Chapter 14
“Sit,”Bones commanded, holding both cups of tea in his hands.
I sat on the couch and covered myself with a blanket and then Bones gave me a mug. He nestled in at the other end. “You can stretch out if you want.”
My legs were curled up and I eased them out, my sock-clad feet grazing his jeans.
He took a sip of his tea and made a face. “That’s disgusting.”
“I added honey.” I sipped on the tea. “What are you talking about? It’s delicious.”
“I’m not drinking this.” He leaned over and set the mug onto the table.
“Charlie opened a bottle of wine earlier,” I said. “It’s the only alcohol I have, but you’re welcome to it.”
“Red or white?”
“A cabernet.”
“That means nothing to me.”
I grinned. “Red. Try it. See how you feel about it.”
“Ah, I see. More rich people education?” He was teasing, but he did get up. “Fine, I’ll try the wine, but I’m putting it in a mug out of principle.”
A laugh escaped my lips. While I was queuing up a movie, Bones came back from the kitchen and sat down on the couch.
“Well?” I asked.
“I haven’t tried it yet.” He lifted the mug to his lips and took a sip. “Huh.”
“Huh?”
“Not bad. Maybe I like wine.”
“Maybe you do.” I smiled. “And I know our next date isn’t until Wednesday, but I’ll give you a piece of advice when it comes to wine.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Make it up.”
“What?”
“Make it up. You know when people swirl and sniff and taste and then pretend they know exactly what they’re talking about? Make it up. Like cherry with hints of leather and tobacco and a subtle note of oak.”
“Leather and tobacco? Seriously?”
“See? Ridiculous, right?”
“Rich people also eat a bunch of weird foods in weird sauces. Am I gonna eat weird foods in weird sauces at this restaurant you’re taking me to on Wednesday?”
I fell silent as I tapped the rim of my mug.
“What?” he asked.
“I just had a thought.”
“What’s your thought?”
“Why don’t we have dinner here,” I said. “On Wednesday.”
“Ashamed to be seen with me in public? I promise not to put the napkin in my shirt like a bib. Though we did that this afternoon and you were fine with it.”
“No, I’m not ashamed,” I assured him. “It’s just—well, the places I’d take you to with all the silverware and china, you have to wear at least a sport coat. I’m guessing you don’t have one of those in the back of your closet?”
“No, I definitely don’t.”
“Plus, it might be better to have our first dinner in private. You know, so if I have to correct you?—”
“When. When you have to correct me.”
I inclined my head. “I have the dining room. I have my grandmother’s china. We can be informally formal.”
“Fine by me. This is your rodeo.” He took another sip of wine. “You sure I’m going to be ready for this thing? It’s only a couple of weeks away.”
“I have faith in you.”
“I told my brothers about what I was doing…Viper said I should read Pygmalion. That mean anything to you?”
I grinned. “Yeah. It means something to me.”
“Do I want to know?”
“Hmm. Hand me the remote. We’re watching My Fair Lady. How do you feel about musicals?”
“Shoot me.”
“How do you feel about Audrey Hepburn?”
“Hayden.”
“Hmm,” I murmured, my eyes closed.
“I’m gonna go,” Bones said.
“What? Why?” I opened my eyes and found the movie paused just as Eliza Doolittle was regally coming down the stairs in her epic Edwardian dress.
“Because you’re falling asleep. You’ll be more comfortable in your own bed.”
“But the movie…”
“We’ll finish it another time.”
“Stay,” I blurted out.
He peered at me with bright blue eyes and ran a hand across his jaw. The rasp of his fingers against his stubble made my insides quiver.
“Stay,” I repeated. “The night.”
“If I stay that means I’ll be here when you wake up,” he warned.
“I know.”
“It means I’m gonna see you in your pajamas.”
I smiled slightly. “I’m already in my jammies.”
“It means I’m gonna know if you snore.”
“I don’t snore!”
“Hmm. We’ll see.”
I got up off the couch and locked up the house and set the alarm. Bones followed me up the stairs. I didn’t even consider offering him a guest bedroom.
My heart kicked into high gear when I pushed open my bedroom door and flipped on the light. The room was decorated in grays and greens. It was expansive, with a custom-built walk-in closet and a master bath that had a luxurious hotel feel.
“Nice,” Bones said as he looked around.
“You want the bathroom first or?—”
“Hey,” he said.
I paused. “Hey.”
“Nothing’s gonna happen.”
“Nothing’s gonna happen?” I repeated with a frown. “What do you mean?”
“I mean we’re brushing our teeth and getting into bed. And if you let me spoon you, I’ll spoon you. That’s it.”
“I’m even more confused.”
“You thought by asking me to stay, we were gonna fuck.”
“No. I mean, yes. Maybe? I don’t know, I just assumed that you’d want to?—”
“I do want to. Fuck yeah, I want to.” He took a step closer to me and gently cradled the back of my neck in his hand. “But until you’re jumping into my arms, wrapping your legs around my waist and trying to climb me like a tree, then all we’re doing is spooning.”
I exhaled a shaky breath and nodded.
He leaned down and gently kissed my lips. “You use the bathroom first, yeah?”
“Okay.”
I went into the bathroom and closed the door. I was behaving like a shy virgin, spooked every time she was touched. I wasn’t a virgin, but I wasn’t that experienced either.
And Bones…
He kissed like a man who had experience.
He kissed like he knew how to pleasure a woman.
He kissed like a conqueror who wanted his conquest to fall apart and shatter beneath him.
I would never be the same after I went to bed with him. Something inside me knew that. And if let him in, if I truly let him in, it would change me. And I wasn’t sure I was ready to be changed.
After I did a quick nighttime routine, I opened the bathroom door. Bones was sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning over so his elbows rested on his thighs. He’d taken off his leather cut and his shirt.
“It’s all yours,” I said, flustered at the sight of his bare chest.
He unfolded himself and rose. “Thanks.” He flashed a grin and sidled past me.
I walked to the bed and climbed into it and turned on the lamp. I pulled the covers up to my chin and stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying not to think about the big biker in my bathroom.
My gaze eventually wandered while I listened to the sound of the faucet. It landed on the nightstand on Bones’ side of the bed.
It landed on his pistol.
An involuntary noise escaped my throat.
The bathroom door opened and he loomed in the doorway. He leaned against it, propping his forearm along the doorjamb.
“You look terrified,” he stated. “The idea of me sleeping in your bed terrifies you?”
I shook my head. “No. It’s…” I gestured with my chin to the pistol. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
His expression was passive. “The other men you’ve dated didn’t have pistols?”
“I don’t know. If they did, I didn’t know about them. They certainly didn’t sleep with them on the nightstand.”
“If you need it, it doesn’t do you any good in a drawer.”
I paused. “That’s a good point.”
Bones pushed away from the doorframe and then killed the light. The lamp glow gilded him in shadow and amber.
He lifted the covers and slid in next to me.
I leaned over and turned off the lamp.
It was quiet except for the sounds of our breathing.
“My dad took me duck hunting once,” I voiced.
“Did he?”
“Yeah. He taught me to use his shotgun and then we went a few days later.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I paused for a moment. “It’s not about the pistol.”
“It’s about me.”
“It’s about you,” I agreed.
“I am who I am, Duchess.”
“And who is that, Bones?”
He was quiet for so long that I thought he might have fallen asleep, but his voice was a whispered promise. “A man who protects what’s his.”