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His brows drew together. “Are you sure about that?”
“Of course. Why would I lie about that?”
Now, it was Wyatt’s turn to shrug. “I don’t know. You’re so beside yourself about me being here at the same time some of your family is here. I guess I’m curious if you’d really be willing to have them see you enjoying ice cream with me.”
He had a valid point. I wasn’t currently sharing ice cream with him, and I had not a single doubt my mom and grandma hadn’t believed a word that came out of my mouth when I said nothing was going on between Wyatt and me beyond the two of us simply running together.
Of course, I didn’t want him to think he knew me that well, so I didn’t reveal any of that. Instead, I did something even more foolish.
“If you come back for ice cream another day, and I haven’t already had some, I promise I will enjoy some with you,” I assured him.
Wyatt smiled at me. Apparently, sticking to my guns and not wanting him to see me as anything but strong was working out in his favor.
“Alright, then. I’ll make that happen. For now, I’ll let you get back to your family, since I can see how badly this is stressing you out,” he said.
That was nice of him.
It was certainly going to take a bit of the pressure off.
“I’m not that stressed. This was just… unexpected. And you were saying things to them that you haven’t said to me. I think I’m allowed to be slightly panicked about that.”
He continued to smile at me. “Okay. Then I’ll wait until later this week to tell you more of those things.”
As he moved to stand, I said, “Wait. What?”
Wyatt lifted a brow and lowered himself to the seat again. “What’s wrong?”
“You just said you plan to tell me more things later this week. What kinds of things?”
A mischievous look spread across his face. He leaned slightly toward me, licking his cone in a way that indicated he had one thing on his mind that had nothing to do with the dessert in his hand. Wyatt’s voice dropped a few octaves as he said, “Well, I did tell you the other night about how I intended to try to exceed your expectations.” He licked the ice cream again. I swallowed hard, my fingers gripping the edge of the counter to keep me upright. Only after he took another lick did he continue. “I don’t think you fully understood all the ways in which I hope to do that. I’m a man who always follows through, Rhea, so I hope you’re ready for what I’ve got in store for you.”
When he moved the ice cream cone toward his lips once more and used his tongue to consume more of it the way he had been, I quietly whimpered.
My mom and grandma weren’t close enough to hear me, but Wyatt was. And it was clear from the look on his face that he hadn’t missed it. One half of his mouth quirked up. “Is everything okay, Rhea?”
“I’m—” I stopped to clear my throat. “I’m fine.”
“You made that noise.”
“I didn’t make a noise,” I lied. I knew it was a lame response, but it was all I had. Unfortunately, it had been far too long since I’d experienced any intimacy, and with the way Wyatt was eating his ice cream, my mind wandered to places it shouldn’t have, places I’d forbidden it to go.
He broke out into a full-blown grin. “Yes, you did. And it sounded delightful.”
I licked my lips and looked down at the counter.
What was going on with him? Had I let down too much of my guard when he’d been at my place that he now thought it was okay to push for more?
Worse, why wasn’t I angrier about him doing that? I could have told him to stop what he was doing.
I didn’t.
I didn’t because, on some level, I think I didn’t want to fight it any longer. The more he indicated how he was feeling about me, the more I wanted to allow myself to feel the things I’d been trying to suppress for weeks now.
Wyatt stood, the stool scraping along the floor. Since I didn’t expect he’d leave without saying something to my family, I had no choice but to snap out of it and walk around the counter to see him out.
He waited for me to do that. And once I was there, his lips twitched. “Your ice cream was delicious, Rhea.”
“Thank you,” I rasped.
