Strategize. Battle. Win.
“Well?” Eden asked him. “Have you changed your mind already? Not sure exactly how you’re planning on doing this. . .oomph.” She let out a startled cry as he picked her up. “What are you doing?”
He held her against his chest, the way he’d imagined doing so many times before. Her chest against his, one arm strong and sure under her bottom, his other arm around her back holding her tight. Keeping her close. And secure.
“I’m dancing with you.” He started swaying with the beat, moving from side to side. Dancing had never been his thing, but he’d noticed the way she’d watched everyone else as they danced. With a hint of longing and sadness.
She didn’t know how many nights he’d followed her and sat in the shadows of whatever bar she’d gone to with her idiot friends to watch over her.
Too bad you weren’t following her that night she got cornered at the Suck ‘n Blow.
Those assholes wouldn’t have gotten close to her. He wished he knew what she’d been doing there that night. But she had refused to tell him. Multiple times.
When she was his, holding things back would be completely unacceptable.
Patience.
“Like this?” she squeaked as he turned gently.
“How else?”
“I-I don’t know. But this doesn’t. . .I mean. . . what if you drop me?”
He paused. Was she for real? He stared down at her. “Eden, don’t you know? I’ll never drop you.”
She snorted. “You say that, but I’ll get heavy after a while. I’ll become too much for you to handle. Then you’ll let me go.”
He got the feeling that she wasn’t talking about him holding her right now. He dipped his mouth down to her ear. “I know just how to handle you, baby girl. No matter what you throw at me.”
He felt her shiver and knew it wasn’t because she was cold.
“I’m not throwing anything at you. I’m talking about you carrying me like this.”
“No, you’re not.”
He drew his head back, holding her gaze with his as he moved to the beat. Sort of. He wasn’t a dancer. However, there wasn’t much he wouldn’t do to give her what she desired.
“Zeke, you should put me down,” she told him. Her voice sounded breathless.
“You look so beautiful. When I first caught sight of you, my breath caught in my chest. I had to think unsexy thoughts to keep myself from growing so hard that someone noticed.”
“Zeke!” she squeaked. “You can’t say things like that.”
“I like to always tell the truth. I don’t like lies and deceptions, Eden.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked defensively. “That I lie?”
“You and I both know there’s so much going on inside that you don’t let out. I know you have your secrets, princess. And I’m going to uncover each one.”
Maybe it wasn’t the best strategy, letting her know his intentions. It might just shore up her defenses further.
As if she had that same thought, she grew tense. “My secrets are my own. They’re not even that interesting.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Everything you do is interesting.”
She snorted. “You can’t have much of a life if you need to go digging around in mine.”
If he had his way, she would become his life. His reason for getting up in the morning. For going to sleep each night. Maybe even with a smile on his face.