“Yes,” Derek tells him. “She’s with him tonight.”
“We need to get you a shot or something,” Jameson says. “I can’t imagine it was easy to leave him.”
Derek shakes his head. “I’m okay. My nanny is there with them. I figured this might have been the easiest way to have them get to know each other. If I were there, Troy would hide behind me and it’d defeat the purpose of the whole thing.”
“That can’t be easy,” Gunnar tells me.
“Tell me about it,” Derek says. “At least I have Sutton.”
My cheeks flush at his words. I love hearing him say things like this. It makes me think this thing between us will last.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had that feeling of wanting something to last. It’s only been a few months, but it’s like Derek is the missing piece. He and Troy. The two of them complete my little family.
“Where’d you wander off to?” Derek whispers in my ear. Heat licks up my spine. Gunnar and Jameson are no longer at the table. Turning my attention toward Derek, his brown eyes are unraveling me.
I want to throw caution to the wind and attack his mouth with mine. But we can’t. Not in the middle of a restaurant.
Instead, I settle for wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close. “Thinking of you.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Mmm, yeah.” I press my lips to his cheek. “Thinking of how much I love you.”
Derek’s hand moves to my waist. Our legs touch under the table. “It can’t be as much as I love you, Sutton.”
I smile against the scruff on his jaw. “That’s debatable.”
“If I had the time, I would take you home tonight and debate this all night with you.”
“You’re mean,” I groan.
Warm lips find the pulsing vein in my neck. I wish we weren’t out at dinner with friends, because all I want right now is to be under Derek.
Under, over, it doesn’t matter. I want to be with this man in every way possible.
“I could say the same about you for wearing this dress tonight.”
Derek’s hand slides under the skirt of the short dress I’m wearing. It’s nothing over-the-top. A chambray dress that hits mid-thigh, but clings to my curves. Paired with short, brown booties, I knew it’d be perfect for tonight.
And drive Derek wild.
“What, this old thing?”
“Do we have to separate you two?” Jameson’s voice interrupts us, but I don’t move far. Resting my head on Derek’s shoulder, I wrap my arm around his to hold him in place. The comforting scent of his cologne envelops me as the two men retake their seats in front of us.
“And where did you two run off to?” I ask.
Jameson drops a kiss on Gunnar’s cheek. “We took care of the bill.”
“I told you I wanted to pay tonight,” Derek tells them.
“Maybe if you weren’t so loved up, you would’ve been able to do it then.”
Jameson sends a wink in my direction.
“That’s funny coming from you.” Reaching over, I grab my water and drink the rest of it down. “If it weren’t for work, I don’t think I’d see you at all.”
He now blows a kiss in my direction. “I can’t help it if everyone wants a piece of Jameson.”
