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“Very.”
We enter the restaurant and are greeted by the hostess. “Hey, Rig. Your usual?”
“That’d be great, darlin’.”
Even though this business is completely separate from the brothel, it’s still on our property, so the women we hire to work in the restaurant are just as beautiful as the girls next door. I hardly notice her, though, paying more attention to how calm and happy Navy is today. Not that she wasn’t like that before, but there’s something different about her today. There’s an aura around her that’s light and warm.
Jesus Christ. Aura? I’ve been spending way too much time with Bones lately.
That is, until we sit, and out of nowhere, she clams up on me, scooting to the other side of the U-shaped booth, as far away as possible. My brows knit together as I watch her open the menu roughly and hold it close to her face.
“What just happened?” I ask.
“Nothing. I’m literally just looking at the menu.”
I shove down the length of the booth and slap a hand over her menu, bringing it to the table. “Try again. Thirty seconds ago, you were happy, and now you’re being bitchy.”
She glares, her eyes bulging and her lips flattening into a line.
Oh shit.
“If I’m toobitchyfor you, maybe you should go have lunch with the hostess. Maybe you’d like her company more than mine right now.”
I try to fight it, but a smug grin breaks free. “You’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous. I just think maybe she shouldn’t ignore me, and you shouldn’t be going around flirting with the staff.”
I chuckle. “I wasn’t flirting.”
She lowers her voice, mocking me. “‘That’d be great, darlin’.’ Do you know what that does to a woman?”
“You’re being goofy.”
“No, I’m not. She’s probably back there looking at how fast she can get an ol’ lady cut shipped out.”
I bellow out a laugh. “Now I know you’re fuckin’ with me.”
“I’m not. I wanted to have lunch and talk about something important with you, and you’re too busy keeping your options for later open.”
My smile falls. “I’d never do that to you, Navy. You should know that by now.”
“How would I know that? For weeks, we haven’t discussed anything besides how I’m feeling and how therapy’s going.”
I already feel exasperated. “What about me spending every spare moment of the day with you and sleeping in your bed every night has made you think I’m interested in anyone but you?”
She shrugs a shoulder. “You just feel a weird sense of obligation toward me.”
“There’s no obligation, Navy. But what about you?” I pin her with a look.
“What about me?”
“I told you I loved you weeks ago, and you haven’t so much as told me you like my company.” I try to not sound like a little bitch, but I don’t think I’m successful. I’m not an insecure man, but damn, I’ve never had to work so hard for a girl, and it’s giving me a complex.
“You need me to say it?”
I shrug. “I mean, yeah. That’d be fuckin’ nice.”
“I love you, Rigger. I always have,” she bites out, but I don’t let her tone take away from the words she said.
