“Good.” She was pouting and smiling at the same time and she didn’t even know how he’d managed it.
He grinned. “See? Bad. Good. I can handle the easy vocabulary.”
“Tease.” She threw it out there as an accusation.
“I’ll add it to the plans.” He grinned. “Limited vocabulary. Excellent memory.”
“Fine.” She blew out a breath. “I guess we’ll be calling it a night then.”
A very frustrating, probably restless night. His kisses alone had her melty and tingly and wound up in all sorts of ways. God, how would it be when they did get all tangled up?
He nodded solemnly. “It would be a good idea.”
“But not together.” She might’ve sounded disappointed. And it served him right if he heard it and felt guilty.
He kissed her. Kissed her until she melted for him, all the rigid outrage gone as she pressed up against him trying to fit herself against the entire length of him. She wanted to touch everywhere. When he let her up for air, he gave her a smile that meant bad, bad things. “Not yet.”
*
“David? Are you hungry?”
Define hungry, he thought, because first thing in the morning his appetite was focused on something much more satisfying than pancakes.
He didn’t open his eyes. Instead he considered his surroundings, how close Lyn might be, and most important, whether he had his pants on. He shifted a leg, took note of the loose slide of something too soft to be denim across the top of his thigh.
Nope.
He did have a light blanket across his lower half. The thin fabric protected him from the chill in the cabin but it definitely wasn’t enough to hide him from the light of day. While he was mostly certain Lyn found him attractive, she might not appreciate the part of him most awake first thing in the morning. At least not yet.
Lyn sighed. “Different question. Bacon? Yes or—?”
“Yes.” There wasn’t ever another answer. Ever. He opened his eyes and sat up. It’d been a long night and he hadn’t gone to sleep until a few hours ago.
Lyn was already headed back to the kitchen area so he couldn’t get a look at her expression yet. Her hips swayed as she walked, though, which could’ve been a torturous tease if he hadn’t already spent a week or so appreciating her walk. So she wasn’t throwing anything special into how she was getting around for his benefit. Biggest issue at the moment was her not giving him any clues as to whether she was upset with him for the way last night had played out.
He’d been trying to be a good guy. Do the right thing. His balls were blue enough to torture him without her being angry with him this morning.
“Did you sleep well?” Safe question. He hoped.
Her gaze shot up and pinned him to the couch. “Did you?”
Not quite mad, but definitely touchy. He’d have to proceed with caution.
“Well…” He drew out the response to give himself time to think. “I stayed on watch until Forte texted me a few hours ago to let me know we’ve got an eye on the grounds. Then I was up for a while longer, thinking of you.”
God, he enjoyed the way pink spread across her cheeks. He planned to tease her more often. This was also a good sign. He’d take whatever he could get.
From the middle of the floor, Atlas snorted and rolled on his side.
No opinions from the peanut gallery, thanks.
Not that he had any delusions of the dog being a mind-reader, but there was no doubt Atlas was aware of the pheromones floating all over the place. Dog probably had a better idea of Lyn’s mood than David did.
“If you were so…interested, maybe you shouldn’t have insisted on sleeping out here last night.” She turned to the stove and a second later, the sizzling of bacon filled the room with mouth-watering aroma.
He took the opportunity to snag his jeans from where they were hanging over the end of the couch. “Seemed like we were on the same page, but you did get some upsetting news yesterday. Wanted to give you time to ease into things.”
Plus, he’d still been on edge after the run-in with the other ex-soldier earlier in the day. He didn’t trust himself to keep things light and easy. Her first encounter with him should be at his best for her, not when his old issues were so close to the surface. She’d seemed to appreciate his reasoning last night.
Of course, she’d given him a look that could kill a man when she’d closed the bedroom door.
As she set a plate on the table, it landed with a loud thunk. He winced. Maybe she’d reconsidered overnight.
Enough.