A sexy grin lifted his lips. “Actually, no. I’m doing this because you deserve it. You took a big step, and you ought to have it acknowledged and celebrated.” He slid his fingers through hers and kissed the back of her hand. “And no matter what you decide about us, we are going to do just that.”
She blinked. He continually managed to surprise her and she sighed. How was she supposed to keep her feelings casual when he did sweet things, like caring about what she needed and believed she deserved?
There was no way she could turn down his suggestion. She’d take whatever time she could have with him and enjoy it while she could. “You have yourself a deal,” she murmured. “Until I move out.”
His gorgeous green eyes stared into hers. “Which you plan to do soon? Because you left a list of rental units in the conference room, and I want you to know there’s no rush to leave.”
She couldn’t help but smile even as she shook her head. There were those mixed signals again. “I think it’s best if I start looking. It’s time I stand on my own two feet.” She paused. “But in the meantime, I think we should make the most of the time we have left.”
“And I agree.” He touched his glass to hers then pushed his chair back and stood. “What are you doing?”
“Getting comfortable.” He walked over to the booth where she sat across from him and slid in beside her. He extended his arm behind her, and his roughened fingers grazed her bare shoulder.
Her entire body flooded with heat, and arousal spiked inside her. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but with the heavy discussion out of the way, she was able to relax and enjoy. Even with him sitting close and her being so physically aware of him, their back-and-forth banter was easy and light.
She and Beck had shared time together since she’d moved in, and she’d learned a lot about him. He preferred suspense thrillers to comedies in both movies and books, holding a print copy in his hand over an e-reader, would pick reading over TV, and had no patience for binge watching. She, on the other hand, would choose a romantic comedy any time, liked to read romance on a tablet or her phone, and she also didn’t enjoy bingeing television shows and losing hours at a time.
But tonight wasn’t about the mundane. Tonight was the first night they were exclusively focused on each other in a way that allowed the sexual tension to be present and bubble over. And despite their friendship, which she knew was real, she heard innuendo in everything they said or did, from the moment he’d pushed back his chair and slid into her curved booth. Including the fact that oysters were the first course.
He held one out for her to suck from the shell, and she did, her gaze never leaving his heavy-lidded one as she chewed and swallowed. She was then forced to watch his throat move as he did the same, and a yearning hit her hard, her panties growing damp just watching him.
Unfortunately she had three more courses to go, but she enjoyed every one. A salad consisting of arugula with pears and prosciutto, duck breast with sweet cherry sauce for the main course, and the most decadent chocolate souffle with vanilla bean ice cream. All accompanied by Bling H2O, poured from a limited-edition frosted-glass bottle, covered with hand-applied Swarovski crystals.
As privileged as her life had been, a fifty-dollar bottle of water was over-the-top, even for her. But she appreciated the sentiment of this meal and would never forget that he’d done this to make her feel special.
Their conversation drifted from how his parents were handling his father’s diagnosis – Beck wouldn’t know for sure until he went there for dinner tomorrow night – to whether she had business ideas in mind in case she didn’t win the competition. She found herself telling him about wanting to open a design shop where she could choose her own clients who had visions similar to those Chloe enjoyed creating. Once again he supported her and offered any help she needed. No questions asked.
At which point she was relaxed and comfortable enough that the words just came out of her mouth. “So what happened between you and Linc? One time I visited and you two were living together and best friends, then I heard you moved out and he never mentioned it again. Until you both ended up as real estate competitors.”
Beck froze, obviously shocked by the question. “We had a falling-out,” he finally said.
Well, if that wasn’t vague, she thought with frustration. “I assumed you had. I take it you won’t tell me over what?” She’d been taking tiny bites of her souffle and put the fork down, deciding she couldn’t eat another morsel.
“It wasn’t over what. It was over who.” He rubbed his hands together before finally meeting her gaze. “And as much as I would like to explain, out of respect for you and your relationship with your brother, it’s not my story to tell.”
“You argued over a girl?” she asked, putting the pieces together. She was surprised because that thought hadn’t crossed her mind.
“Chloe … don’t push me on this. You need to talk to Linc.”
Beck set his jaw in what she’d come to think of as the expression he used when he wouldn’t budge.
“Trust me, okay? If I thought I should explain things, I would,” he said.
“But you won’t because you’re protecting my relationship with Linc.” She didn’t understand how but she’d accept his request. “Okay.”
“Thank you. So did you have that dress, or did you ask one of your personal shoppers to send it over?” he asked, his irises darkening as his gaze came to rest on her breasts, pushed up slightly by the ribbing beneath them.
Accepting the change of subject, she grinned. “What do you think?”
He ran his finger along the leather strip, and her entire body trembled at his touch, which deliberately included the undersides of her breasts. “I think you wanted something special just for me.” His thumbs brushed over her distended nipples, hard and aroused from his teasing touch. “And I appreciate the effort because I can’t stop staring.” His gaze was hot and still focused on her chest.
Despite being completely covered, exposing no cleavage, this dress managed to tease, and that was exactly what she’d wanted.
“Would you like more dessert?” he asked.
“No, thank you.” She shook her head and sighed. “This was the best meal I’ve ever had.”
Beck’s answering smile warmed her inside.
“That was the plan,” he said. “And since we’re both full, let’s dance before we head home.”
Full or not, she was all too willing to rub her body against his sexy one.
He slid out of the booth and extended his hand, helping her stand in her high heels. As if he’d choreographed it, the music became a notch louder, and he pulled her into his arms.
For the first few minutes, he held her in a respectful position as they swayed in time to the music, but the longer the song went on, the more intimate they became. His hand moved to her lower back, and then his fingers dipped to cover her ass and pull her against his hard body, the swell of his erection obvious and thick against her sex.
“I haven’t danced in a while,” he murmured in her ear.
Her hands came to his shoulders. “This no longer feels like just dancing,” she said, and his low chuckle reverberated inside her.