Blowout (EBOOK)

He watched all of that in fascination.
Then her eyes came to his…and he braced.
She was going to keep trying to let him down easily.
God, he wanted to touch her, to kiss her, to hold her close until the uncertainty in the dark brown depths faded.
But she didn’t want that.
So, all he could do was leave her be.
“I get it, gorgeous.” He smiled a smile that he’d perfected over the years, one that had disarmed his parents, turned their worry from him when they had too much on their plates and didn’t need to focus on his petty, unimportant kid-drama. “No hard feelings. Promise.” A wink, his lips curving further, tone lightening. “I’m used to rejection.”
And, just like it had growing up, that smile paired with the light words worked.
Jules relaxed again, rolling her eyes and shaking her head at him. “I’m sure,” she said dryly.
“It’s true,” he teased, tugging open the door (much more gently than the octopi couple) and waving at her to proceed ahead of him. “My heart has been stepped on so many times over the years, I’m sure that it’s basically just pulp.”
Her laughter filling the hall…filling his heart.
Then she shook her head again, her smile as she looked back at him joining that laughter in his heart, and gestured to his table as they strode into the busy barroom. “Go sit down and”—another glance over her shoulder that didn’t do anything to assuage his need to kiss her—“if you behave, I’ll bring you one of Cody’s freshly baked cookies.”
Cas had a sweet tooth.
And he loved Cody’s cookies.
But he knew that tonight, it would sit heavy in his gut, no matter how tasty.
Because he’d shot his shot.
And he’d fucked it up.