Chapter Four
“You wanna bet?” Sean stood just inside the door, leaning against the wall with one leg over the other and his arms crossed over his chest, trying to act as casual as possible.
Nia was first to recover. She held her hands out in front of her. “Now Sean…”
He shot her a look, stopping what she was going to say. Then he pushed off the wall and stalked toward the women. His lips quirked when Nia went to stand in front of Ava like she was trying to protect her from him. He stopped in front of her and put his hands on his hips.
“Nia, you’ve known me a while, right?” When she nodded, he continued. “Have you ever known me to hurt a woman or a child?” He shot a quick glance at Ava to see something spark in her eyes before she hid it from him.
Nia shook her head and whispered. “No.”
“Well, I’m not about to start with Ava.” After taking hold of Nia’s shoulder, he looked at her intently. “Please trust me.” His voice lowered. “I’m giving you my promise. I will do whatever it takes to make her happy, and I will never, and I mean never, hurt her.”
Nia looked at him intently, seemingly finding what she was looking for. She sighed and stepped to the side, allowing Sean to get to Ava before she walked to the door and turned. “I’m going to get more dishes, and I’ll be right back.”
Sean knew she was saying that more to Ava than him when he realized how apprehensive Ava was to be alone with him. He gave her his full attention while he stood a few feet in front of her with his hands down at his sides.
“Please don’t be afraid of me. You’re killing me, looking at me with distress in those beautiful green eyes.”
He caught the shiver that coursed down her body. He guessed it was because of his closeness, but fortunately, she didn’t back away from him.
She cleared her throat. “I’m not afraid of you.”
He smiled at her show of courage, but he knew she was lying. Her raised chin tempted him to bend and kiss her, but he knew it was too early.
“Good. Now, I came in to ask you to dinner tomorrow night.”
He frowned when she backed up while shaking her head. “No. I’m sorry, but I don’t date.”
He took a step forward, pinning her gently against the cabinets without touching her and giving her space between them. His mouth quirked on the side. “Correction, you didn’t date, but now you have me.”
She pushed against his chest and rolled her eyes at him. “Do I get a choice?” she asked tersely.
“Sure, you do. You can decide where we’ll go tomorrow. How’s that?”
She shook her head and stepped to the side only to have him follow, blocking any escape she might try.
Instead of seeing fear in her eyes, he saw a flash of anger building, and he could tell it surprised her, which pleased him. She crossed her arm across her chest and raised her chin. “Listen, Mr.…”
“You will call me Sean, or if you insist, you can call me honey or sweetheart and maybe eventually something more profound.” He didn’t know if she was aware of the Big/little lifestyle, so he’d leave that discussion for later.
She frowned harder at him and his arrogance. “Listen, Mr. um, Sean.”
He grinned. “Just Sean.”
When she growled a little and looked startled that she’d done it, he laughed out loud. She must not have growled at anyone in her life or at least in a long time if she was so surprised by it.
She shook her head. “I’m not in the market for a relationship. So, if you don’t mind, I…”
Sean put his hand on the counter on either side of her body, caging her against the counter and cutting off what she was going to say. He was pushing it, but he felt if she left, he’d lose a part of himself. No matter how crazy it sounded, he always went with his gut, and it had never been wrong.
“Oh. But I do mind. You see, I wasn’t looking for a relationship either until I saw you. I’ve known you for less than two hours, and I’m dreading leaving you and not seeing you until tomorrow.”
“But you don’t even know me.”
“That’s just it. I’m asking you to give us a chance to get to know each other.”
“No, I’m sorry. I’m just coming out of a terrible relationship, and I’m just not ready for anything right now.”