“It was awful, but Rowan saved me. You know, I might have died if it weren’t for him.”
Casey gasps. “Really?”
“He was the first person to realize there was a fire, and he ran into my house to carry me out. He’s a hero.”
I twist to look at him, and for the first time since I’ve met him, he looks flustered.
“That’s… Wow.” Casey reaches for my glass of water before she remembers herself and pulls her hand back. “I’m sorry, I just can’t imagine how frightening that must have been. You were lucky Rowan was around.”
I cup his bearded cheek. “Solucky.”
He turns his face and presses a kiss to the inside of my palm. “Feels like I’m the lucky one now that I have you living with me.”
Casey’s brows inch up her forehead. “You’re living together? While the repairs are happening?”
I open my mouth to answer, but Rowan beats me to it. “That’s what she thinks, but I’m determined to convince her to make the move a permanent one.” He squeezes my thigh, as if I’m not breathless enough from just the way he’s ensnared me with his gaze.
“After all, she belongs with me.” The words rumble inside his chest, and something hot twists low in my belly. My pulse travels from the tips of my ears, down to my throat, and keeps moving lower until I feel it between my legs.
Rowan is clearly capable of putting on a performance worthy of an Oscar. He’s so good, I almost believe him.
“Now, Casey,” he says, still holding our eye contact, “if you don’t mind, you’re in my girlfriend’s seat. We’d like to get back to our date.”
In my periphery, I see her get to her feet. She mumbles something apologetic before she hurries away.
Our waitress appears with our meals. I try to get off Rowan’s lap, but he puts pressure on my thighs.
“Stay,” he murmurs into my ear.
“Rowan, we have an audience,” I say out of the corner of my mouth.
“Good.” His lips trace the side of my neck. “I want everyone in this restaurant to know you’re mine, Sunshine.”
My eyes flutter, and I relent.
It’s not because I enjoy the feel of him under me. It’s definitely not because I’m agitated and yet so horribly turned on I want to scream.
People are looking at us, so we might as well act all loved up, right?
I watch him twirl the spaghetti on his fork and lift it to my lips, and I open my mouth like I’m in some kind of a trance.
Jesus. When did I become the kind of woman that lets some man feed her?
But Rowan isn’t justsomeman. I’m starting to think mind control is one of his many talents, because how else do I explain him managing to get so deep under my skin?
“How’s your back, by the way?” Rowan asks. He puts the fork down and drifts his fingers down my spine before stopping at the spot he massaged a few days ago.
“Better.”
He rubs a circle with his thumb, and I feel an echo of his touch someplace else. My skin’s been buzzing ever since he pulled me onto him, and everything’s more sensitive than normal.
When he rubs another circle, pressing harder this time, I do the most embarrassing thing.
I whimper.
“Fuck,” Rowan mutters in a hoarse voice close to my ear.
That one word kills me. Wetness gathers in my panties. I’m burning up, my entire body feeling like it was just plopped into an inferno.
