“Have I?” Lyric said in a husky way.
His eyes dropped to her mouth, and then went lower, to the V of her flannel shirt. As his lids dropped down, she knew he was imagining her naked. Maybe on her back on his bed. Maybe as he hovered over her, in between her legs.
“Oh, yeah,” he replied in a deep voice. “Most definitely.”
Dev was very sure that the food was as good as the last three times Mrs. Aoun had forced dinner on him, but he couldn’t say he was tasting anything much. The woman across the table from him was his sole focus, and if there was a way to look past or through her, he wasn’t interested in knowing it.
After she left tonight?Thatwas when he was going to start searching for ways to forget her—and hey, in a way, he was paying that graft forward. If they fucked? Then he’d get her out of his system easier. No problem.
And on her part? No doubt she just wanted to live a little on the wild side, the classic pretty, rich princess slumming it with a manual laborer storyline. Perfect compatibility right there.
Both of them were scratching itches, and neither was personal.
“So this was really good,” she deflected as she put her fork down and pushed her plate off a little.
“Glad it’s not just me.” He put his last bite in his mouth. “About the food, that is. Good to know.”
“Mm-hmm.” She frowned. “You don’t have a grandmother alive to cook for you?”
“No. And Mrs. Aoun doesn’t have anyone to feed, either.”
“Another case of destiny.”
“Guess so.” Rising to his feet, he took both their plates over to the sink. “I’m luckier than she is, though. I get all these eats.”
“I don’t know.” She glanced over to his pulled drapes, and seemed to stare at them like there was a view showing in all those black folds. “My grandmother isn’t happy unless she’s in her kitchen and folks are coming over. Modern life thinks that’s something that should be shamed or avoided at all costs—you know, the traditional gender role thing. But she takes great pride in what she provides, and her table is a hub for all kinds of people.”
Leaning back against the counter, he crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t have dessert to offer you. Sorry.”
Those blue and green eyes shifted in his direction, and he didn’t bother to hide what was showing on his face. The transition from eating to fucking was only going to be as awkward as they made it, and on his side, he wasn’t feeling awkward at all. He was ready to go.
“Aren’t you hot?” she said softly. “In that windbreaker?”
“Nothing under it. I get hot when I run.”
“Then…” The blonde cleared her throat. “Maybe you should take it off.”
Dev shifted his weight so he was standing up, took the hem, and got to pulling the thing up and over his head. As his chest was revealed to her, he totally approved of the way her stare lingered on his pecs and his abs, but she stayed where she was. Fine. To give her time to consider exactly where they were going with all this, he walked over to the coatrack and forced the lightweight Gore-Tex onto an overstuffed peg of outerwear. As he turned around, he was well aware of everything that was showing at the front of his running tights, but there was no reason to hide the thickening.
He was prepared to give it to her if she wanted it.
And going by the way that gaze traveled down to the juncture of his thighs?
“I’m gonna be real with you,” he said. “You can leave now. But if you don’t go, I’m coming over there and picking you up. And guess where you’re headed after that.”
“Where,” she breathed.
“Under me.” He pointed to his bed. “Over there.”
When her hands tangled and twisted in her lap, he wondered if he wasn’t pushing her too hard. Maybe this was just a game of tease and retreat, and if that was the case, cool. Might be better in the long run for him anyway.
But then she really did need to go because he had some business he had to take care of. At least if he ever wanted to sit down again.
As she cleared her throat, he was ready for a bullshit excuse about her having to get home to let a dog out. Feed a cat. Go check on that grandmother of hers—
“Then you better come get me.”
She barely got the words out before Dev stalked over and made good on his promise. He didn’t even give her a chance to stand up. He shoved the table away from her, the screech as feet scraped across the parquet floor loud as a scream. Swooping down, he put an arm around her shoulders and hooked the other under her knees. Her weight barely registered as he lifted her.
