“Not if I do it right.”
I turned to face him, and he picked me up and sat me on the wide handrail. Then he stepped between my legs and hugged me around the hips. There was a wonderful peace that accompanied the twilight and we both sank into it. I ran my hands through his hair, just as the night breeze did.
“Have you talked to Ireland at all?” I asked, thinking of his half sister who was as beautiful as their mother. I’d met her at a Vidal Records party, and it became evident pretty quickly that she was hungry for any word or news about her eldest brother.
“No.”
“What do you think about bringing her over for dinner when my dad’s in town?”
Gideon’s head tilted to the side as he observed me. “You want to invite a seventeen-year-old to dinner with me and your dad.”
“No, I want your family to meet my family.”
“She’ll be bored.”
“How would you know?” I challenged. “In any case, I think your sister hero-worships you. As long as you pay attention to her, I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”
“Eva.” He sighed, clearly exasperated. “Be real. I haven’t the slightest idea how to entertain a teenage girl.”
“Ireland’s not some random kid, she’s—”
“She might as well be!” He scowled at me.
It struck me then. “You’re afraid of her.”
“Come on,” he scoffed.
“You are. She scares you.” And I doubted it had anything to do with his sister’s age or that she was a girl.
“What’s gotten into you?” he complained. “You’re stuck on Ireland. Leave her alone.”
“She’s the only family you’ve got, Gideon.” And I was willing to support that choice. His half brother Christopher was an asshole, and his mother didn’t deserve to have him in her life.
“I have you!”
“Baby.” I sighed and wrapped my legs around him. “Yes, you’ve got me. But there’s room for more people who love you in your life.”
“She doesn’t love me,” he muttered. “She doesn’t know me.”
“I think you’re wrong about that, but if not, she’d love you if she knew you. So let her know you.”
“Enough. Let’s go back to talking about s’mores.”
I tried to stare him down, but it was impossible. When he considered a subject exhausted, there was no continuing it. So I’d have to go around it instead.
“You wanna talk about s’mores, ace?” I traced my lower lip with my tongue. “All that melty gooey chocolate on our fingers.”
Gideon’s gaze narrowed.
I ran my splayed fingers over his shoulders and down his chest. “I could be persuaded to let you smear that chocolate all over me. I could also be persuaded to smear some all over you.”
His brow arched. “Are you trying to bribe me with sex again?”
“Did I say that?” I blinked innocently. “I don’t think I said that.”
“It was implied. So let’s be clear.” His voice was dangerously low, his eyes dark as his hand slid up under the hem of my tank top and cupped my bare breast. “I’ll invite Ireland to dinner with your father because it’ll make you happy and that makes me happy.”
“Thank you,” I said breathlessly, because he’d begun to tug rhythmically on my nipple, making me whimper in delight.
“I’m going to do whatever the hell I want with melted chocolate and your body because it’ll please me and that will please you. I say when, I say how. Repeat that.”
“You say—” I gasped as his mouth wrapped around my other nipple through the ribbed cotton. “Oh, God.”
He nipped me with his teeth. “Finish.”
My entire body tightened, so quick to respond to that authoritative tone. “You say when. You say how.”
“There are things you can bargain with, angel, but your body and sex aren’t negotiable.”