I laughed. “Not to worry. Really, it’s great.” He still didn’t believe me, but that was okay. He would. If he stuck around, that is. “Dinner?”
He grinned and leaned towards me. “First let me see yours.”
I put up a token protest just because I wanted to feel the heat of his body and when he stood behind me, staring over my shoulder at his own face, I got just what I wanted. “I know I should’ve asked but you were so deep in concentration and the lines…well, I just had to. Be mad if you want, but I think it came out well.”
“You’re wrong. It came out fucking incredible.” He leaned even closer and I knew what he was staring at, that small puckered scar just above his clavicle and before his shoulder. “You see a lot, Jana.”
“From a lifetime of being an outsider.” On the plus side, it has turned me into a pretty good judge of character. “Let’s eat.” He l
aughed behind me, but followed me in, we dropped the paintings in the formal dining area I never used because the kitchen had better light.
“Did you cook again?”
“Nope. I ordered from Francesco’s. They have excellent food and I had too much to do to cook today.”
“I would’ve taken you out to dinner,” he said, his tone sounded upset and I didn’t know why.
“I’m sure you would have, but I invited you over and it is customary for the person who extended the invitation to provide food, isn’t it?” This moment and the uncertainty reminded me of the other reason I avoided relationships. There were all these emotional landmines you had to navigate, and the shit part was that you could do everything right and still get it wrong.
“Yes. I don’t want you buying me dinner.”
“Why? Is it because you’re a man or because you think I don’t have a lot of money?”
He sighed and grinned as he raked a hand through his hair. “I am the man and I should buy you dinner.” He lifted a heaping spoonful of risotto into his mouth, chewing angrily.
I understood now. I remembered in college, the other girls all fretting about what would happen if they had to buy their own meals when they’d spent all the money their parents had sent them. I didn’t have that luxury but I learned a lot about arbitrary relationship rules. “Fine, next time you come over, I expect to be fed. Happy?”
He grinned. “Sure, Jana.”
We both dug in, absorbing the creamy carb deliciousness, at least I assumed so based on the relative silence. It wasn’t’ an oppressive silence though and I didn’t mind. It felt right. Like we didn’t feel compelled to fill the silence.
I was halfway through my second glass of wine, just enough to blur the edges but not enough to make me reckless. Or forgetful. “Max, I would like to have sex with you tonight.”
He choked on the beer I’d bought for him. “What?”
“I would like to have sex with you tonight.”
“Um, okay?” He stared at me like he was waiting for something, but I had no clue what. “I would like to have sex with you too.”
My shoulders relaxed. “Oh, good. But what’s so amusing?”
“Nothing, you’re just very straightforward. I like it.”
There was more, I could tell. Arms crossed I glared. “Tell me.”
“I was just trying to figure out where would be the best place to start my seduction attempt.”
“Really?” I had a feeling he was interested, but if he put this much thought into it, he must be as hungry as I am. He nodded. “You didn’t know?”
“I wasn’t sure. I-I’m not good at those kinds of things.” But now that he’d mentioned it, I knew where we could start. “The sofa seems like a good place to start,” I offered up.
He stood quickly, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the living room where he sat down and patted his lap. “Hop on.”
I stared at him, mouth open in a way I was sure couldn’t be less attractive as I shook my head.
Max laughed. “You’ll end up here anyhow, let’s just start there.” He said it so easily, so reasonably, I couldn’t possibly refuse. Could I?
Hell no. I slid, knees first, onto his lap, gasping right away as the zipper covered steel rod between his legs nestled right between my own thighs. It was long and hard, too long and hard considering a pair of silky panties were all that separated us. “Max,” I moaned.