Not if it meant getting out unscathed. I didn’t feel any particular attachment to the items in our apartment. “No,” I said carefully. “I hate to put you in that position, though.”
“Don’t look at it that way. This is what we talked about,” he said, staring me down. “Giving up control. Letting me help. It’s nothing for me.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“This is no longer just about you. It involves me, too, and this is how I’m going to handle it.”
I closed my mouth and stopped my gaping. That was it, then. “Okay,” I agreed.
David nodded once. “Okay.”
My dad reached over to shake David’s hand. “You’re a good man, David. I think I might be happy that you’re looking after my girl.”
* * *
After the sun had set, our bellies had been filled, and the dishwasher ran in the kitchen, I stood by the front door with David. “I wish you’d just stay here instead of the hotel,” I said, running my hands over the fabric of his sweater. The soft cashmere, as always, was the perfect complement to the muscles underneath.
“Believe me, I want to,” he said. “I’m feeling . . . restless.”
I tugged on the waistband of his pants. “Stay then. We broke through some huge stuff earlier. Now, we should get to celebrate.”
David shifted feet, definitely fighting himself. “It’s not appropriate,” he said, “and I don’t want to make your dad uncomfortable.”
“You’re such a gentleman,” I teased.
“Would a gentleman do this?” he asked, squeezing my ass to pull me against him.
I responded with a lustful groan as his length pressed against me in all its glory. A carnal need blossomed in me. “I can’t wait,” I said with finality. “Sex. Now.”
He laughed and brushed a piece of my hair from my face. “If I can, you can. This time while in Dallas is about me getting to know your dad.”
“Wait,what?” I exclaimed, trying unsuccessfully to push him away. “Don’t tell me you plan on abstaining the whole time you’re here.”
“Sorry, baby, but we’re not goddamn teenagers,” he said. “We can handle a few days of self-restraint.”
I grumbled to myself as he took my hand and led me outside and to a car parked at the curb. “How do you like my rental?”
“I hate it,” I said with a pout, and he roared with laughter.
“Don’t take your sexual frustration out on the car.” He leaned in to give me a sweet kiss. “Thank you.”
I cocked my head. “For what?”
“Tonight.”
I smiled reluctantly and squeezed his hand in mine. “I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Try to stop me.”
I turned away, but he pulled me back by my hand for another series of pecks. He let go finally and smacked me on the ass. “Bye, gorgeous.” He hit the key fob as he walked away, and the car beeped.
“David?”
He looked at me over the roof. “Yeah, baby?”
“I love you,” I said.
He stared at me a moment before responding. “I love you, too.”
