She shuddered.
Jason was standing on the other side of the island still, but he reached across and clasped her hand in his. When she lifted her gaze, he was smiling at her warmly. “I’m not going to ask what you were just thinking, but it must have been amazing.”
She flinched. “How the hell did you even know I was thinking at all?”
“Your gaze roamed up and down my torso, lingering at my waist, and then you squirmed in your seat while you licked your lips. It wasn’t hard to discern.”
She jerked her gaze down to her root beer and then tugged her hand out of his clasp. “Can we just eat?”
He chuckled. “Yes.” He slid two slices of pizza onto a plate and handed it to her before rounding the island and taking a seat on the stool next to hers and serving himself. He sat sideways and spun her just enough to trap one of her knees between both of his. “So, tell me how on earth you were on a date with a man your mom set you up with.”
She groaned. “That’s where you want to start this conversation?” She didn’t really want to talk about her mom. Or Eddie.
“Yep. I already know what you do for a living. You’re a flight attendant. I’m sure you have hundreds of work stories, and I’d love to hear all of them, but I want to know about your family first.”
She drew in a long breath and met his gaze. “Is this a date? Like a real date?”
He flinched, his eyes narrowing. “Uhhh… I thought so. Does that bother you?”
She licked her lips, trying to figure out how to respond. “No. It’s just unexpected. I didn’t know you were going to feed me and ask me personal questions.”
He frowned, nodding slowly. “Okay. I get that. It makes sense. Both of our previous encounters have been hot and heavy. And, don’t get me wrong, I hope this one ends up that way too. But I thought I should take a step back and get to know you.” He reached out and took her chin. “I like you, Libby. It’s true you make my cock so hard I can barely concentrate every time I’m around you, but sex isn’t the only thing I want from you. I can tell you’re a strong woman with a firm head on your shoulders. I thought it might be nice to delve into that brain of yours before I lure you to my bedroom and make you scream my name.”
She glanced away, causing him to lose his touch on her chin. She honestly hadn’t expected this. It was so…personal. And intimate. Like a date. And apparently it was a date. Not just a fuck.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re disappointed?”
She swallowed and lifted her gaze. She needed to be honest with him. “Not disappointed. Just a little stunned. I’m not exactly available for more than the fucking. It’s all I have to give you.” She cringed when he flinched again.
He stared at her and then slowly chuckled, but he didn’t seem angry, just surprised. In fact, he leaned in closer and set a hand on her thigh. “How did we switch roles? Those are usually my lines. I’ve never had a woman tell me she wanted to skip the dinner part of the evening and move straight to the fucking.”
Libby picked up her slice of pizza and took a dramatic bite, finding it to be unexpectedly delicious. “Who said anything about skipping dinner?” she asked. “Damn, this is good.” She took another bite.
He laughed and took a large bite of his slice before speaking again. “Talk to me. And please tell me you don’t have a boyfriend or something. I assume you don’t or you wouldn’t have been on a blind date last night.”
She shook her head. “No. No boyfriend. What I have is a crazy Guatemalan extended family.”
He snickered at that. “We all have crazy families.”
She swallowed another bite, took a sip of soda, and then faced him. “Does your mother tell you who you can and can’t date?”
His eyes widened. “Shit. Seriously?”
“Yes. It’s been drilled into me my entire life. Guatemalans are meant to marry other Guatemalans. No one else is acceptable.”
He froze for a moment. “That’s… I can’t say I’ve ever met anyone whose parents were quite so rigid. She doesn’t like you dating white guys?”
Libby shuddered. “That’s putting it mildly. I once dated a Mexican guy and I didn’t even tell her. If she thought I was keeping company with a white military man, I think she’d stroke out.”
He paused again, his mouth full, before slowly chewing and swallowing. “Okay. Wow. So, I’m the first white guy you’ve gone out with?”
“Have I gone out with you exactly?” she asked, pointing out her line of thinking. She’d hooked up with him. Once. Run into him at a bar. That didn’t count. And here she was, doing what exactly this time? Scratching an itch?
Jason fell into thought while he finished eating, and then he pushed his plate away and faced her again. “This is a date, Libby. The very definition of one. I assume you’re attracted to me or you wouldn’t have so blatantly flirted with me the night of the rehearsal and then had sex with me the next night.”
He was right, but he didn’t give her a chance to respond.
He set one hand on the island and the other on the back of her stool, and leaned in closer. “Sex is actually a pretty mild word for what we did and how I felt with you. It was explosive, and you know it. I didn’t plan it. It just happened. I’ve dated vanilla women. Not every woman I meet is interested in my kind of kink. It’s not a requirement. But when it works out, it’s a bonus.”
She didn’t move an inch.
He continued. “When I was holding you on the dance floor at the reception, I had
