“Don’t you dare.” She shot him a glare.
He lifted his hands. “My bad.”
She found her footing and climbed into the seat. When she met his gaze, she winced. “Sorry. I have a thing about letting people help me. I’m self-conscious about my size.”
“Noted. Won’t happen again. In public anyway.” He smiled, hoping she would soften at his suggestion.
“Deal. If you want to lift me up to toss me onto your bed, that’s fine. But I’m feisty otherwise.”
He leaned in, cupped her face, and kissed her briefly on the lips. “I’m pretty sure my dick is harder now.” He wasn’t kidding. As he shut her door and rounded the hood, he adjusted his cock. Her determination turned him on.
After sitting in his seat and starting the SUV he turned to face her again. “You seem nervous. Are you worried about the roses?”
She sighed. “No. I just hung up with my mother. She can be very frustrating.”
He tried to hide his internal flinch. “Ah. Right. Did she try to set you up with another guy?” he joked.
“It’s not funny. That’s her life’s mission.”
“Why don’t you just tell her you’re seeing someone?”
Libby squirmed. “Not yet.” She didn’t meet his gaze. Instead, she smoothed her skirt down over her thighs.
Jason stared at her for a few seconds, his fingers stiffening on the steering wheel. He didn’t like this arrangement. It made him uncomfortable. How long could he push his concerns to the back of his mind? Surely this situation was nothing like what had happened with Veronica, he reminded himself. No way could the same thing happen to him twice.
Jason had one insecurity. Veronica had capitalized on it and made him feel like a complete fool. He would never let that happen again. Not for any woman.
Libby finally turned to face him. “I’m sorry. I know it’s petty. But my mom is formidable. I don’t want to rock the boat. Not this soon in our relationship. Can you please let it go for now?”
He nodded. Inside his head, warning bells were going off. More like sirens. But he forced them to quiet down. “For now. Not forever. But for now.”
“Thank you.”
Jason inhaled a deep breath and slowly let it out, chasing away his demons. Finally, he put the car in reverse and backed out of the spot. “How do you feel about Chinese food?”
She smiled. “Love it.”
“Good. I found this amazing restaurant near my house. It’s small and family-owned, and the food is excellent.”
She perked up. “Perfect.”
Chapter 13
Libby felt like a total bitch as they drove to the restaurant. Her mother had her completely flustered. She’d put off calling her all day, but when the woman started texting several times, she’d finally relented and answered. She’d regretted the choice in seconds.
“Libby. Finally. I’ve been trying to reach you. Why do you never answer your mother?” she’d whined. And then before Libby had been able to respond, “How was your date with Eddie? He seemed like such a nice guy when I met him.” Maria Garcia had had a one-track mind tonight. She’d gone on and on, wanting every detail about Libby’s date with Eddie. Libby had held her tongue and given her mother few details. It was none of her damn business.
Libby had put her off, knowing how pushy her mother could be. She’d told her she was too busy to think about dating. She had a lot of flights scheduled for this month because a few flight attendants were out sick. It was a lie, but she’d needed to come up with something.
The entire time she’d been thinking about Jason and his insistence that she would not date other men. She understood. Perfectly. Of course, he wouldn’t want her to date other people. The two of them had skipped casual and gone straight to extremely intimate.
But Libby had never had to juggle a secret boyfriend against her mother’s constant string of blind dates. This situation was new, and it made Libby uncomfortable.
On top of everything else, Libby knew she’d pissed Jason off with her refusal to confront her mother. He didn’t like it. They’d ridden to the restaurant mostly in silence. It wasn’t until he parked and came around to open her door that he met her gaze again and smiled. His ire was gone. “You look amazing, by the way. I don’t think I told you that.”
Her cheeks heated. “Thank you. You look damn good yourself.” He did. He was wearing black slacks and a black button-down shirt. The sleeves were rolled up. He’d shaved recently, and he smelled fantastic.
He filled the entire car door with his frame while he waited for her to remove her seatbelt, and then his hand landed on her thigh. Her breath hitched when he slid his fingers under her dress and eased them up between her legs. When he reached her sex, he nudged her thighs apart and stroked through her folds. “Good girl.” He removed his hand far too soon and then sucked her arousal from his fingers.
She watched him, her heart racing at how damn hot this was. Fuck dinner. She would rather just go back to his place and have more wild kinky sex. They were good at that. So far, she couldn’t be sure how good they were at dating. After the way he’d just teased her, and considering the promising look in his eyes, she imagined she would be squirming in her seat all through dinner.
Jason stepped back, offering her no assistance exiting his SUV, which earned him brownie points. The fact that he set his hand on the small of her back on the way into the restaurant pleased her even more.
After they were seated and had placed their order, he finally seemed to relax.
Libby blew out a breath. “I’m sorry I let my mother get to me earlier. I know it frustrates you.” That much was obvious.
Jason sighed. “I’m confused is all. Why
