One King's Way (On Dublin Street 6.5)

When the waiter left Rain gave him a wry smile. “La Cour? I thought you had to make a reservation weeks in advance.”

“Joss’s boyfriend, Braden, owns it.”

“Ah.” She nodded. “Connections.”

“You’ve never eaten here, then?”

“Nope. You?”

“Nope.”

The curiosity shone in her eyes. “Then why are we here?”

He leaned across the table and covered her hand with his. “Because I wanted this to be a special night.”

“This is lovely,” she said, her expression turning serious, “but you do know that you don’t have to spend loads of money on me to make me feel special?”

“Rain—”

She turned her hand so she could clasp his in it. “Craig, I just wanted to go on a date with you. Fish and chips and a stroll down by the waterfront would have been just as amazing. I need you to know that.”

“I do now.” He felt a moment of worry that he’d perhaps done this all wrong. He felt a little out of his depth with this whole serious-dating stuff. “Is this too much?”

She smiled and like always he felt something shift in his chest when she did it. “No. No one’s ever thought enough of me to take me somewhere like this. It’s a magical first date.”

The tension left him. “Good. I’m glad.”

They shared an intimate smile before checking out the menu.

“Although I’m not sure what half of the stuff on the menu is,” she muttered.

“Thank fuck,” he muttered back. “Because neither do I.”

*   *   *

Dinner was finished and although they’d been wary of what they were ordering, the food turned out to be as delicious as Braden had assured. They were waiting on dessert, and Rain seemed to have a nice buzz going from the champagne. In all honesty she was the most relaxed Craig had ever seen her.

He decided to at least set something straight while she was in a good mood and not readying herself to run for the door.

“To me this is a relationship,” he said. “I want this to be a real relationship. Monogamy and all.”

He saw her shoulders tense a little. “Craig . . . we should take this slow.”

“Of course,” he agreed, even though he already had visions of them playing house. “As long as we agree that we’re taking it slow with the understanding that we are taking it somewhere serious. I can’t promise what will happen in the future; no one can. But I can promise that I want to be with you.”

Her eyes shone in the candlelight. “Okay. Me too. But we’re taking it slow.”

He grinned triumphantly. “We’re taking it slow.”

* * *

“The best I’ve ever had. I promise you that.”

Rain’s words hadn’t stopped echoing in Craig’s head for the last week. He hated having to leave her to go to work, and that was a first. The truth was he’d had to physically drag himself away from her. And while his body was at work, his head was still in bed with Rain. Jo slyly commented on his absentmindedness, as if she knew the cause, and he was pretty sure that gossip would make its way to Joss’s ears and he’d never hear the end of it.

But he didn’t care. All he could think about was Rain’s mouth, her skin, the feel of her hair sliding through his fingers, her perfume, and how goddamn amazing it felt to be inside of her.

He was quite possibly addicted to this woman.

When customers flirted with him at work he automatically flirted back for tips, but it lacked his usual sincerity because there was only one woman in the world he found truly fucking beautiful, and none of these women were Rain.

The thought of going home to his empty bed in his flat filled him with dread. Salvation from the strange and unusual loneliness he felt at the thought came when his phone vibrated in his pocket an hour before closing.

I’m still up if you want to come to mine after your shift. Rain xo

Craig grinned at the text, filled with anticipation just at the thought.

I’ll be there, darlin’. Can’t wait to see you.

He saw no sense in being cool with her. He didn’t feel cool about her. He felt like his blood was on fire and there was no point in pretending otherwise.

Me too xo

He chuckled at the smiley face, discovering he found everything about her an enticing mix of sexy and adorable.

*   *   *

Something came over him as he climbed the stairs up to Rain’s flat a little over an hour later. It was something primal and desperate and while it excited the hell out of him, it also made him a little uneasy that one woman could make him feel this way.

Any uneasiness disappeared, however, as soon as she opened the door.

She was wearing a dark blue silk-and-lace nightie that heated his blood and sent a jolt straight to his dick.

She really was sincerely the sexiest, most beautiful woman he’d ever met.

“Hey, I—”

Craig cut off whatever she was going to say when he stepped inside the door and grabbed her wrist to wrench her hard against his body. His lips slammed down on her lush mouth and satisfaction flared when she instantly wrapped her arms around him, curling her fingers in the hair at the back of his neck. He wanted to devour her, his tongue moving in a deep dance with hers, tasting her, mimicking what their bodies would soon be doing. The door to the flat suddenly crashed shut and Craig broke the kiss to pull back and look at her.

Her breasts were framed perfectly by the low-cut nightdress, and it skimmed her curves before stopping short at the top of her slim thighs. Her skin was perfectly and naturally golden thanks, Rain had told him, to some Puerto Rican blood on her mother’s side.