Professor took my spot while Pollack acted like she might attack the front door as teenagers hooted on the street.
“Don’t worry, Polly,” Aaron said, grabbing his cell. “Deputy Dickhead will give them a lecture.”
Pollack growled at the kids then decided they might not be able to hear her so she ran to the front door to make her voice heard.
As he searched for the number of the pizza place, Aaron grinned. “My neighbor a few doors down is an Ellsberg deputy and he thinks he’s top shit. There are two kinds of cops as far as I can tell. The cops who believe in the system and the ones who believe in themselves. Deputy Dickhead thinks he’s the law and his word is fucking set in stone. He’s always sticking his bitch nose in everyone’s business.”
Aaron rolled his eyes and I saw he was genuinely pissed. “If a neighbor complains about a dog barking too much, old dickhead comes over to give that person a lecture. He tried giving me one about sitting on the porch without a shirt. I told him to fuck off. Then, he gave me a lecture about using profanity around children. My fucking neighbors are mostly old people or teachers at the college. The youngest fucking person on the block is sixteen and she cusses worse than I do. Logic doesn’t matter where Dickhead is concerned. He’s a royal asshole and Pollack hates him. She nearly bit off his damn finger that he wears a stupid fucking giant ring on. The ring is some big deal and he tried to tell me about it, but I couldn’t give two shits about his life. He’s why people hate cops.”
“You know what your problem is?” I said as he texted our order for two pizzas – one meat lover, one Hawaiian.
“What?” Aaron muttered.
“You’re an introvert. You need to learn to open up more about how you feel.”
Aaron laughed. “The guy pisses me off. He’s going to shoot someone eventually or use a Taser on an old woman. Some fucked up shit. There are just some people who shouldn’t be given a lick of authority, let alone a gun.”
“Bossy men are the worst,” I said as my hand disappeared up his tee. “My stepdads have always been assholes. It seems to be the one thing all of the women in my family have in common. Bad taste in men.” When Aaron caught my gaze, I smiled brightly. “I like being the exception to the rule. It makes me special.”
“Fuck yeah, you are,” he said, kissing me then hitting send on his text. “Pizzas will be here in a few minutes. Want to do more of the newlywed thing or something else?”
Grinning, I straddled Aaron since Professor was sound asleep in my old spot.
“We can do the question answer thing when the pizzas get here. Let’s do something we can’t do when eating.”
Aaron wrapped his hands around my waist and snuggled our hips closer. I ignored how hard he already felt. There was no time for such concerns. The pizzas would arrive soon and I wasn’t interested in rushing once our clothes were off. No, I hoped we would take our time.
Chapter Twenty - Aaron
Despite her love of pineapple on pizza, Lark was perfection. I felt like a love starved moth drawn to the light of her smile. Lark smiled a lot too, but I had already learned to tell the difference between the fake smiles of someone putting on a show and her genuine smiles. Lark’s green eyes revealed the truth. Every time she looked at me, I knew her interest was real. This was no Kristen situation where she said the right things and I never questioned her heart. With Lark, I knew her heart already belonged to me.
I made her laugh too. No one thought I was funny. Maybe Cooper laughed, but most people thought I was the artist or voice of reason. Lark thought I was everything. Funny and smart too. Hell, she was even curious how I named my dogs.
“Pollack is for Jackson Pollack, right?” she asked, making me want to kiss all over her again. “Why Professor though?”
Finished with the pizza, I shoved the rest in the frig and returned to sit across from her.
“It’s for Professor Longhair.”
“I don’t know who that is.”
Smiling like a crazy man, I couldn’t wait to share everything with her. I even considered showing off my paintings of her, but worried she might think I was a stalker or obsessed freak. Figuring I better let her get to know me before I showed off my weirder side, I was keeping the paintings to myself for the time being.
Once Professor Longhair played his rocking blues, Lark moved to the music.
“I used to love to dance.”
I nearly asked what made her stop until remembering how her brother died while she practiced for dance class. Based on how the light in her eyes dimmed, I sensed she was remembering that too.
“You are so beautiful,” I said, hoping to distract her.
Lark grinned, seeing my ploy. “I always wanted to fall for a boy with pretty blue eyes. It’s like God made you just for me.”
“You make it very hard for me to think.”
“And you make me feel like Thunder Kitten again.”
Speechless, I just stared and Lark burst into hysterics.