“There is too!” she replied hotly.
He turned the death-glare on her again. She swallowed heavily.
“You could have gotten a job for the Death Squadron,” she muttered.
“What?”
She blushed. Whoops. She hadn’t meant for him to hear that. She cleared her throat. “Nothing.”
“Daisy, I don’t like the word ‘nothing’.”
“Well, that seems a bit word-ist.”
“What?”
“What did the word ‘nothing’ ever do to you?” Okay, stop now, Daisy. This conversation is ridiculous.
“When I ask a question, I want a proper answer, not an evasive one.”
Shit. Yeah, she loved that dominant voice.
She cleared her throat. “I was just commenting that you could get a job with the Death Squadron because your glare is like a laser beam incinerating everything in its path, that’s all. . .and now I feel like the biggest dork ever.”
“You’re not a dork.” His eyes had grown tender as he stared at her. His face filled with warmth.
Wow. Just wow.
Now she was completely falling under his spell. Because while she liked his dominant side, she totally loved it when he went all tender and sweet. She closed her eyes for a moment against old memories that threatened to rush her. Of him leaning over her as she lay on a blanket, staring up at the blue sky, his eyes filled with love and affection. Him promising to be there for her always. Holding her as she cried when he told her he had to leave.
“Baby. Hey, you all right? What’s wrong?”
He grasped hold of her shoulders, turning her and she opened her eyes to look up at him. Baby. That was even better than babe.
“The other night you looked at me like you didn’t even know me, like I was nothing. . .it hurt so bad. And now you’re looking at me like you used to and I don’t know what to do with that!”
“Oh, baby. It’s been a rough few days for you, hasn’t it?” He drew her against his chest and she cuddled in, letting the scent of him wrap around her, soothe her even as her insides danced in excitement.
“You really forgive me without even knowing everything?”
He was silent for a moment. “I don’t like what you did. Still don’t. But yeah, I can put it behind me.”
Was putting it behind him the same as forgiving her? She wasn’t sure. While part of her wanted to tell him the truth of what happened ten years ago, she figured all that would do is hurt him. And she’d hurt him enough.
“These past few nights, all I could think of was you. The memory of your eyes, filled with hurt because of me. The scent of you, the idea of how it would feel to have your legs around my hips while I took you deep. These thoughts kept me up at night. Then when I got home to hear you’d done something damn stupid like go on a date with some stranger.” He blew out a breath. “It cemented what I already had playing on my mind. That I needed to see you. That I needed to feel those legs wrapped around me, have your scent filling my lungs.”
“You want me.”
“I want you.”
Was it just about sex? She didn’t know how she felt about that. On the one hand, she wanted to take it and run with it. She’d take whatever she could get. . .but she wanted it all.
Don’t ask. Don’t ruin this. Because you want him too. It’s always been him for you.
“Can feel you’ve gone all tense. What is it, babe?” His hand was at her ass, squeezing and damn, that felt nice.
“Is. . .is it just about sex?”
She felt him stiffen. Shit. She shouldn’t have asked. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have—”