“That one looks great on.” She smiled warmly and then nodded toward Rio at the other end of the shop. “For her?”
“Maybe. I’m not sure if she would let me buy it for her, though. She can be…stubborn,” I finally filled in.
“I’ll get a bag, and you can just round off the price if you’re paying cash.” She leaned even closer so we could conspire about the purchase. “That way, you can surprise her when the time is right?” she suggested, hoping to close a sale.
I had to hand it to her—she knew the art of the deal.
“Yeah, all right.” I quickly pulled out my wallet and handed the woman some cash, and she darted off for a bag. We finished our mission well before Rio wrapped up her conversation and made her way back to me.
“Ready?” she asked cheerfully, and we moved out onto the sidewalk. “I wasn’t hungry until you mentioned food. Now I’m starving.” While standing on the balls of her feet, she gripped my forearm for balance and tried to see over the throng of people. “I think there was a fish taco place a couple shops down that way.” Rio sank back down to her flat feet but looked up at me over the tops of her sunglasses. “Isn’t that the direction of the marina?” she asked with a bit of confusion.
“I think this place really agrees with you. You’re positively radiant right now.” Before she could protest, because fuck, I knew she would, I bent and wrapped my arms around her waist and hauled her body flush against mine, lifting her off the ground.
“Looking lost like an obvious tourist?” she asked while stifling a giggle. People grumbled as they had to divert their course to walk around us, but I didn’t care. While I had her body pressed against mine, I couldn’t think of much else.
I kissed the tip of her sun-kissed nose and then her glossy lips before letting her slide down the front of my body until her feet touched the ground again. The sticky strawberry goo she had on her lips was on mine then too, and I tasted it with a grimace.
“Oh my God, I wish I had my camera out for that. That was priceless.” Mischief transformed her entire face, and I was the one wishing I had a camera at the ready. This woman captivated me in so many different ways, I felt like a love-sick teenager again.
Except, when I was a teenager, I never had time for feelings like these. I was busy watching my back on the streets and worrying about staying one step ahead of law enforcement when Bas and I were up to trouble—which, let’s face it, was all the damn time.
“How can you stand that on your lips all day?” I asked, digging into my pocket and hoping I remembered a handkerchief, even though I had on casual shorts.
“It’s the small price a girl pays to have lips all the boys want to kiss,” she answered.
The mere thought of any other “boy” kissing what was mine had a menacing sound clawing up my throat before I could intercept it.
“Easy, killer,” she said, patting the center of my chest.
Quickly grabbing her delicate hand, I held it over my thundering heart. “I don’t think I could be responsible for my actions if I had to witness you kissing another man.”
Though she held my gaze for a beat or two, I couldn’t read her expression through her sunglasses. Talking about having an exclusive relationship would likely send her running for the hills, and… Well, shit. What did I know about the subject myself?
So when she blurted out one of her random topic shifts, I actually felt a sigh of relief escape my lungs. “I think maybe I’ll indulge in a beer today. What do you think? Doesn’t that sound good?” Rio asked, rather than address my premature possessiveness.
Still, I couldn’t help but chuckle as we started walking again. Even though I was grateful for the topic change, it had to have been the clumsiest I’d ever witnessed, even from her. And she was giving her go-to tactic a hearty workout this trip. Anytime the subject shifted to one she didn’t want to discuss, whether it was because she was uncomfortable or didn’t want to face particular emotions, she would hurl us headlong into another conversation without a warm-up or introduction. The routine topic whiplash I sustained had really sharpened my communication skills during the trip, though. If I still had a job when we got back to California, the new talent would serve me well in the boardroom.
“Two for lunch, please,” Rio said with a shiny-lipped smile when we approached the eatery’s hostess podium.
“Inside or out on the patio?” the server asked my girl—until she caught sight of me and began something close to a visual molestation.
While I worked on my charmingly chill skills, Rio was clearly growing impatient with the woman’s blatant perusal. One glance at her terse profile, even from my vantage point, had me bending over to cut off the woman’s fire while it was still manageable embers.
“Please tell her where you want to sit so we can move out of the doorway, baby,” I rumbled directly into her ear. The whole time, I kept a hand splayed possessively across her hip, and I greedily took advantage of the chance to get in a nip to the sensitive skin of her neck.
I knew every single reaction of Rio’s body by that point. They were cataloged in my memory like short clips I could call up and play on command. As soon as her breathing hitched from my sensual little bite, I knew what would come next. When I stood to my full height again, a deep flush of arousal would paint her flesh from the gentle swell of her breasts up to where my teeth had just been. I couldn’t fucking wait to watch.
“I’m sorry.” Rio leaned closer to the girl to get an obvious look at her name tag. “Candace, is it?” She worked in a sweet smile before continuing, “Do you work out on the patio as well as inside the dining room?”
The young woman looked a bit confused but replied, “Uh, no. I stay here by the door when I’m not showing people to their tables.”
“Good, good.” Rio nodded with effervescence. “We’ll take the patio, then.”
“Uhh, okay. Follow me, please?” The poor girl was so confused and could definitely tell something she didn’t like had just happened but couldn’t quite work out the details. I wasn’t much help for easing her nerves, already indulging the happiness that swelled through me from my Blaze’s possessive display. After the wonderful way she’d let me touch her back at the boutique, I was feeling like the goddamned king of the free world.
We hadn’t publicly shown affection to one another before today, and damn, it felt good. I never considered how much I’d been missing that, or how much I’d enjoy it, but I felt like I could fuck this girl on the table, and it still wouldn’t be enough of a public claim. I’d known months ago I felt this way about Rio, but judging by the look of confusion taking over my little pixie’s features, she was having trouble working out her own similar feelings.
Once we were seated and had ordered a couple of beers, I leaned back in the chair and stretched my legs beneath the table. The new position gave me a long minute to just study the captivating woman sitting across from me. It was another perfect moment for my mental video library. Perhaps its portrait gallery too. Rio looked over the menu as if she were going to be quizzed on its contents afterward. Her usually pale skin was lightly tanned, and her facial features were relaxed. The only thing that gave away the storm inside her mind was how her eyes bounced and darted from picture to explanation and then on to the next item. Her pupils scanned so rapidly; it was fascinating that she could be processing any of it.