Jasper sat in the restaurant and watched Annie pour her tea. Her mood had been off last night. It had taken hours for the tension to leave her shoulders even with the bubble bath. She seemed better, brighter, today, but he still didn’t know what had her so jumpy yesterday. He wanted to take her to bed, to exhaust her and find out.
He slid a hand across the table and covered hers. “Are you sure you need to go back to work today?”
“Even if I didn’t, you do.” She turned her hand over and slipped her fingers through his. “That project isn’t going to build itself.”
Business was the last thing on his mind right now. “No, there’s a whole team of guys on site to handle that. I need time with you.”
She smiled at him. “That’s pretty hot.”
The restaurant was packed, every table full. The noise kicked up until the talk and dinging of glasses and silverware blended into the background as white noise.
He barely saw or heard any of it. His sole focus was her. The pink cheeks. The hair tucked behind her ear. “You’ve been distracted.”
She shrugged. “Work is hopping.”
“In a way, that’s good to hear.” When she frowned at him, he pushed ahead, giving voice to the fear that kicked in his gut and kept him up last night. “I’ve been worried the proposal scared you.”
“It didn’t.” She squeezed his fingers. “Nothing about you scares me.”
That sounded like a good thing, but the ring he’d splurged on still sat in his underwear drawer. “Yet I still don’t have an answer.”
“You’re giving me time, remember?”
What the hell for? “I am not a patient man.”
“You actually are.” She slipped her foot up the side of his leg. Tunneled up his pants until she hit skin. “And a sexy one.” She turned his hand over and traced the tip of her finger over his palm. “That woman in yellow is going to give herself neck strain if she keeps leaning back to stare at you.”
His gaze bounced to the woman two tables down then back to Annie. “She likes my tats.”
“Who doesn’t?”
He looked at the word written in block letters on the inside of his wrist—FEARLESS. An ode to his stifling upbringing, complete with daily lectures from his father. A man who believed the world had turned wild and the answer was to follow an impossibly strict doctrine he had created himself.
Jasper had been fearless when he left. He was fearless in his love for her. “The tats turn you on?”
She skimmed her fingers up his forearm, outlining the lines and edges of the artwork on his sleeve. “Everything about you turns me on.”
“We should explore that.”
She winked and sat back in her chair. She shot him a heated look as she picked up her cup of tea. “Tonight.”
“Here.” He said, watching those pretty eyes grow wide. “Now.”
Her hand visibly shook as she lowered the cup to the table. “You are a naughty boy.”
“And a very serious one.”
She glanced around. Her gaze swept over the crowded dining room and the people hovered around the long bar. Then it landed on him again. “I’m listening.”
Damn, he loved that about her. She didn’t back down. Sex fueled her. It did not scare her.
And he wasn’t just talking a good game. This was going to happen. “Go to the bathroom. It’s a single room.”
“Are you—”
“Going to press you up against the wall and strip your clothes off?” He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
She gave a second look. “There are a lot of people in here.”
The lightness had left her voice. There was a rough edge to the tone. A sexual rasp. He could almost see the excitement course through her.
“Which means we might be exposed.” And he knew she loved that part of the game. The voices just outside the door.
“If you want that, we should get on this table.”
He pushed his chair back. Let it screech on the hardwood floor. “If that’s a challenge, I accept.”
“Jasper.” She moved her tea to the side and leaned in with her elbows on the table.
He matched her stance on the other side. The move put their faces close together. “Go to the bathroom, Annie. Slip those panties off and wait for me.”
“This is dangerous.”
But she wasn’t saying no. He picked up on that immediately. He also saw that telltale flash of fire in her eyes when he said “panties,” which ratcheted up his excitement. “No, stalling is dangerous.”
“You’re saying…maybe you should spell it out.”
He put his hands on the table and gave it a small shake. “You have two seconds to get in there before I strip those panties off right here. One…”
She visibly swallowed. “Fine.”
“Oh, baby. It’s going to be more than fine.”