Chapter Seven
Milo
Eden was quiet during the short drive to my house, but she seemed to have moved past the nervousness from when I first invited her to dinner. Whether the smell of our takeout or the promise of video games had soothed her, I wasn’t sure, but I was willing to roll with it either way.
“This is where you live?” she asked, peering through the twilight toward the little ranch I’d bought several years back.
“It’s not much to look at, but it gets the job done.”
“Not much to look at? It’s adorable. And…landscaped.”
She sounded so shocked that I laughed, then tipped my head in an attempt to view the house objectively.
It was small and squat, with white siding and red brick accents.
The yard was tiny, so it was easy to keep up with mowing in the summer, and the interior hadn’t needed a single renovation when I bought it, which was the major selling point.
But along the front of the house was a small, mulched garden bed lined with various shrubs and ornamental trees.
“The landscaping is only because my mom is so into gardening, she insisted on planting all of that stuff for me. Which basically meant she went to the nursery, came home with a trunk full of bushes, and told me where to dig and haul things to.”
“Your family is local, then?”
There was something in the way she said it—not wistful, exactly, but pensive. It made my heart clench in my chest, wondering what her family was like.
“Yeah, they’re all still in Spruce Hill. Mom and Dad live at the other end of town. Maverick and Carter are about two miles from here, and our middle brother, Mark, lives a few blocks away with his wife, Libby. Mark has a store in town where he sells body products.”
“Maverick and Carter,” she repeated. “Just the two of them?”
“Carter’s mom left when he was just a baby.
Mark and I helped out a lot back then, but my mom took care of him during the day until he started school.
Maverick works in business banking, something unspeakably boring like that.
Our mom still handles any activities Mav can’t make it to, but Carter likes to hang at the stores with us, so we alternate days watching him after school. ”
“I’m glad you have a close family like that.”
Sincerity was written on every inch of her beautiful face, but so was something else. Longing, maybe? I wanted to ask questions, but I was afraid I’d scare her off.
“Ready to go inside and eat? I’m starved.”
Eden nodded, but she fell silent, staring at the house. I turned off the engine and shifted my body toward her, wondering if her nerves had returned. It was a long moment before she met my gaze.
“Eden,” I said softly. “It’s just dinner. And video games, and I think I have some ice cream in the freezer if you want dessert. Just because we…”
“Had a wild night of incredible sex?” she suggested.
I laughed even as the reminder sent heat rushing through me. “Yes, that. Just because we had lots of incredible sex doesn’t mean you’re under any obligation to repeat the experience. Not now, not ever. That night was just that—the choices we made for one night.”
Eden’s brows lifted and she asked, “Are you concerned I’m feeling pressured to sleep with you again?”
“I…I mean, yes, I was getting a little concerned about that, but now I’m sensing I read the situation completely wrong.”
The bags of takeout were on her lap, but she reached out a hand to brush her fingertips lightly over my beard, a whisper of a touch that barely reached my skin but one I felt everywhere else in my body all at once.
I managed to stay still until her thumb touched my lips, then I breathed her name against it.
“I like you, Milo. If I seem nervous, it’s because I’m afraid I screwed things up for us by putting the horse before the cart, or however that saying goes,” she admitted.
“Not possible,” I replied, still speaking around her thumb and not minding it one bit, since that meant she was still cupping my face in her ridiculously soft hand. “You didn’t screw anything up. There were two of us there that night, and there are two of us here now. Together.”
“Together.” The whispered word sounded weighty coming from her lips.
Before her hand dropped away from my face, her fingers curved, combing gently through my beard. I remembered her doing it several times that night—and I remembered liking it just as much then as now. A low hum of contentment purred in her throat as I tilted my head to nuzzle her palm.
“Okay, then. Let’s eat,” Eden said.
“Stay there. I’ll come around for the food.”
As I opened the door and took the bags from her lap, I saw the uncertainty had fled, leaving in its place a spunky, grinning woman with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
It was sexy as hell and I had to remind myself of all the things I’d said to her—gentlemanly behavior, just dinner, getting to know each other.
Okay. I could do this.
I let her into the house, not realizing she’d stopped in the doorway until I reached the countertop dividing the big open space into living room and kitchen. When I turned to look at her, she stood stock still, staring down at my slender black cat, who gazed up at Eden in return.
“You have a cat.”
“I do. Shit, you’re not allergic, are you? I didn’t think,” I said, moving toward the two of them.
“No, I’m not. But…you have a cat.”
“Yes,” I said, drawing out the word in my confusion. “That’s Jiji.”
Eden’s gaze shot to my face. “Not my favorite Studio Ghibli movie, but it’s up there.”
The fact that she recognized it made something in my chest shift and settle. My last girlfriend, if you could call her that when we’d only gone out a few times at Maverick’s insistence, had been of the belief that cartoons were for children.
“What’s your favorite?”
“Howl. I’m a sucker for a man in a poofy shirt.”
“Duly noted. I try to save mine for special occasions, but maybe you’ll get lucky. I could be persuaded to pull it out of storage.”
Eden smirked in my direction. “You really are a nerd.”
“Takes one to know one,” I teased. “You were at Comic Con, after all.”
“True, and I enjoyed it, once I figured out what the hell was happening. I accidentally booked a room at the wrong hotel. I had a meeting with a supplier the next morning in the city.”
“Is that why you left?” I asked softly, hoping she wouldn’t think it was an accusation.
Eden nodded, glancing back toward Jiji just as the cat completed his inspection of my guest and sauntered toward her. Without hesitating, Eden dropped to her knees on the ugly brown carpet and held out her hand for the cat to sniff.
“He’s a little particular, so don’t be offended if he…”
My warning trailed off as my finicky cat started rubbing his face against Eden’s fingers like he’d found a long lost friend.
As she scratched his cheeks, he edged closer until he was almost on her lap.
Even from a few feet away, I could hear Jiji purring, but Eden’s responding coos flooded my veins with warmth.
Nothing could convince me this woman was a perfect fit more than that.
Then Jiji rolled onto his back, inviting Eden to rub his belly, and before I could issue a warning, the cat latched onto her wrist with his teeth and all four limbs.
“Oh, you are ferocious,” Eden whispered. “What a fierce kitty you are. Fierce and pretty, you sweet baby.”
Jiji licked the base of Eden’s palm, then bolted across the room to eviscerate the bottom post of his climbing tree.
As I offered a hand to pull Eden to her feet, I said, “That settles it. You passed the ultimate test.”
She beamed up at me. “Excellent news.”
I unpacked the bags of food, offered Eden her choice of beverages from the fridge, and popped the tops of two cherry colas as we settled at the breakfast bar to eat. Eden dug into her pad thai, so I gave her a few minutes before I launched into conversation.
“You got my family overview in the car. What about you, is yours still in Binghamton?”
Eden slapped a hand over her mouth as she sputtered around a mouthful of noodles. “Wow, okay, starting right in. Um. I think so, yeah.”
My body stilled at the implication that she didn’t know. “Oh.”
“We’re not in contact. My brother called once, a few years ago, but it didn’t go well. I haven’t heard from any of them since.”
“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.
“Don’t be.” She shrugged and twirled her fork in the noodles. “Addie and Rob are my family, and their parents. They’ve more than made up for any shortcomings of my own.”
My heart ached at the prospect of Eden being cut off from the kind of love and support I received from my family, but her grip on the fork had tightened and her frame had gone tense.
Time to change the subject.
“Right. Okay. Martial arts?” I asked.
“Yup. I do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.”
I let out a low whistle. “How long have you been doing that?”
“I started a couple weeks after I got here, so not quite six months. Right before we left the city, I let Addie talk me into hosting a girls’ weekend in Rochester.
It was basically a big sleepover at our tiny apartment, but one of her friends got mugged before she came home.
She was fine and the police recovered her purse, but it freaked us all out. ”
“Oh, shit.”
“Yeah,” she said, making a face. “I know Spruce Hill’s not a big city, but bad things happen everywhere. I decided I should know how to defend myself.”
“So you’re a badass and could kick my ass.” I grinned at the thought.
“I could,” she agreed solemnly, “but I probably won’t. At least not if you keep feeding me.”
“I’ll try to stay on your good side. Since I’m happy to feed you to maintain my spot in your good graces, favorite food?”
“Well, this is ranking pretty high right now. I’m also a sucker for nachos. You?”
“Perfect, next time we’ll get nachos, because I love Mexican food. There’s a great little place over in Oakville. You moved here six months ago? Where did you live before?”
“Adelaide and I went to college together in Rochester and ended up staying there after we graduated, though she always wanted to move home. When her friend Monique opened the crisis center here, she recruited Addie to come work with her and I decided to come along, too, since I was having a hard time finding a good retail space in the city.”
“Are you guys still roommates?”
“No,” she said, grinning. “Addie is living above her parents’ garage at the moment, and I love her, but we definitely each need our own space.
I got an apartment off Canal Street. It’s not great, but it’ll do for now.
I didn’t want to blow my savings on rent when I need to put that money into the store. ”
“So how did you get into the lingerie business?” I asked, tilting my head at her.
“Lingerie business?” she repeated, laughing. “Jumping from family to favorite food to my career. I’m going to get whiplash.”
I shrugged. “I want to know about everything that makes you who you are.”
“Okay, then. It’s not just about selling sexy underwear.
It’s about empowerment, making sure people can feel beautiful no matter what their size or shape.
The lingerie is the face of it, but we’ll be offering more than that.
Addie runs support groups for survivors of sexual assault.
Monique offers sexual education classes and, ah, other things. ”
“Other things?” I asked, wondering why her cheeks grew pink when she said it.
“Parties.”
I stared at her, turning that over in my head. “Parties. Like, birthday parties?”
“Sex toy parties,” Eden mumbled. She stabbed her fork into her noodles, avoiding my gaze. “They’re pretty popular, and I’ll get a cut of the sales.”
“Oh, I see,” I breathed.
Her blush deepened, streaking scarlet along her cheekbones, and dozens of enchanting images filled my head—as if all those sweet, lacy nightgowns in the shop hadn’t been fodder enough for my imagination.
“Right.” I cleared my throat and repeated, “Right. Cool.”
Eden finally looked at me again, hazel eyes bright against her red cheeks, then she burst out laughing at whatever she saw on my face.
I tried to remember if I’d heard her laugh at all that night at the hotel. She had giggled, yes, when I stroked my hands up her sides and discovered how ticklish she was there, but nothing like this sweet explosion of sound from those pretty red lips.
I was mesmerized.
Eventually, the laughter died away. Eden shook her head and lifted her can of cola in my direction, her expression turning serious. I braced.
“You wanted to move into that space?” she asked softly. “How long have you had the store?”
“I opened about eight years ago now. And don't feel bad about the space. I waited too long. You got there first, fair and square. Besides, I needed the push to expand my website offerings, get some new ads up. I got space on some digital billboards throughout the state, which seems to be driving a fair amount of traffic to the site.”
She smiled and said, “That’s great, Milo.”
“It all worked out in the end.” I gave a quiet laugh. “Is that the news you were celebrating that night at the hotel?”
Eden blanched. “Shit. Yes.”
“Good. I’m glad I got to be part of that celebration, Eden. You’re doing something incredible with that storefront. That’s more important. Though I am curious…how exactly did you get the cat pee out of the rug?”
“Oh, man,” she groaned, nudging her shoulder against mine. “Addie’s brother, Rob, replaced a chunk of the subfloor and found a scrap of the same carpeting to fit in there. Before that, I spent a lot of time on my knees.”
“That’s what she said?” I ventured.
She burst out laughing again, adding another checkmark to my Perfect Fit list, and we finished our dinner.
Maybe that night at the hotel counted as our actual first date, but this one felt like it—the most perfect first date I could have imagined.