your soap or something,” she said. “It’s not even really a compliment to you. More like a compliment to the products you use. Tell me what kind of soap it is and I’ll leave the company a really nice online review.”
“I know that trick. You want the name so you can buy it for yourself and smell me all the time.”
“I’m not going to buy it—”
“You want to carve a little soap doll of me. It’s sick. I refuse to feed this obsession.”
“More like a voodoo doll, and I know right where I’d stick the first pin.”
Her eyes widened, her mouth in an O, like she only just heard what she’d said and was shocked by her own words. He mirrored the expression right back at her, although he was laughing.
“Damn,” he said. “Okay. I’ll behave my good-smelling self.”
She rolled her eyes, although a smile tugged at her own mouth. “I knew I should’ve just told you I admired your ice skating skills.”
“Whoa.” He turned toward her, holding his hands up in a gesture of wait just a minute there. “Is that a slam on my earlier compliment? Because that was genuine, I’ll have you know. I thought it was really cool that you took the time to give that family a perfect memory. Very un-robot-like.”
“It was quite a nice compliment,” she said with a tilt of her chin. “I appreciated it.”
But he thought he understood. Her compliment to him had left her feeling vulnerable. It wasn’t just about him but about her reaction to him. He had plenty of those kinds of compliments, too. He just hadn’t known if she would welcome one.
Well, here went nothing.
“You look incredibly hot in that dress,” he said.
“Really?” Her voice pitched up in a squeak.
He’d been aiming for a matter-of-fact tone but didn’t quite know if he’d achieved it. If he were talking about a painting in a museum, or a sunset over the beach, he’d be able to talk about it without getting weird, right? He should be able to tell Lauren how the vibrant red of the dress looked against her pale skin, how sexy her delicate ankle bone was where she’d crossed her bare feet, how her mouth . . . her perfect mouth . . .
Was saying something. He mentally shook himself and tried to tune back in.
“I feel stupid for even wearing it,” she said, smoothing down the red skirt. “I know tonight was never going to be a date. Not really.”
“Lauren.” At this point it wasn’t even about playing a game, it was about helping her see the facts that should’ve been in neon lights right in front of her face. “You’re beautiful. You’re always beautiful. Yesterday I would’ve said your best bet to get Daniel’s head out of his ass long enough to notice it would’ve been to glue his phone to your forehead. But tonight . . .” He let his gaze drop to the small swell of her breasts under the red fabric, the slight gap that opened up between the neckline and her skin when she took a shallow breath. When he looked up again, her eyes were two bright, black sparks.
“Tonight I would say that your best bet is definitely that dress.”
Chapter
Thirteen
You’re always beautiful. Asa had definitely outdone himself with the compliments, and it hadn’t even been his turn to give any. But it was the throwaway tone to his voice when he’d said that particular one that made her actually believe it.
And there was that flare in his eyes as he’d looked her over. It was hard not to believe that, too.
She was attracted to Asa Williamson. She didn’t know exactly when it had happened—probably sometime around when she was sniffing him in the break room—but there it was. And for the first time, she thought maybe there was a chance that he reciprocated the feeling.