Romancing My Love(13)

The surprise in his eyes and his gaping jaw told her that maybe she’d been a little too brusque.

“I’m sorry. I’m not judging you. I just do better when I know where I stand. You know, going in with my eyes open.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and watched as he opened the fridge and withdrew a glass dish of marinating steak.

He set it on the counter without answering, then returned to her side.

“No holding doors and questions that could make the most confident man falter. I like you, Rebecca Rivera.” He took her hand in his and rubbed his thumb over the ring on her index finger.

Her mother’s ring. When he met her gaze again, the honesty in his eyes was unyielding. The warmth in his touch reassuring.

“I’m not going to lie to you. I have used my wealth to impress women in the past. Fancy cars tend to have that effect. But as far as this house goes, this is my private residence. I usually bring women I date to a room at the resort.”

“Why?”

He stepped closer and settled his free hand on her hip again. “I’m going to answer honestly and you may not like it, but I’m not a liar, so what you see is what you get.” He lowered his chin and looked deeply into her eyes. “Are you sure you want to know?”

Gulp. No. “Yes.”

“Because my private residence is just that. Private. The women I usually date are…” He shrugged. “Not the type of women you bring home.”

She drew in a deep breath. She did understand that. Before her mother had become ill, she’d dated guys she wouldn’t bring home, either.

“I’ve done that myself. So, why am I here?”

“You’ve done that yourself?” He tilted his head.

Ah, so what’s good for the goose isn’t good for the gander? Better to find out now, because Rebecca was nothing if not confident in what she’d done in her life and her reasons for doing them. Not that she owed anyone an explanation.

She shrugged, an action he could understand, given he’d just done so himself. She sipped her wine, enjoying the torturous wait she was rolling out for him.

“I’m not a saint either.” She nibbled on her lower lip and let that sink in. “Let’s just say that we all have needs.”

“I thought you said it had been years since you’d been with a man.” He arched a brow. A challenge.

She took another sip of wine and licked her lips slowly, evocatively, and felt his grip on her hip tighten.

“It has been. But I did have a life before that. I’m twenty-seven years old, Pierce, not seventeen. My home is my private, intimate space. It’s where I let my hair down, where I can throw on sweatpants and eat a pint of ice cream without judgment. And the last few years, it was the place my mother and I shared. I’ve never met a man who was good enough to bring home.” As she recounted her feelings, she missed having a home. She suppressed the longing and focused on him looking at her with a quizzical expression. She wanted to know what he was thinking. His eyes narrowed, and when she lifted her glass for another sip of wine, he stilled it with his hand.

“I like you, Rebecca. You’re a no-bullshit woman.”

“Well, I like you, too, Pierce.” She eyed the wineglass, then drew her eyes back to his. “But you still haven’t told me why I’m here.”

An easy smile spread across his lips. “I have no idea. You tell me.”

Oh boy. “My best guess…”

He released her hand and she lifted the glass to her lips, then licked the sweet alcohol from them, realizing too late that while she was licking the last drop, Pierce read it as an invitation. He moved in closer and pressed his lips to hers. His kiss was deadly. Sinful. A fury of heat that swirled through every part of her body, and by the time he drew away, she could barely breathe.

“Your best guess?” he whispered.

She set the glass on the counter and tried to think past the fresh gust of desire that was whipping through her like a hurricane.

“My best guess is that I’m here because you think you’ll get a night of hot sex and maybe you don’t want the people at the resort to know you’re seeing me because I was a prospective employee—and now I am an employee—and you work there.” Holy cow. Where had that come from? She hadn’t even put the whole job-dating thing together before that minute. No, no, no. Please don’t let that be why he brought me home.

He ran his index finger down her cheek and then touched the ends of her hair. “You are sadly mistaken, Rebecca. If I were worried about being seen with you, I would never have agreed to meet you in the lobby.” His voice turned serious. “And if I thought dinner might lead to a night of hot sex and nothing more, you would most certainly not be in my house.”

“Oh.” It was a hollow reply, but the only one she could muster.

“Is that what you were thinking when you said you’d meet me in the lobby? That I wasn’t good enough for you to take home? That I was going to be a night of amazing sex and nothing more?” He touched her bare shoulder, stealing her ability to think clearly. “It’s okay if you were. I just want to know where I stand. You know…go in with my eyes open.”

“No.” I was thinking that I didn’t have a home where you could pick me up, and now I just can’t think at all.

“Well, that’s good to hear.” He took a step back, but Rebecca still felt the heat of him compressing her chest. “If you want the truth, I liked you. You didn’t strike me as a get-her-plastered-and-take-her-to-bed type of date. Hell, I don’t know what you struck me as. You confused me. You clocked a guy in a bar, you blew me off, and then you opened up to me and I got a glimpse of who you were. And as crazy as it sounds, I was attracted to you in a way that I’ve never been attracted to a woman before. Ever.”

She finished her wine in one gulp. “I…liked you, too.”

“Liked, or like?”

“Like, definitely like.” She reached for his hand, and when she touched his warm skin, it startled her. What was she thinking? Her brain told her arm to come back to her side, but it didn’t listen. Thank God it didn’t listen.

“Talking to you last night was nice. It was something that I wanted to do more of, and I figured if we went out to a fancy restaurant, we’d be sidetracked by the glitz of it, and I really just wanted to get to know you.”

Slowly, her ability to breathe returned. He didn’t sound like he was spewing lines, like the introduction he’d given to his friend outside of the Astral. This felt true and genuine. “I want to get to know you, too.”

He squeezed her hand and then gathered the steaks, took a plate of shrimp on skewers from the refrigerator, and handed Rebecca the bottle of wine. “Come on; let’s talk out by the grill.”

One flick of a switch illuminated a stone patio, and white lights lit up the surrounding trees, giving the evening a romantic feel. Another switch brought music to speakers mounted on the back wall of the house. Pierce fired up the grill, put the steaks on, and then refilled their wineglasses. A few minutes later a warm breeze picked up the scent of seasoned steaks and carried it into the night.

“You don’t really think I want to hide you from anyone, do you?” Pierce flipped the steaks and set a skewer of shrimp on the grill beside it.

“I don’t know. Maybe?”

“Wow, brutal honesty again.” He shook his head, but he smiled, and she knew he wasn’t offended.

“I don’t believe it now. But is there a problem with dating someone from work? They didn’t cover that in the interview.” She liked watching him at the grill. She liked the way he stole glances at her, and when he rolled up his shirtsleeves, exposing muscular forearms, she couldn’t help but reach out and trace a muscle from elbow to wrist. She felt his eyes on her while hers were trained on his arm.

“Sorry,” she whispered, and lifted her finger from his warm skin.

“Don’t be. I don’t think we have to worry about anyone saying anything if we continue to date.”

If we continue to date.

“Which I hope we do,” he added.

Oh, thank God. “Okay. I don’t want to get either of us in trouble.”

Pierce finished cooking, and after they set the table, he went inside and brought out two candles in beautiful wooden candleholders.

“Want to do the honors?” He handed her a lighter and Rebecca lit them. When she reached for a chair, he gently touched her arm. “I would be honored if you’d allow me to do that.”

She felt her cheeks flush. “Thank you. I’m kind of hardheaded, so I’m afraid I’ll need reminders.”

He pushed her chair in and crouched beside her. “Rebecca, I really don’t want you to think that I would keep the fact that I’m seeing you a secret from anyone. You’re beautiful, and to be honest, even if you weren’t, I’d still be proud to be seen with you. I was just being selfish. I wanted you all to myself.”

She softened a little more to him. If he was just throwing out lines, they were the perfect ones, but again she sensed that everything out of Pierce’s mouth reflected his real feelings. She wasn’t sure how to respond. Thank you? Oh good? That’s a relief? She went with honesty. It was, after all, what came easiest to her.