“What?” he asked, cocking his head at me.
“Nothing. Thai food is definitely not the first non-sexual thing I’ve learned about you, that’s all.”
This time, the grin crept across his face slowly, giving me a chance to savor the entire process. We were close enough for me to catch a whiff of pine, close enough that I could have lifted up on my toes to kiss him. Though his gaze dropped to my mouth, he gave a tiny shake of his head, like he was reminding himself that he’d promised to be a gentleman tonight.
“There’s plenty more to learn, Eden, for both of us. Let’s order so we can get started.”
Chapter Seven
Milo
Edenwasquietduringthe short drive to my house, but she seemed to have moved past the nervousness from when I first invited her to dinner. Whether the smell of our takeout or the promise of video games had soothed her, I wasn’t sure, but I was willing to roll with it either way.
“This is where you live?” she asked, peering through the twilight toward the little ranch I’d bought several years back.
“It’s not much to look at, but it gets the job done.”
“Not much to look at? It’s adorable. And…landscaped.”
She sounded so shocked that I laughed, then tipped my head in an attempt to view the house objectively. It was small and squat, with white siding and red brick accents. The yard was tiny, so it was easy to keep up with mowing in the summer, andthe interior hadn’t needed a single renovation when I bought it, which was the major selling point.
But along the front of the house was a small, mulched garden bed lined with various shrubs and ornamental trees.
“The landscaping is only because my mom is so into gardening, she insisted on planting all of that stuff for me. Which basically meant she went to the nursery, came home with a trunk full of bushes, and told me where to dig and haul things to.”
“Your family is local, then?”
There was something in the way she said it—not wistful, exactly, but pensive. It made my heart clench in my chest, wondering what her family was like.
“Yeah, they’re all still in Spruce Hill. Mom and Dad live at the other end of town. Maverick and Carter are about two miles from here, and our middle brother, Mark, lives a few blocks away with his wife, Libby. Mark has a store in town where he sells body products.”
“Maverick and Carter,” she repeated. “Just the two of them?”
“Carter’s mom left when he was just a baby. Mark and I helped out a lot back then, but my mom took care of him during the day until he started school. Maverick works in business banking, something unspeakably boring like that. Our mom still handles any activities Mav can’t make it to, but Carter likes to hang at the stores with us, so we alternate days watching him after school.”
“I’m glad you have a close family like that.”
Sincerity was written on every inch of her beautiful face, but so was something else. Longing, maybe? I wanted to ask questions, but I was afraid I’d scare her off.
“Ready to go inside and eat? I’m starved.”
Eden nodded, but she fell silent, staring at the house. I turned off the engine and shifted my body toward her, wondering if her nerves had returned. It was a long moment before she met my gaze.
“Eden,” I said softly. “It’s just dinner. And video games, and I think I have some ice cream in the freezer if you want dessert. Just because we…”
“Had a wild night of incredible sex?” she suggested.
I laughed even as the reminder sent heat rushing through me. “Yes, that. Just because we had lots of incredible sex doesn’t mean you’re under any obligation to repeat the experience. Not now, not ever. That night was just that—the choices we made for one night.”
Eden’s brows lifted and she asked, “Are you concerned I’m feeling pressured to sleep with you again?”
“I…I mean, yes, I was getting a little concerned about that, but now I’m sensing I read the situation completely wrong.”
The bags of takeout were on her lap, but she reached out a hand to brush her fingertips lightly over my beard, a whisper of a touch that barely reached my skin but one I felt everywhere else in my body all at once. I managed to stay still until her thumb touched my lips, then I breathed her name against it.
“I like you, Milo. If I seem nervous, it’s because I’m afraid I screwed things up for us by putting the horse before the cart, or however that saying goes,” she admitted.
“Not possible,” I replied, still speaking around her thumb and not minding it one bit, since that meant she was still cupping my face in her ridiculously soft hand. “You didn’t screw anything up. There were two of us there that night, and there are two of us here now. Together.”
