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With the parking spots directly in front all occupied, Blake found an available space along a side street beneath a row of mature trees.
Devon glanced around as he shut off the engine.
“So you’ve been here before?”
“A few times.” Blake grinned as he climbed out. “The food here is excellent.”
The neighborhood was busy without being overcrowded. A couple walked past with a golden retriever in tow, and a taxi was waiting by the curb a bit farther down the block.
Blake reached for Devon’s hand as they started down the sidewalk.
“Still hungry?”
“Are you kidding? I could probably scarf down two full entrees by myself at this point.”
He laughed. “That’s my girl.”
She glanced up at him, and he realized what he’d said a second too late. For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Devon smiled.
“Your girl, huh?”
Blake held her gaze. “That bother you?”
The look in her eyes deepened with a slow shake of her head. “I like it.”
He leaned down and kissed her. Just once. But the quick kiss made him want to forget lunch entirely.
When he straightened, the emotion reflected in Devon’s eyes matched what he felt inside.
“Come on. It’s just around the corner.”
They continued toward the quiet intersection, passing a narrow alley between the two buildings to their left. A delivery van was parked in the street with its flashers on, and a man in a business suit stood outside a coffee shop at the end of the block.
Devon was telling Blake about a programming project she’d worked on several years earlier when he noticed a dark SUV turning onto the side street behind them.
He barely gave it a second glance.
But then he heard the engine accelerate. Hard. Blake turned his head, his eyes immediately growing wide.
The SUV was coming straight toward them.
It wasn’t drifting. There was no swerving to avoid them. The damn thing was aiming straight for them.
They’re going to hit us!
“Devon!”
The SUV jumped the curb. Tires shrieked against concrete. The front bumper missed Blake by inches.
He twisted, attempting to shield Devon with his body. They hit the pavement hard. Devon’s head struck the edge of a low stone planter.
The SUV roared past them, clipping the planter before bouncing back onto the street.
A horn blared. Tires squealed. A woman screamed from somewhere nearby. But Blake barely registered any of it.
He was too busy carefully rolling Devon toward him, his heart sick when he realized she wasn’t moving.
