“Obviously I’m not,” he said drily.
“All is good,” she said. “Like this salad. Do I think I’ll get a call from Tucker in the next two weeks about you? Yeah, I will. I’ll deal with it then.”
“You’ll tell me if or when it happens?”
“I will. I’ve got nothing to hide. Not about this. Tucker is liable to not even care much. He’s very distant and distracted most times. I’m more concerned he won’t pay enough attention to his son. I’d rather focus on that and getting Archer through this trip.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For coming off as insecure.”
“You were just now. I’m surprised by it and shouldn’t be, but I’m glad you feel as if you can say it also.”
“I’m glad I can too. That’s the thing with you. You’ve always let me feel as if I can be myself.”
“I’ve always felt the same way.” She pushed her plate away. “Like I can be adventurous with you and never felt it before.”
“Adventurous how?” This was a way to get his mind off the fact that maybe she was hiding his existence.
“First, you being open like this. The vulnerability that I bet you rarely show, it’s kind of a turn on.”
He’d never shown his insecurities to anyone before.
Always played up he had his shit together, even if it was exploding around him.
“Meaning you don’t like having a big, strong, confident man on your arm?”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” she said, laughing and hopped her ass on the island, her feet hanging off, the food shoved further away from them. “I like that you’re confident and cocky at all the right times.”
He laughed and stood up to get between her bent legs. “Like now?”
“Yes. Like now. I was driving home thinking of attacking you when I came in the door, but there you were with this nicely set out lunch and a puppy dog look in your eyes.”
He couldn’t hold the wince back. “Ouch. That hurts,” he said, moving closer and putting his lips to hers.
“It’s what I saw. I knew you had something on your mind. I wasn’t sure what it was but like that you didn’t hesitate to say it. I can appreciate that more than anything. That you spoke your mind and didn’t attempt to hide there was something you needed to voice.”
“I haven’t always been that way,” he murmured, his lips to hers.
“But I like that you are with me. It’s attractive now that I got it out of you. See, a mixture of sides that looks good on you. Determination to get it said even when you internally battled the uncertainty of your response, or even mine.”
“You know what is sexy on you?” he asked, his lips trailing down her neck.
She arched into him some more. “No,” she whispered. “What?”
“Boldness and awareness. You saw something and you were going to get to the bottom of it. Many would look the other way and avoid it.”
“I’m not like many. Are you?”
“Not when I’m with you,” he said, lifting her up, his hands sliding into her shorts and pushing them down her hips with her underwear, then dropping her on the cold counter.
She shrieked but didn’t shy away. He didn’t expect that she would.
He was ready to put a lid on this conversation.
“I’m a little too high up here for you to do what I’d like you to.”
