“It would be fairer if you let me pay when I invite you out to dinner,” she told him as they walked exited the restaurant. His hand slid into the back pocket of her jeans once more. She tried to move away from him to walk around a large puddle, but he simply grabbed her by the waist and lifted her over.
He set her down on the other side then cupped her face with one hand. “It’s sweet you want to pay your way, baby. But that’s not the way things go in my world.”
She frowned. “I have a job, Jed. It’s not fair for you to have to pay whenever we go out. Not to mention you still haven’t let me pay you back for those groceries you bought the other night.”
“Firstly, the money you earn is yours.”
Okay, now he was starting to really annoy her. Her money was hers then wasn’t his money his?
“And when I take my girl out, no matter who invites who, I pay. I buy groceries or gas or anything else you need, then you don’t pay me back. Especially if I’m eating said groceries. Maybe you call it old-fashioned, I call it being a man. Your man.”
God, she liked the sound of that. She’d longed to be his again for so long. But still, she thought his views were wrong. She huffed out a breath. “I don’t want to use you.”
He stepped closer and kissed her forehead gently. “Baby girl, you’re not using me.”
“It feels like things are uneven.”
He tucked her hair behind her ears. “You think there aren’t things that you do for me that I can’t reciprocate?”
She thought that through. “I can’t think of any.”
“Baby.” He kissed her gently. But didn’t say anything more.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re gonna have to say more than baby for me to understand.”
“You give me plenty. Your sweetness. Your smiles. And soon I’m gonna ask for more than that. But here isn’t the place to discuss it.”
She bit her lip to stop herself from asking him anything else. He was right, the parking lot wasn’t a place to discuss things.
“Come on. It’s getting late.”
* * *
She felt ridiculously nervous. What did he want to talk about? The drive home had been mostly silent, although he’d given her thigh a few reassuring squeezes.
“Don’t worry. It’s nothing dire. In fact, it might even be a relief for you to get this all out into the open,” he told her as he walked with her up to her front door, his hand in the back pocket of her jeans once more.
That possessive gesture never failed to make her tummy go all gooey.
He grabbed her keys from her hand and unlocked the door himself. Once they were inside, their jackets stored away, she nervously found herself standing in the living room unsure what to do.
“Why don’t you go get into your PJs, sweetheart,” he suggested. “I’m going to check the windows and doors, make sure everything is secure.”
She nodded and raced up the stairs.
“Slow down,” he told her sternly. “You’ll trip and hurt yourself.”
Knowing he was right; she stopped her headlong run. She moved into her bedroom, wincing as she saw the mess in her room. She hurriedly stuffed clothes in drawers. Not that she thought tonight was going to lead to him in her bed.
But you never knew.
She searched through her drawers for some pajamas that weren’t too childish. She finally settled on an oversized t-shirt and some cotton shorts. They would have to do. She quickly brushed her teeth, took off her make-up and moisturized. Then she wondered why she’d raced through her preparations because now she had nothing to do to put off this talk.
Damn it.
“Babe, you still getting ready or you hiding from me?”
Shit. Why did he have to be so smart?