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She smiled at him. “If you brought me here, I’m sure the food is great. But the company is even better, and that’s why I’m here.”
“Aw, now you’re going to make me blush.”
“I doubt I could. Somehow, I get the feeling you’ve seen it all.”
And done it, too. But she didn’t need to know that.
“You come here a lot?” Heavenly asked.
Before he could answer, Angelo, an older man with a big belly and thinning silver hair, hurried their way. “Good to see you again, Dr. Beckman.” He shook Beck’s hand enthusiastically and sent Heavenly a welcoming smile. “Your table is ready. I don’t take lunch reservations, but for you, I made an exception. Now I know why you insisted.”
“Angelo, this is Heavenly.”
He took her hand between his, soft and spotted with age. “A lovely name for a lovely woman.”
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure. The doctor has been coming here for years, and I always think he should not come alone. Yet he always does. So today, we celebrate.”
Shit, if that didn’t make him sound lonely and desperate.
Heavenly turned to him with shock in her bright smile. “If I’m the first person you’ve brought here, coming here is even more special to me.”
That seemed to delight Angelo. “Follow me. I will show you to your table and bring your wine while you decide what you’d like to feast on today.”
Beck already knew; he wanted to feast on the gorgeous little girl at his side.
When they passed through the dining room and reached the cozy alcove tucked in a private hallway off the back of the kitchen, he motioned Heavenly into the lone booth. Beck slid in beside her as Angelo handed them each menus and left.
“We really are alone.” She glanced around, seemingly surprised not to see a single soul.
Beck smiled. “Tell me what you’re hungry for.”
Heavenly studied the menu. “What’s good?”
“Everything.” When she flipped a page, then another, followed by another still and frowned, he cut in. “Do you want me to order your lunch?”
“Please.”
After Angelo reappeared with a bottle of red wine and poured them each a glass, Beck ordered. Then the old man hurried away with a wink.
Finally, he and Heavenly were alone.
Beck handed her a glass of vino. As he raised his own, he studied her rosy lips. She licked them nervously.
Fuck, he’d fantasized about today a million times.
“Remember when I told you we were more than friends?” He slid a knuckle down her cheek.
Heavenly nodded shyly. “That made me happy. I thought for so long that my feelings were one-sided.”
“Not at all. I don’t merely like you.” He leaned closer, took her hand. “You intrigue me. I want you and I can’t stop thinking about you. I’ve pursued you more than I have any woman—ever. And somehow, someway, I intend to have you.”
She swallowed, scanning his eyes, seeming to test his sincerity.
He let the gravity on his face speak his truth. “I’m telling you this because I’m not good at romance, but I want you to know that if my feelings change, it will only be because they’ve grown stronger.”
“You can’t know that—”
“I can. I know what I feel. And I’m mad about you.” He ran his finger along her jawline. “I’m consumed with you.”
Heavenly stared mutely, breathing, blinking, pulse pounding in her neck.
He pinned her hand between his. “Are you afraid?”
“No.” Her answer was breathless and immediate.
He reined in a smug smile. “Good. I can’t make apologies for who I am, but when I’m wrong, I say I’m sorry. I won’t always be easy on you, but I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.”
“I’m happy when I spend time with you. I don’t expect more from you than that.”
“You should, and I want you to. I’ve spent months studying you for a reason. I needed to know what you need.” He kissed her hand. “I think I’ve figured out what you want.”
She stilled. “What do you mean?”
“Your body told me your deepest fantasies without saying a word the night I took you to the art gallery.”
Now she looked nervous. “I was responding to art.”
“You were responding to sex. You like the idea of being adored while being made to submit, of being orally pleasured, of being controlled and overpowered and fucked. But most of all, you like bondage. You ache to be tied up and utterly helpless. At my mercy. You’ve thought about it since that night, haven’t you?”
A flush swept up her face, not the sweet blushing pink he often saw, but a blazing, undeniable red. Her plump lips parted. No words came out, but her rapt expression told him everything.
“I want to explore a few of those things with you today, Heavenly. Are you willing to give it—and me—a chance?”
She fidgeted. “I’m nervous.”
“I know. But I chose this booth for a reason. No one can see us. Angelo won’t disturb us after he brings our appetizer.”
