Page 63 of Loving You

“Oh, you’ll take it all, Mr. Walker. I wanted you to see me in this before I got dressed—without you having to spy on me to do so—and then at dinner, you’ll be able to picture exactly what I’m wearing underneath my dress.”

Be able to? I wasn’t sure how I could possibly see anything other than this image in my mind, and I had a feeling she’d need to lead me around so I wouldn’t bump into anything on the way to our table.

“You can think about how wet I am for you,” she went on, making everythingsomuch worse. “You can think about how ready I’ve been since I put this on a few minutes ago, and how much I’m going to enjoy it when you make me beg for your cock.”

“Fuck,” I said on a breath right before she pressed a soft, sweet kiss to my lips and pulled away. Then the little devil took all that delicious heat and skin, all her glorious curves, with her as she sauntered away.

She stopped just before ducking down the hallway, coy as shit when she said, “I’ll be ready in five.”

The titillating view disappeared as she rounded the corner, and I laughed quietly, thinking of Jake’s earlier advice.

No. There’d be no need to second-guess anything about tonight. Well, maybe the birthday surprise, but certainly not what came after dinner.

19

APRIL

Our server left, and I kicked Eric under the table. “Stop that.”

He grinned. “You only have yourself to blame. If you hadn’t pulled that little stunt in the kitchen…”

“If you hadn’t spied on me while I was getting dressed,” I hissed, leaning across our small table for two at Antonelli’s, “I wouldn’t have gotten the idea to put on a very obvious show for you.”

“Ha, like you weren’t putting on a show by getting dressed with your door open.”

“I honestly hadn’t even realized it was open,” I shot back with a laugh.

He gave me a look that suggested he thought I was full of shit, and I playfully wrinkled my nose at him in response. Then I picked up my wine and took a sip, noting the way he tracked my every move with his eyes, his hunger so evident he might as well have been shouting about it.

Yep, my plan to drive Eric out of his mind with need was definitely working, but I needed to change course beforeIbecame the main course. “In fact, I’m pretty sure I know why I didn’t realize I hadn’t shut the door.”

“You’re sticking with that story, huh?” he teased, sipping his own wine. When I only gave him a flat look in response, he waved his hand. “Fine, I’ll bite. Why didn’t you realize the door was open?”

“Because you make me feel comfortable. I feel at home in your home. Weird, right?”

He nodded. “I suppose it is, yes. Considering our history, I’m still amazed we managed to get here. Not that I’m complaining, of course.”

“Same. But howdoyou think we managed to get here?” I asked, applying butter to a piece of bread from the basket between us.

“In my car.”

I rolled my eyes. “Hilarious. I never realized you had such a sense of humor.”

“It’s always been there. You were just too busy thinking you hated me to notice. That’s another reason I wanted us to date like this. I want to get to know you without all the bickering—”

I held up a hand. “Wait, wait. We’re nixingallthe bickering? Because I have to say, it feels a little like years of foreplay from where I’m sitting.”

His eyes flashed with heat. “Fine. Notallthe bickering.”

“Thank you.”

“And to answer your question,” he said, the momentary spark of flirtatiousness fading into something more serious, “it’s no secret I’ve always been… Well, ever since my dad died, I’ve seen myself as the man of the Walker house.”

I nodded, choosing not to say something pithy about him being a damnfineman, at that. There was a time and place for banter, and the vulnerability in Eric’s dark eyes was a neon sign telling me this wasn’tit.

“I stepped into that role automatically,” he continued. “No one asked me to. No one expected me to. But I felt like it was my duty. I wanted to help them get through this horrible thing that had happened to us, and I wanted to protect them from anything else life threw at them.”

“You seem to have done a great job,” I said softly.

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