Page 44 of Rescuing Brinley

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Just checking in. I never want to do anything that you don’t want to do. Or have you go along with something just because you think it’s what I want to do.”

“I’m good, Dash. Promise. I’m comfortable around you, which isn’t something I’ve felt around a man in…maybe…ever? You don’t make me feel as if you find me lacking in any way. You look me in the eyes when we talk, you aren’t checking out your phone or looking around to see if anyone might be judging you for being with someone like me. Even if we don’t do anything after today, if we decide that we aren’t compatible as anything more than friends, thank you for helping me experience what it feels like to be out with someone who’s comfortable around me.”

“Honey, we need to work on your self-esteem. You’ve obviously been hanging around with the wrong kind of men. Because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. You aren’t lacking in any way. And I’ll tell you right now, before we go anywhere else, I already want to see you again. If being friends is all you want, I’ll try to be okay with that, but that’s not where I’m hoping things between us go. You can’t imagine the stuff I’ve been fantasizing about. You’d probably run the other way if you did. I want you, Brinley. As a friend, a lover, and a partner.”

She stared at him with wide eyes that reminded him of a princess in a Disney cartoon. That green gaze was fucking beautiful, and he hated that it held such surprise.

“Dash,” she whispered.

His belly rolled with anticipation and nerves. He couldn’t screw this up.

Slowly, he leaned toward her, and pleasure filled him when she met him halfway.

He kissed her, light and easy.

But she wasn’t having that. She brought a hand to his neck and pulled him closer as she tilted her head. She licked his lips, and he opened for her.

The kiss turned carnal—and it was all Shadow could do not to pull her over onto his lap and beg her to take his cock inside her. He forced himself to pull back, but not too far. He rested his forehead against hers.

“You taste like coffee and peanut butter,” he murmured.

“So do you.”

“I like it.”

“Me too.”

Shadow lifted his head. “So…will you go out with me again? Soon?”

Brinley smiled. “We haven’t finished our first date.”

“So?”

Her grin widened. “I’d like that.”

“Good. Are you hungry?”

She nodded.

“Awesome. Me too. Let’s get out of here. Gotta feed my woman.”

Shadow lifted a hand and smoothed back some of the strands of hair that had escaped their confines. He loved that her hair wouldn’t be tamed. That no matter how hard she tried to keep it tied back, wisps inevitably escaped.

He couldn’t stop himself from leaning in and kissing her again, but he kept it light and quick.

Her face was flushed once more, and he freaking loved knowing she was so into him, as much as he was into her. He wasn’t going to rush this.

He drove to the restaurant and they went inside, once more holding hands. She sat next to him instead of across from him in the booth, showing him without words that she was enjoying his company, his proximity.

Just after their salads arrived, while they were deep in discussion about whether the long summer nights of no darkness were better than the long winter days with limited sunlight, her phone rang. She pulled it out of her purse, frowned, and put it back after silencing the ringer.

“Everything okay?” he asked, not liking the look on her face. It was a mixture of frustration, irritation…and even a bit of fear. It was the latter that hit him the hardest and had his hackles rising.

“Yeah.”

The sound of her phone ringing again was impossible to miss, but she made no move to answer it.