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If she could hear his heart hammering away at the touch of her, she wouldn’t question his feelings about her.
“Gotta play the part.” He’d meant for it to be a joke, but his voice was still snarly and too deep, and the words had come out more serious-sounding than he’d intended. He hated the look of hurt in her eyes before she turned away from him and released his hand. Damnit. Garret cracked his knuckles to try and rid himself of the tingling her missing warmth had caused across his palm. Fix it. “I haven’t eaten yet. Do you want to sit with me?”
Her brow furrowed. “Are you wanting me to fix you a plate?”
That she was willing to pull the worst from any kind offer he had for her bothered him. “Nope, you don’t have to coddle me. Just wondered if you wanted to sit by me.”
“Okaaay,” she said, as if she was suspicious of him.
It was close to dinnertime, and he and Burke filled their plates while the girls perused the desserts table.
“Do you want anything from over here?” Eliza asked. Her face looked so unsure about that question, like she was waiting for him to snap at her or something. He didn’t like it, but really, he had no one to blame but himself and his wolf for that one.
“I only want to try your pie,” he answered.
Eliza jerked her head up in surprise. “Which one?”
“The peach one, if there’s any left. Peach is my favorite.”
“It’s my favorite pie too! Do you want anything else?” she asked, after plopping the last available slice of her peach pie onto the plate she held.
“Nope. That’s the only thing that sounds good.” Garret headed in the direction of an empty table. Burke and Lenny followed after they were done filling plates.
Eliza hadn’t gotten anything for herself, and she was watching him dig into his plate, so as nonchalantly as he could manage, he pushed the pie plate in front of her.
“Is that all you’re eating?” he asked after she’d taken a few bites.
“I had a big lunch, and besides, I’m too excited to eat a lot right now. That was so fun! And I’ve met so many nice people today.”
“You’ve charmed the pants off damn near every man here, even the married ones.” That pride swelled in him again. He knew it was wrong to delight in her tempting other men, but he couldn’t help it. Men wanted her, and she was sitting next to him, sharing a piece of pie with him. She’d let him kiss her right there in front of everyone. She’d shared a sandwich with him in front of a crowd earlier. She hadn’t balked when he’d told the party she was his.
Jimmy Yule didn’t have a chance in hell at turning her head. Garret would work harder to keep her focus on him.
“My Aunt Elizabeth would be appalled at how much I’ve eaten today,” she admitted softly. “And she would be appalled at what I just did.”
“Outshoot half the men here?” he guessed, confused.
“No, lifting my skirts like that in front of men.”
“You were just showin’ me your shoes.” He shoved his plate between them and leaned forward enough to reach for the hem of her dress under the table. He hiked it up and slid his hand to the inside of her thigh.
Eliza gasped, but she didn’t wiggle out of his grasp. God, he loved every noise she made when she reacted to him.
She reached under the table and gripped onto his forearm, like she didn’t want him to move off her. Garret glanced around, but no one seemed to be paying attention to them. He leaned toward her, placed his lips next to her earlobe, and whispered, “I don’t mind you hiking that skirt up around me, woman. You do that too much in front of other males though, and you’ll see a side of me you hate.” He gave into the urge and nipped at her earlobe, froze there for a moment as she allowed a soft groan. The devil’s grin took his face as he eased back, squeezed her warm inner thigh, and then settled the hem of her dress back into place.
“I don’t…” Her words were breathless, and her pupils were blown out as she stared up at him.
“You don’t what?” he growled. Fuck, he wanted to take her somewhere private and see what other noises she knew how to make for him.
“I don’t know what my body is doing. It’s something big.”
Garret inhaled deeply and rolled his eyes closed. She smelled ready for him. Oh, he could guess what her body was doing. She was getting wet for him.
Good.
“Eat all you want, woman. Your Aunt Elizabeth ain’t here, and I like your curves just fine.”
Eliza swallowed hard and looked around. Pink tinted her cheeks, and she looked baffled as she scooped up a forkful of his potatoes with a shaky hand. “Someone could’ve just seen that,” she whispered, attention on the plate.
