“About what?” she snapped, her voice unusually clipped.
“About whatever I said that upset you. And look at me, please.”
She didn’t. From my angle, I could see her jaw clenching.
“You know what? I am kind of hungry. I’m going to go down and heat something up.”
I moved quickly but not quickly enough to stop her before she left the bedroom and closed the door behind her. I stared at the door, wondering what the hell had just happened. Five minutes ago, she had been moaning my name in ecstasy. Now, she wouldn’t even look at me.
Apparently, I was suffering from a severe and sudden case of foot-in-mouth disease, though I couldn’t fathom why she was so angry. Did she think me insincere because I’d complimented her luscious curves? I wasn’t. I loved every dip and swell.
What I didn’t like was that she thought she could just walk away without talking to me. I was a pretty smart guy, but I wasn’t a mind reader. I needed to know what I’d said or done wrong, if for no other reason than to ensure I wouldn’t say or do it again.
I pulled on my jeans and a shirt, not bothering to button either, and went downstairs. I found her in the kitchen, where she was putting leftovers into various microwavable containers with considerably more force than necessary. I quietly watched her for a few moments, listening to her murmuring under her breath and hoping to catch something that might give me a clue. She was speaking too softly for me to make anything out, however, and I kept getting distracted by how sexy she was when she was angry, which was not helpful at all.
Still, I did have several married brothers in addition to hanging around Dave and Chaz and their wives, so I had some frame of reference upon which to draw.
“I’m an ass,” I said on an exhale, hoping to sound appropriately repentant. “Will you forgive me?”
Eva put a dish into the microwave and stabbed a few buttons on the touchpad before she turned around and looked at me. I did my best to look apologetic, sliding my hands into my pockets and hanging my head, just as I’d seen my married brethren do. But with two teenage sons, Eva was not so easily fooled.
“What exactly are you apologizing for?”
“I upset you.”
“But you don’t know why, do you?”
I sighed, busted. I wasn’t good at playing these games. “No. But whatever it is, I’m sorry.”
She mumbled something under her breath and went back to abusing the leftovers. I desperately tried to recall the conversation right before she got mad. We had been talking about food, and she’d said she’d gained weight ...
“You’re not fat,” I blurted out, feeling a fleeting sense of pride that I’d figured it out.
My triumph died a quick death, however, when she froze and turned to glare at me. Those were some powerful eyes, laser-like in their intensity. I fought the urge to squirm.
“I mean, I think you are beautiful. I love your body. Isn’t that obvious?”
In fact, I couldn’t get enough of her. Even now, I felt myself stirring beneath her heated gaze. My cock obviously didn’t care that she was pissed. The only thing it cared about was unleashing all that passion in physically creative ways. Thankfully, my brain remained engaged enough to know that tossing her up onto that counter and burying myself deep inside her until her eyes crossed was probably not the best option at that point.
Her eyes softened just a little, and I decided I was onto something and forged ahead.
“And I’d prefer a little extra actually, if it meant sharing wonderful, romantic meals with you.” I took a chance and stepped closer. “I love sharing things with you. I love to see the sparkle in your eyes when you are enjoying yourself, especially when it involves me. I hate that you deny yourself pleasure. Any pleasure.”
~ * ~
Eva
I sighed inwardly. Jace was looking at me with golden puppy-dog eyes swimming with sincerity. He really had no clue what it was that had hurt. I decided to take pity on him.
“That’s not why I’m upset, Jace, but thank you.”
His expression grew puzzled. “Then why are you angry with me? Tell me. Please.”
I exhaled. “Because you said you like your women with a little meat on them.”
His brows furrowed further as his confusion deepened. “I know. But it was meant as a compliment. I think your curves are sexy. I love the way you fill my hands and the way it feels when I sink into your ...” He shook his head, as if trying to stay focused. “It doesn’t mean I think you’re fat.”
I put my finger on his lips to stop him before he dug himself any further. “It’s not about weight or size. It’s something else entirely.”
He put his arms around me and tugged lightly. Unable to resist him any longer, I leaned against his chest.
“Angel, tell me.”
“It’s stupid.”
“I doubt that, if it upsets you so much.”
“I don’t like feeling like I’m just one of many. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”
I felt his arms tighten around me. “Why on earth would you ever think something like that?”
“Because you said you like your women a little meaty. Women, plural. Not woman, singular. I know I don’t have any right to demand exclusivity from you, and maybe I’m being completely unreasonable, but while you are sharing my bed, I’d like to feel like something more than a convenience.”
He pushed me back far enough to look at my face and then stared at me like I’d grown a horn in the middle of my forehead. “That is stupid.”
That anger I’d felt earlier roared back up with a vengeance. Before I could even begin to tell him where I was about to shove the large serving spoon in my hand, he stepped back again and exploded.
“Jesus, Eva! Don’t you have any idea how I feel about you?”
“How do you feel about me?” I asked, at once genuinely curious and hopeful and terrified of his answer.
He paced back and forth several times before he stood before me again, put his hands on my shoulders, and looked directly into my eyes. “I’m fucking crazy about you! I can’t think of anything else but you. You’re the first thing on my mind when I wake up in the morning and the last thing before I go to bed. Even my dreams are filled with images of you and all the things I want to do with you. There is no one else, Eva. Only you.”
The subsequent silence was so heavy; it was as if someone had pressed a mute button. Or maybe my ears had just stopped working properly. I felt moisture welling in my eyes, and my lips started to tremble. His anger quickly morphed to concern. I wanted to believe him, but dare I?
“Come here.” Jace pulled me to his chest. “Do you feel that? That’s my heart. And it belongs to you.”
I couldn’t help it. The tears fell despite my efforts to hold them back. He sounded so sincere.
“Please don’t cry, Angel. You’re not supposed to cry when a man tells you he’s in love with you.”
“You love me?”
“Yeah. I know it’s soon. I’ve probably broken about a hundred rules by saying it after only two weeks and being the one to say it first. But I can’t help it. I knew it from the moment I saw you.” He paused. “Even if I do lose my man card for admitting it.”