Beautiful Mistake(29)

Caine shook his head. “Not sure I’m capable of selfless. Spent most of my life on the -ish side of self, rather than the -less.”

“No girlfriends?”

“Plenty of those. None that I wasn’t a selfish bastard with.”

I stared at him. “That’ll change when you meet the right woman.”

He brought the beer bottle to his lips. “Maybe. Or maybe I’m just destined for a life of selfish screwing. I could think of worse things.”

I couldn’t see Caine as selfish—he’d changed my tire after I told him off and interrupted his class. And I couldn’t imagine he wasn’t attentive in bed. He was so observant that it was often distracting, not to mention how intense he could be. Then there was the musician thing…skilled hands and good rhythm. No. There was no way Caine West was selfish in bed. Of that I was certain.

He squinted. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“What do you mean?”

“You got quiet after I said there were worse things in life than selfish screwing.”

And there was the observant thing again. He paid attention to women. Men who paid attention were good in bed.

“I was just thinking about what you said. You don’t seem selfish to me.”

“We’re not in that kind of a relationship.”

“Maybe.” I shrugged. “But you seem too attentive to be selfish in that way, too.”

A look of understanding crossed Caine’s handsome face, as if he’d just realized what I was thinking. He leaned in to me with a wicked grin that made my heart palpitate.

“I didn’t mean I was selfish in bed.” His eyes dropped to my neck and slowly rose to focus on my mouth—which parted for his gaze. “A woman’s needs always come before my own. And I enjoy every minute of taking care of those needs.” His eyes returned to mine, and he leaned in even closer. “She comes before me…multiple times.”

I swallowed. My whole body reacted, and Caine knew it. He leaned back with a cocky smile and a gleam in his eyes.

When I finally attempted to speak, my hoarse voice croaked. “Then what are you selfish about?”

“The stuff that comes after we get out of bed. The relationship part.”

“Oh.”

“Not everyone has the ability to be Lydia.”

“I’m not sure I agree. I think we all have the ability to be Lydia. It’s a choice not to try and find your Umberto. And usually there’s a reason for that choice.”

The muscle in Caine’s jaw ticked, but he stayed silent. Luckily our food came shortly after that. Caine had ordered a falafel, and I’d ordered a gyro. We dug in and gave our full attention to eating, for the moment.

In no time, my meal had turned into a big mess. The pita had torn, and half of my gyro was leaking out. I didn’t realize, but white tzatziki sauce had dripped down the back of my hand.

“You have some sauce…” Caine pointed.

Still holding the gyro, I turned my wrist to look. The sauce had trailed down my hand, past my wrist, and was making its way steadily down my arm, about to drip onto my shirt. If I put down the disaster of a gyro, there was no way I’d be able to pick it back up without it falling apart. So, I licked a line from my arm up over my wrist to my finger, cleaning the mess in one long stroke. Not very ladylike, but it was better than wearing it on my nice shirt.#p#分页标题#e#

When I looked up, Caine was staring at me. “Christ. Are you trying to get me fired?”

“What?”

His eyes moved back and forth between mine. “You really have no goddamn clue, do you?”

“I don’t understand.”

Caine looked down at his food, shaking his head. “Just finish eating. We should go.”

The ride back to my apartment was awkward. Neither of us said a word. Honestly, I had no idea what to say. I’d realized Caine’s comments had to mean he was turned on by my inadvertent lick show, but it was also a reminder that I needed to stop fantasizing about something that was never going to happen.

When we arrived at my apartment building, Caine double parked and turned off the ignition. “I’m going to walk you up.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’m fine.”

“I’m not leaving you at the curb.” He opened his door, effectively closing the discussion.

“Okay then,” I mumbled to myself.

The awkwardness continued as we rode the elevator up to my apartment. I fumbled for my keys in front of my door. “Thank you again for taking me on and coming with me today.”

“Of course. I’d do it for any student.”