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“You’re scowling. Is something wrong?”
“Don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t work out between you two. He’s going home to New York soon. You should be careful.”
She frowned. “I-I thought Seth was your friend and he’d be safe to date. Was I wrong?”
The litany of reasons Seth would be terrible for her rolled through his brain. Captain America might not have a sadistic streak, but that hardly meant he was a saint. Then again, every one of the reasons Seth wasn’t good for Heavenly was doubly true for himself. Unfortunately, logic didn’t stop Beck from wanting her. And if Seth had managed to seduce her, he’d skip the man-to-man chat and rip the asshole in two.
“I only met him a couple of weeks ago. But he’s been…very popular with the ladies since coming to LA.”
“He’s already dated other girls here?”
Beck smiled tightly. “I don’t know that I’d call it dating.”
“Oh.” She looked crestfallen. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. He’s handsome. And charming. He made me laugh and… Of course other women would find him as hard to resist as I do.”
How difficult had it been? Too hard to bother?
At the thought, Beck’s stomach turned and he pushed his sandwich away, untouched. “If you need me to tell him to back off—”
“He’s not bothering me. But if he’s really, um…busy and he’s going back to New York soon…” She sighed glumly. “Well, it was just nice to have fun for a change.”
That shut Beck up and broke his heart all at once. He’d love to show her fun, but he doubted she’d enjoy being strapped to a cross while he introduced her to the joys of impact play.
Shit. Time to change the subject before he crawled across the table and did something they’d both regret.
“So, have you talked to Raine since she left the hospital? By the way, if she says anything bad about me, don’t believe it.” He tried to lighten the mood with a wink.
“I’ll ignore every word.” She flashed her dimples. “I have talked to her. She invited me to a get-together at her house on Wednesday.” Heavenly slanted a glance his way. “Will you be there?”
Did she want to know because she was curious? Or because she was interested? “I will.”
Her face lit up. “Thank goodness. I almost turned Raine down, since I usually can’t get away in the middle of the week. But I’ll wrap up my classes for the holiday break tomorrow night. And if you’ll be there, I won’t have to worry about not knowing anyone.”
Unfortunately, unless Seth hauled his ass back East, that fucker would be there, too… Hopefully, once he left for Christmas, he’d fuck off for good.
“Don’t worry, little girl,” Beck assured. “I’ll be beside you.” Superglued to your side every moment.
Her smile turned even wider. “Thanks. You’re such a good friend.”
Just like that, his mood—along with his dick—deflated.
He’d been relegated to the fucking friend zone? Yep. And he had no one to blame but himself. Still, that didn’t stop him from wrapping his fist around his desperate cock every night while he fantasized about taking her hard and dirty to the breathy soundtrack of her pleas.
He forced a smile. “Well, you can never have too many of those.”
Heavenly absently stroked the side of her water cup. “It’s been so long since I’ve had any, so I really value the time you spend with me. I know you’re busy—”
“Unless I’m elbows deep in a patient, I’m never too busy for you.”
He meant that, but he’d had lunch with her almost every day for a week and he was only more desperate to touch her. Still, if all he ever had with Heavenly was conversation, that was better than having no part of her at all.
“I’m really grateful, but I don’t want to cause problems,” she murmured. “I-I mean, if you have a girlfriend or someone spec—”
“I don’t.” And if he was merely her “friend,” why did she want to know his relationship status?
Heavenly looked surprised…but distinctly not unhappy. “I just assumed you would since you’re, um…good-looking and successful and really, really nice.”
Nice? He’d been called a lot of four-letter words, but never that one.
She dropped her gaze, suddenly fascinated with the scarred Formica table between them. “Now that I think about it, Raine mentioned you were single…”
So, she was interested in him as more than a friend. Jesus… What the hell was he going to do? Resisting her was getting really fucking hard. Because so was he.
Beck scowled. “Raine meddles.”
“She communicates.”
He snorted. “Should I be worried?”
“No, silly. We just like to see the people we care about happy. I know she thinks the world of you.”
Was Heavenly saying she cared about him, too? “She’s the little sister I never wanted.”
Heavenly laughed. “She feels the same.”
The quiet between them hummed with awareness. Had Heavenly ever imagined him as the lover who could teach her the joys of raw, primal, deep, consuming sex? Or had her sheltered little fantasies even progressed beyond kisses?
