Read From the Moment We Met for Free Online Page B

joyride,” he said, smiling when her only response was a long, weighted silence. Guilt did that to a person—especially Abby. “But if I hadn’t been banned from the dance, I would have wanted to go with you.”
    At that she looked up, and the expression she shot Tanner about singed his soul. He wasn’t joking about his night vision. Lit only by the faint glow of the moonlight, he could make out that her big brown eyes were slit into a glare that was too frosty for his taste, and her lips twitched slightly as though trying not to laugh in his face. A task at which she failed miserably.
    “And we were in high school,” he added as though that made up for the fact that he had taken her virginity in a wine cave.
    He’d gone there with good intentions; she’d called him crying and upset and needing a friend. What happened after he’d arrived, after she’d started kissing him . . . well, he hadn’t been thinking like a friend. Worse, he’d behaved exactly like people expected him to.
    “I was actually talking about junior year of college, after the UC All-Star Bowl,” she said.
    Now, there was an image. “Well, you were wearing red kick pants, I thought it was a go.”
    “My whole cheer team was wearing red kick pants,” she said, fumbling around in her purse and coming up with a tape measure and a little notebook. “But with that lovely reminder, you can help me out by leaving.”
    Not waiting for him to respond, she turned her back on him and, hands out in front of her, blindly searched for her flashlight. He watched her for a good minute, especially focused when she dropped to all fours, shaking that heart-stopping ass for his viewing pleasure, then started back toward him, giving him something else entirely to focus on. The moonlight cast a faint glow across her face and the generous shot of cleavage she had going on.
    “And leave you here to fend for yourself? Nah.” He took one step, bent over, and picked up the flashlight, clicking it on. “Looking for this?” When she just stared up at him, irritated and a little confused, he added, “Night vision, remember?”
    There went that glare again. It should have been scary as shit to be hit with that look, but considering she was on her knees and her overall adorableness, it only managed to turn him on and make him smile.
    With a huff, she stood and he lost his view—and the flashlight. “Thank you. Now you can go.”
    Instead of heading out the back door like he should have, he followed her to the front part of the warehouse and braced a hip against an entry-wall arch she was sizing up.
    She ignored him, scribbled a few notes in that notebook of hers, then, flashlight stuck between those pursed lips, reached up to measure the height from the top of the arch to the floor. Only she was too short.
    She tried again, giving a little hop that did nothing but make him grin, then kicked the wall—twice—and mumbled something about the male gender that was way too dirty to be darling.
    Smart man that he was, he silently took one end of the measuring tape from her clutches and pulled it all the way up until it touched the highest point of the archway—being six five had its benefits.
    Abby paused for a moment, as though deciding if she wanted to kick him or just write down the measurement so she could get away from him faster. Amazingly, she took option two, and they worked their way around to the back part of the room, him reaching the tall parts and her making detailed notes.
    If she was thankful for the help, she didn’t say. In fact she didn’t speak at all. So when they moved into the main part of the warehouse, he was surprised when she opened her mouth.
    “I guess Babs was one of the investors in Richard’s winery.” She looked over her shoulder and snapped the measuring tape, and he flinched. “But I assume you already knew that, considering you’re Ferris’s new go-to guy and all.”
    “Yeah.” He knew. Although Ferris wasn’t his