Page 96 of Lucky In Love
“Oh, right. Sorry. I don’t have anything in the way of a wall, but I can turn around and promise not to look until you tell me you’re dressed.”
Mindy nodded quickly. “Um, okay. Thanks.”
Giving her what I hoped was a polite smile, I turned around and put my hands on my hips and stared at the cinderblock wall in front of me. There was an old water stain from when the window leaked during last year's storms, and I focused on it. “So, what made you bail on a date before ordering food?”
There was rustling of fabric behind me. “You want to talk about my failed date? Right now?”
I chuckled. “Unless you want relative silence where I will fail at pretending not to listen to you change. I can tell a terrible date story, too, to even the score.
She snickered and then let out a tiny yelp when a significantly louder crack of thunder exploded outside. “Okay. Miserable date story time it is.”
The tell-tale metallic sound of a zipper going down had me swallowing and immediately counting the cement blocks on the wall. All I could think about was if her hips and thighs were still as powerful and gorgeous as they were last summer, when she and her best friend were having a dance party on the back deck.
Now is not the time.
“Well, it started when I ordered whiskey on the rocks.”
I tipped my head to the side, grinning about the same liquor sitting in the plastic tote on top of my fridge. “Excellent choice.”
She let out a tiny grunt, and there was a wet flop. “Finally. I thought I'd never peel those off.”
I glanced up at the ceiling, took a slow breath in, and held it for a couple seconds as I willed my dick not to make an appearance. Lord, why are you testing me? I saved her from being stranded in her car during a tornado. Cut me some slack, please? I cleared my throat. “So, what was his problem with you ordering whiskey? I do it all the time.”
Mindy let out a slight chuckle as I heard the rustling of fabric. “Oh, right. Well, according to him, ladies aren’t supposed to order straight whiskey.”
I just shook my head. “Do I even want to know why?”
“Apparently only old men and pretentious alcoholics drink their whiskey straight. And then when I didn’t want his hand up my shirt or in my crotch, he called me a prude.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but a bright flash of light outside caught my attention. As a near-deafening clap of thunder immediately rattled the house, the lights flickered and then went dark. “Damn, that one was close.” After a couple of seconds, the lights came on again, but it was oddly silent behind me. “Mindy?”
Nothing.
“Mindy, if you don’t answer, I'm going to turn around.” When the only response was a whimper, I spun on my heel. She was sitting on the ground, now wearing my shorts, with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her face was down, covered by her wet hair, and her entire body was shaking. I rushed to her side, kneeling next to her. “Hey, you okay?”
Mindy nodded and then shook her head.
“Those are mixed signals, Min. I need a clear answer.”
She took a shaky breath before picking up her head, locking her gaze on me. “I hate storms… and I hate being in the dark.”
The fear in her bright blue eyes and the tremble in her voice gutted me. “I can fix this.” Standing up, I rushed over to the tote on top of the fridge, opened it, and pulled out a battery-powered lantern, immediately turning it on. “Ta da! Let there be light.”
Mindy let out a shaky breath that sounded like a half-hearted chuckle, and when I looked over, she was standing again, arms crossed over her chest. “Well, aren’t you the prepared one?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I gestured to the mini lounge in the corner.
A smile appeared on her face as she nodded. “Fair enough.”
My shorts looked entirely too good on her, and I wanted to be closer to her without being a creep. “You warm enough? It can get chilly down here sometimes.”
She shrugged. “I’m okay.”
I gestured to the couch, happy to see I'd left a blanket draped over the back of it. That will be useful later. “Well, then make yourself comfortable.”
She sat on the side closest to the corner, and just as I took my spot next to her, more thunder shook the house and the power went out again. Mindy dropped her head in her hands, took a deep breath, and I could have sworn I heard her mumbling, “It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything is fine.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” What I wanted was to pull her into my arms and hold her, but once again, I didn't want to freak her out. Just about the time I was going to go to the tote on the fridge and pull out the whiskey, she finally responded.