Breathe Me In

He turned and saw her, a grin breaking over his face, and it was too late for any second thoughts. If he looked good when he was brooding or concentrating, he looked twice as good when he smiled. Hot. Dangerous. Full of mischief. Those dark brows pulled low over equally dark eyes that crinkled at the corners. He trotted over to her and she rolled down her window.

“You came,” he said simply, not losing that smile.

Yes, hopefully I will.

The thought came from nowhere, and everywhere, and Macy hoped her physical response to it didn’t show all over her face. A slow burn began in all the places that didn’t need to burn. Not now. Not for him.

“I wi—I mean, I did. I’m here. Looks like I’m here.” Shit! She took a breath, drew it deep down into her lungs and tried not to show the effort it cost her.

What the hell was it about him? The sexiest cowboy she’d ever met—and she’d met plenty—had never left her this tongue-tied.

Probably because she was in her element with guys like that. She was in her world. With him—whoever he was—she was out on Neptune. Starving for oxygen and a coherent thought where there was none to be found.

This had been a bad idea. She even opened her mouth to say so, but he was opening her car door. “Come on.”

“Um, where?”

He shrugged those broad shoulders. “I don’t know. Don’t care. We can go for a ride if you like. Or we can go inside, or we can just sit out here and talk.”

Going inside wasn’t her favorite of the options; the tattoo parlor freaked her out. She decided right then, before this went any further, that she needed to bite the bullet. “I’m sorry, but…what is your name?”

The grin came back. “Call me Ghost.”

“Ghost?”

“You don’t like it?”

“Well…I guess I just expected a…real name?”

“How conventional.” He jerked his head toward the black car parked a few spaces away. “You coming out? Or you wanna do something else?”

“Just a second.” She took a moment to roll up her window and grab her purse, then she slid out of her safe zone and stood with him in the night. For a moment, the only sound was the faint buzz of the streetlights overhead.

What would they even talk about? She scuffed her boot on the asphalt and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. She’d changed clothes before coming here, opting for jeans and a long-sleeve sparkly tee with her cowboy boots. Something to remind her of who she was and, well, something not quite so revealing. “There’s nothing much to do at this time of night on a Sunday, is there?”

He chuckled. “You must not go to the right places.”

“Well…I’m not really in the mood for shenanigans.”

“Shenanigans. I like that.” He grabbed her hand. His was big and warm and she clasped it back without a second thought. “Let me introduce you to my pride and joy.”

The car. Oh, yeah, she could see how it would be. A GTO, sleek and shiny black, practically glistened under the lights. “I love it. What year?”

“’69.”

She shot him a glance only to see him biting down on a grin. “Let me guess. Your favorite number.”

“Macy!” he said with mock offense.

“Come on. You were dying to say it.”

“We practically just met, and you already think you know me so well.” He popped open the passenger door and gestured inside with a sweep of his arm, that smile promising all sorts of wicked adventures. “Hop in. I’ll show you what she can do.”

“You’ll get me back in one piece, right?”

“I can’t promise that.”

“That’s comforting.”

“Naw, you’re in excellent hands, love.” He nodded toward the car’s shadowy interior. “Let me prove it.”

The endearment made her weak in the knees. Too many more of those, and she might let him prove it beyond his wildest fantasies. Though a guy like him probably had fantasies she couldn’t even fathom.

A final moment of decision, and then she was walking toward him, feeling as if she was leaving behind everything she’d ever known…and it was okay.