He smiled lightly. “A lot more.”
“Then, yeah, I want to see it.”
“Come over whenever you want.”
“Well, be careful. I might show up on your doorstep every night.”
He dropped his smile and checked on the pots and pans again. “You’re the only woman in my life, so come and go as you please. My bed is your bed as far as I’m concerned.” He turned off all the burners once the food was done and grabbed plates to serve everything.
“You seem comfortable with monogamy. Have you done it before?”
“No. But I don’t need the experience to know how it works.” He placed the food onto the dishes and grabbed silverware before he handed me a plate. He leaned against the kitchen island and started to eat. “Only fuck one woman. Not that hard to understand.”
“But might be hard to implement.” I took a few bites and was impressed that he’d thrown this together so easily. “You’re probably used to getting ass handed to you all the time…” I’d seen the way women looked at him at the bars, all wanting a chance to sink their claws into him. He was a devastatingly beautiful man, so sexy it was easy to come just thinking about him. He could have anyone he wanted.
“I don’t recall that happening with you.” He continued to eat, brushing off my compliment like it didn’t mean anything to him. He could be a conceited asshole at times, but that seemed to be an act, because other times, he actually seemed humble about his hotness.
“Only because you locked me in a cage in your basement. If that had never happened, I would’ve hunted you down until I had you. Would’ve hiked up my dress and fucked you in an alleyway if it came down to it.”
He stopped chewing for a second, affected by what I said. “We can still do that.”
“I won’t be surprised if we do.” I ate everything on my plate because it was so good, a gourmet meal right in my kitchen. I tried to control my appetite and not scarf everything down, but that was impossible. I cooked food in the same pots with the same ingredients, and meals never turned out like this. “Damn, that was good.” I set the plate aside on the counter.
“Good. You ate everything like a grown-ass woman.” He carried his empty plate to the sink and rinsed it off, taking mine next and doing the same. Then he moved to the pots on the stove.
“I’ll do it later. You cook, I’ll clean.”
He released the handle of the pan and turned back to me, the sexiest man to stand in my kitchen. His hair was a little messy because I’d fingered it so many times, and it was obvious that a woman had dug her hands into his hair instead of him being lazy and not taking a shower. He glanced at the time on the microwave then turned back to me. “I should get going.”
The disappointment that rushed through me was potent, painful. It was so sudden because I hadn’t expected it. Last time he was there, he’d slept over, and I’d just assumed that was what he would always do. But I refused to seem clingy or whiny, so I took the high road and brushed it off. “Okay. Thanks for dinner.”
He stared my face, his head slightly tilted to the side as he regarded me. His piercing blue eyes studied me like a pair of binoculars. “If you want me to stay, just tell me that.”
My eyes narrowed. “You said you should go, so why would I tell you to stay?” I pulled his shirt over my head and handed it to him, leaving myself completely naked in the kitchen.
He took it but didn’t pull it on. “I should go. I have shit to do. But if you want me to stay, I will.”
“I’m good.” I walked back into my bedroom so I could pull on my little shorts and a top before returning to the front door. Most of the time, I just wanted sex and to have the guy leave afterward. But since this was a different situation, I was a bit frustrated he wanted to go—and even more frustrated that I didn’t want him to leave in the first place.
When I turned around, he was in my bedroom, his shirt still in his hand. “Let me tell you how this works.” He tossed the shirt onto the bed. “You can tell me anything. You can ask me for anything. I’m at your service.”
“You fulfilled your services for the night, so you’re dismissed.” I’d never needed anybody, and I wasn’t gonna start now.
He stayed in front of me, his muscular frame rigid.
“Why are you making this into a bigger deal than it needs to be?”
He stepped closer to me. “Because the longer we’re together, the more I can…read you. I can tell there’s something you want, but you refuse to ask for it.”