Page 16 of Britain

Fuck, Jeremiah’s right, but I don’t look at it as putting a lot of time in, or like it’s a bad thing. I love spending time with her. She’s got a dirty sense of humor and is really fucking smart. Britain is fiercely loyal to her family, and when she smiles, she lights up the room. I know it’s corny, but when I’m with her, I feel like she’s the one.

I still hate knowing that he’s right. If she can’t handle that side of me, we’ll need to break things off. God, when I would just keep it casual it was so much simpler. I could choose women for a night of kink, or vanilla, but what I want is something that could potentially last, which scares the fuck out of me because I swore I was never going to get serious with anyone. My dad was destroyed after my mom left.

“I’d like to at least go out on a couple of real dates before I bring it up. But you’re right, I do need to talk to her about it. I mean sure, a vanilla sex life could last for a while, but then I’d get the itch, and if she’s not into it we wouldn’t work, or last.”

We head out to lunch, and when we’re done I drop them off at Stefan’s office.

***

I slap my cheeks with some aftershave and rub my hands through my hair. In my bedroom I throw on black dress slacks and a blue button-up shirt, tucked in and with the sleeves rolled up. I grab my wallet and stick it in my back pocket.

In my SUV, I plug Britain’s address into my GPS. Pulling into a quiet little cul-de-sac, I spot her car in a driveway up ahead. I pull in behind it, and when I talked to her she said to come around back to the door. I knock, and a petite redhead answers it.

She smiles at me. “Hi, you must be Silas. I’m her sister-in-law, Beth.”

I offer my hand and she takes it. “It’s nice to meet you.”

I follow her into the kitchen. “She’ll be right up.”

Every time I’ve been with Britain, she’s always dressed very casually, and I didn’t really clarify that we were going somewhere fancy and that she should probably dress up. A door on the other side of the kitchen opens, and it takes all of my willpower not to get an erection. Britain comes walking into the kitchen wearing a black jumpsuit made of a silky-looking material with spaghetti straps. She slips on a little royal blue cardigan over the top.

I’m trying really hard not to look at her tits to see if she’s wearing a bra. The outfit has a tie around her waist that knots at the side, and on her feet are blue wedges. What I love is her hair is up in a bun on top of her head, and she’s just wearing some gloss on her lips. She’s dressier, but still looks like her.

My feet finally come unstuck, and I move toward her. “You’re stunning.”

“I feel dumb. Are you sure I look okay?” I know she’s not fishing for compliments. She dressed up for me, even though she’s not comfortable. “I just didn’t want to embarrass you.”

“You could never embarrass me. You know what, let’s skip Carmine’s. I know a place that serves great burger baskets.” I grab her hand. “Does that sound okay?”

Britain gives me a small smile. “That sounds amazing, but we can still go to Carmine’s.”

“I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. You look amazing, but I know this isn’t what you’d normally wear, and I don’t want you not comfortable.”

“Nope, I want a steak that I won’t need a knife to cut.” We say goodbye to her sister-in-law and make our way out to my car. When we hit the driveway she trips, but I grab her before she goes down. “Fuck, how embarrassing,” she mutters.

We ride in comfortable silence as we head downtown to Carmine’s. Once we get there, I help her out of the passenger seat. I hold her hand as we head toward the doors, hoping to prevent her from falling. The scent of steak hits me, and my mouth waters.

Next to me, Britain’s stomach growls loudly. She places her hand on her stomach and laughs. “I’m so hungry. I skipped lunch today. I’ve been looking forward to this.”

Inside the restaurant, the maître d’ leads us to an intimate table in the corner, lit by the soft glow of the fireplace. It’s that transition between summer and fall: warm during the day, and chilly at night.

Our waiter comes and I immediately don’t like the way he’s looking at Britain. If he doesn’t stop, we may have problems. Of course I push that thought away and order a beer. She orders a glass of Merlot, which I’m ashamed to say surprises me. She must be able to read my mind because she gives me a small smile. “I love beer, but I do love a good glass of wine.”

When the waiter comes back, we order some crab-stuffed mushrooms. “Did you work at the shop today?”

“No, I babysat the girls for Beth. She works two days a week and every other weekend, and during the week I watch the girls. Actually, it’s just Annie because she’s not in school yet. Bridgette’s in kindergarten, so I don’t watch her until after she gets out of school.”

“Does your other brother have kids?”

She shakes her head. “No, he’s single. Well…not single. He’s dating someone, but I don’t know if they’re serious or not.”

Our appetizer gets delivered to the table, and we both dig in. I watch her as she bites into a mushroom, closes her eyes, and moans as her teeth sink into it. Discreetly, I reach under the table to adjust myself because now my dick’s trying to punch through my pants. “Is it good?” I clear my throat because I swear my voice just cracked.

“These are so freaking good. You better dig in before I eat them all.” She pops the rest of her mushroom into her mouth, chewing it happily as I watch her. I love that she holds nothing back while she eats.

When the waiter comes to take our order, Britain surprises me again by ordering a porterhouse. I don’t know where she’s going to put it all, but who am I to get between a girl and her meat? Britain fiddles with her cloth napkin on her lap. “Do your parents live around here?”

“My dad does, but my mom took off when my sister was a baby. We haven’t seen her since.” She surprises me by reaching out and grabbing my hand.

---