Surely she wasn’t going to tell him. Why not throw herself at his feet and wail for him to care about her, for God’s sake?
He didn’t ask. He wouldn’t. But she told him anyway. Because if she didn’t, if she kept pretending she felt nothing, he’d turn her into another version of himself.
“We went out to a restaurant. There were linens on the tables, candles burning. The place was mostly empty, so we had the waitstaff to ourselves. But you sent them away. You only wanted to be with me.” Even as she said the words aloud she knew she was spinning a tale. The Spencer she’d dreamed of didn’t exist. “The food was wonderful. Grilled chicken and shrimp on skewers, roasted vegetables with the most delicious sauce. Not a damn salad in sight. And the music?
?” Now she laughed, the sound as broken as a sob. “All dance beats. No harps or pianos.”
“Did I eat you for dessert?”
She didn’t know what she’d expected him to say. “Oh how romantic”? That wasn’t Spencer. She knew it, and the disappointment still sliced through her like a blade.
“I don’t know.” She forced herself to shrug. “I woke up.”
“Do you want that? Us to go out?Out out, not to Kink. On a date.” The corner of his mouth lifted. “To somewhere other than The Daily Bread?”
His voice had caught, stumbling a bit on the word date. As much as her heart stumbled. “If I said yes?”
“We could run into someone.”
“We didn’t run into anyone at the deli. But yeah, I guess we could. We could also run into them at Kink, since everyone in town seems to hang out there.”
“I never went there that much, for that reason. But now I can’t seem to stay away.” He cupped her hip. “I’ll be damned if you go there without me.”
Possessiveness he had down. But she needed more than that. “I go there because of you. Because of us. These past couple nights were an aberration. I’m a one-man woman, Spencer.”
His throat jerked as he swallowed. “I don’t know how to proceed here. We work together.”
“There’s no rule people can’t fraternize at the store. And if there is, you might want to tell Marcia and Tony, since I half expect to find them doing it on the front counter anytime now.”
He winced. “There’s no rule. But there was a situation. With me. Years ago.”
“Yeah, and you keep dancing around it. You freaked out about my jokes the other night but you won’t tell me what happened so I can—”
“So you can what?”
“Why won’t you just tell me?”
“Because it doesn’t affect us. She’s the past. But yeah, I’m wary. I have every reason to be.”
She tried—and failed—to ignore the rush of jealousy at the faceless woman who’d been with him first. “What if I said I want to know? That I deserve to know why you’re holding back on me?”
He clenched his jaw. “Then I’d say we have a problem.”
Chapter Twelve
Kelly let out a long breath. She could make an issue out of this, demand to know every detail of his past, and that still wouldn’t change his behavior. If she turned into a shrill harpy, all she’d do was drive him farther away.
“Yeah, people may talk,” she said, stroking his hair in a vain attempt to settle them both. “People are probably talking already. Marcia knows I’m hot for you.”
“How does she know that?”
“Other than my tongue falling out of my mouth every time you walk by my register?” She rolled her eyes as he puffed out his chest. “Then there’s my PDA. Who knows how many people have heard about my list? Bottom line, we can worry about everyone else or we can do what’s right for us. I’d like to go out with you,” she said softly. “If you’re not interested, that’s fine. But I’m putting it out there. I don’t only want you for sex, this past week aside.”
“Crush my illusions, why don’t you?” His husky voice rippled over her spine as he gained his feet and slid his body against hers. His slight height advantage tweaked her in all the right places, as did his casual display of strength as he picked her up and set her on his desk.
He smoothed her hair away from her forehead, his gaze hot on hers while he licked her lips open. Going for her tongue would’ve been the easy route. Instead he plucked at her lower lip. Nibbling, teasing. When he sucked it into his mouth, she moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist, hooking her ankles around his ass as she pressed closer, wanting every inch of his skin flush against hers. His deliciously defined chest was just the beginning. She broke away long enough to rip the T-shirt she wore over her head, eager to be naked in his arms. Again.
Bare, finally bare, she molded their bodies together and attacked his mouth. With feral kisses, they consumed each other. Still eating at her lips, he drove two fingers between her legs, bypassing her clit completely. Normally she wasn’t ready for immediate penetration. But thanks to the nearly permanent state of arousal she’d been in since she’d seen him naked in the steam room, her juice snuck out between his knuckles as he finger-fucked her.