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"No, ma'am," he said with that wry smile she liked. In prison, inmates were required to be formal with the C.O.'s. Always "yes, ma'am," or "no, sir." Hearing those two words on Marius's lips was a pleasant distraction and pure fantasy material combined.
She shifted closer and touched his mouth, this time in a more functional way, punctuation to her question. "How did you do that? The crooked lip."
"Guy with brass knuckles. I kept clear of them for most of the fight, but had to risk them up close and personal one time to get in a solid shot to his gut and drop him. It doubled him over and I finished him off with a knee to his face that broke his nose, so we both got bloody."
"It does seem so." She took her touch away, quelling her irritation with his disregard for his own life. He was so matter-of-fact, reminding her of her high school years, being around boys who boasted about carrying guns and dealing drugs. Thank God, that world hadn't been directly part of her middle-class suburban one, but it wasn't as far from that of her closest friends, so she'd had exposure. Still, thinking of how Marius jeopardized himself bugged her, probably more than it should at this point in their relationship.
Proving it, she realized he'd pulled something out of his pocket for her to see and she was looking down at it without seeing it. She was caught up in visions of him with his face torn up and bloody, no hands to wipe the blood away and tend to him, other than his own. He'd become quiet and tense, deducing from her silence she wasn't pleased. Then she saw what he was holding. She seized his wrist in a death grip, making him jump as if she'd sprung out at him from behind a door.
"No fucking way. Oh my God. Seriously?" She practically squealed like a teenager. Laughter at herself took over, warmth rushing through her body. "All right, who told you? How did you find out I love Boyz II Men?"
He shrugged with his usual cocky assurance, but his eyes were twinkling in an unguarded way, a surprised reaction to her ebullience. "Didn't I say a guy never revealed his sources?" Handing her the tickets to hold, he opened the passenger door with a flourish. "First, we'll get dinner at a great Lebanese place I know, then we'll hit the concert. Polish off things with a stroll on the Riverwalk before I drop you back off at your car."
"Okay. Sounds good." Actually, the Lebanese place gave her pause, since she was a Southern comfort food kind of girl, but she'd charged him with planning the date, and she'd see where it went. He'd pretty much already put it over the top with the tickets. She could handle a little foreign food.
"One more 'this is awesome' reaction." She did an impromptu hip hop dance that surprised another grin out of him. "Fair warning, I may throw my underwear up on stage."
He held up both hands. "Just don't expect me to do it. I'm not wearing any."
She snorted on another laugh and put a hand on his arm, letting her palm slide along it as she folded her long body into the seat. The car was still as clean as she'd noted at The Zone, and he'd put a flat black cushion over the duct tape repair on her side so she was comfortable. Unlike in a lot of older cars, the door didn't squeak when he closed it. Clean and well-maintained.
She appreciated that combination. As he moved around the hood, all snug jeans, obvious muscles and steely gray eyes, strong chin and a fantastic ass, she decided she liked it a lot.
The Lebanese place was a cross between deli and diner, with a large horseshoe display case in the center of the room displaying a sampling of all their foods, desserts and carryout options. The hostess showed them to a corner table in the back and Marius held Regina's chair for her. As she perused the menu with a faint frown between her brows, he touched the top of it. "Have you eaten Lebanese food before?"
She shook her head. "This will be a first."
"May I order for both of us?"
Her gaze slid to his and she set her menu aside, folding her arms on the table. "Yes. Since you asked so prettily. But I don't like a lot of weird flavors, and I fall on the mild to medium end of hot and spicy."
His lips quirked. "I'd argue with that."
She made a face at him. "Order my food."
"Your wish is my command." He gestured to the waiter. As she watched, he ordered a selection of what sounded like mostly appetizers. Should she tell him to knock it off, the flirty D/s references? Maybe not. It was a part of who they were. Maybe he was treating it like that because he was nervous. She saw signs of that, in the way he put his hand on the table, down below it, then back up again to tap a finger against the table top, an unconscious tic. The intent of the date was to take him out of his comfort zone. So far it appeared to be working. Though he might not see that as an appealing thing, it wasn't his wishes that would matter tonight. Hers would take care of both of them.
After the waiter left them, he flattened his palm against the table, as if realizing the reveal. "So is it okay to ask questions like we would on a normal date?"
She took a sip of the ice water the waiter had left her. She might have ordered a beer or wine, but she wanted her head sharp and clear tonight. Marius had stuck with water, but he was on a fifty-dollar budget. When he had that occasional beer he'd mentioned, she expected he was a Budweiser guy. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"Privacy is an issue for most folks at the club. We don't usually ask what anyone does for a living, or about family or where we live, unless someone volunteers the information."
"True." She leaned against her crossed arms again. His gaze slid over her breasts and the interesting effect on them under the sparkling shirt. When he noticed her noticing, his smile became even more male.
"Like you said, no reason not to look. I want the woman I'm with to know she's appreciated."
"Well, her tits at least," Regina said dryly. He toasted her with the water, not denying it, and she shook her head at him. "So are those the kind of things you want to know about me? What I do for a living?"
He shrugged. "Small talk. It's what you do on a date, right? Figure out more about each other, the surface stuff that breaks the ice and gets us that much closer to sex."
She chuckled, though he didn't appear to mean it as a joke. "You think that's all it's about?"
"Mostly. Some people want to get to know one another ahead of time, but you can watch them and see the hope for sex is in the driver's seat."
"They could be interested in each other and want to have sex. They're not mutually exclusive."
He looked doubtful. "Even if that's true, until the sex is out of the way, it's hard to get to that."
