“Up yours, Demon,” Henry called out as he and his wife shuffled to the front.
“Yeah, totally intimidating,” she muttered.
“Keep walking, old man!”
“Did you hear that honey? He’s scared of me.” Henry and his wife laughed as they left, so that only Marlie and Damon remained in the dining area.
Damon leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. He had his sweatshirt pulled back to his elbows, revealing strong forearms. Marlie couldn’t lie. Physically, Damon was totally her type. Large, strong, and powerful. But his brain and sense of humor turned her on as well. What to do about that?
“Now that we’re free to speak our minds, tell me. What exactly do you want from me? And how bad am I allowed to be?”
The bazillion dollar question. And one they couldn’t have here.
“They’re closing up. Grab some cookies to go. We’ll discuss this at my place. And wipe that grin off your face. We’re going there to talk. With our mouths.”
His grin grew wider. “Excellent.”
She felt her cheeks blazing but could do nothing but laugh at him. “You’re such a pain in my ass.”
“With any luck, that’ll be date number four.”
“Gah.” She left him with the bill and waited outside by her car while she took the time to cool off. She’d have to make sure not to lose him while he followed in his truck. Back to her house.
Where they’d be all alone.
Date number four? Hell, she couldn’t wait to see how date number two ended before they definitely got to date number three.
CHAPTER 17
The house reminded him of her, compact and pretty on the outside, smart and organized to an inch of its life on the inside. The two-bedroom cottage had an eclectic mix of furniture and decoration. Colorful and charming, not quiet or calm. But totally Marlie.
Damon sat on Marlie’s teal-blue couch, his arms spread wide on the back of the cushions, the zipper of his jeans making a permanent imprint on his dick. He’d been hard and hurting all the way home from lunch, imagining what they might get up to at Marlie’s house. Because no matter what she said, the woman wanted him.
He could see it in her eyes, heard it in the breathy notes of her denial and the way she stared at his mouth, as if remembering their kisses.
He just had to get her there, because damn if he could wait for date number three. He wanted her right now. But he also had to be smart. She had to want more than one time with him.
The sex had to be off-the-charts amazing, so no blowing his wad in two seconds. And of course, she had to instigate things. With his size, he always let the woman dictate how the date would go. He knew he could be intimidating, and he never wanted to scare anyone into a yes.
It had been grilled into him at an early age, first by his father, that if he even thought about attempting any kind of coercion, his father would take him apart. Then Grace had added that she’d skewer him. And that was to say nothing of what his mother might do to him. Permanent psychological damage.
Damon had been raised to respect women. Period.
He also had trust issues after seeing what a few of his peers had gone through with women hunting a paycheck or baby daddy.
Marlie, however, wasn’t the type to be anything but herself.
No wonder he loved her.
“What the hell is that look?” she growled.
He cleared his throat and glanced away from her pacing. “Just wondering if we’ll talk today or after Christmas. I thought you had work Monday.”
“Laugh it up. But yes, I do have to go back to work Monday. And we have basketball practice Monday night and a game Wednesday and then Friday.”
“Oh. Can I come?”
She stopped pacing. “To my games?”
