Lexi had mentioned on more than one occasion that she missed the food and the culture from the south. We’d spent the past week huddled up in my apartment so I thought a change of scenery would do us both good. Plus, I really wanted to get the hell out of my apartment. It had been nice having her all to myself, but I was starting to go stir crazy staying inside.

Colton had been off the grid since he ambushed us outside her building last week. I didn’t like the unknown and his silence was getting to me. Constantly looking over my shoulder and sleeping with one eye open every night wasn’t the healthiest way to live. But if it meant she was kept safe, I would gladly suffer the consequences. She was worth it.

We walked into one of my favorite restaurants in the city. This place was nothing short of a hole in the wall, but if you were looking for the best barbeque in town, this was your place.

Lexi’s back hit my chest the second we stepped inside. Her head moved slowly around the room. “Are you sure this place is safe?”

I kept my face neutral while I pretended to think it over. “Guess we’ll have to find out for ourselves.” I gestured with my hand to let her lead the way. Her steps were slow and measured as she continued to look over her shoulder at one of the bikers sitting at the bar.

We sat in a small booth near the back and the waitress handed us our menus. “What can I get you kids to drink?”

Lexi eyes skated from her menu to our waitress. She appeared to be in her early forties. Her entire body was covered in tattoos and piercings and she looked to be about eight months pregnant. “I’ll just have a water for now. Thanks.” She replied, politely and folded her hands in her lap.

You could tell she didn’t know what to make of this place. It was dark, and dangerous- looking. The wood tables looked like they needed a fresh coat of stain and the floorboards had nails popping out all over the place. Every square inch of wall space was covered. There were random pictures of random sizes with no discernable theme or order. It was so unique that it held your attention.

“I’ll have a water, too, and bring us two Coronas with lime, please.”

Once the waitress was gone, I reached across the table for Lexi’s hand. She placed her palm inside mine and I began to stroke her thumb gently. “Relax, you’re going to love the food. I promise.” I debated on easing her discomfort by letting her know that this place was a local landmark and was frequented by tourists, celebrities and politicians for the unique atmosphere and incredible food. But it was too much fun watching her eyes move around the room with interest taking in the surroundings.

She finally leaned into the table and whispered low enough so only I could hear her. “Are you sure this place is inspected by the health department?”

“Pretty sure that’s the law.” I replied, leaning back into the booth and looking over the menu.

“You’ve been here before?”

“Many times, and I lived to tell about it.”

The waitress appeared. “Have you guys decided yet?” She asked, pulling her pen out of her BBQ-stained apron.

I looked at Lexi, who was still looked unsure about what to order. “What’s good here?” She asked, as her eyes scanned over her choices.

“Everything.” The waitress and I replied at the same time.

Lexi blinked her eyes up at me and smiled. “Okay! You can order for me,” she said, finally closing her menu.

I turned towards the waitress who looked ready to leave if we didn’t give her an order soon. “We will have a full rack of ribs, two pulled pork sandwiches, and for the sides, we’ll have the mac and cheese, mac salad, baked beans and corn bread.” I handed the waitress our menus as she finished writing everything down.

Once she walked away, Lexi’s eyes shot to mine. “Are you expecting company?” She asked, looking at me like I was crazy.

My lips twisted. “Nope, and you’re going to help me eat every bit of it.” I told her before taking a sip of my Corona.

A grin broke out across her mouth. “Now I know you’ve lost your mind.”

I winked. “Want to bet?” There was nothing else that made me smile more than seeing her look so happy and relaxed. We needed this. I needed it.

She rolled her eyes, apparently so sure of herself. “Sure, why not? To be clear though, I will not be giving you a chance to win your Lexus back. Because make no mistake, it will be mine. So… bring it on.”

I leaned back in the booth and brought my hands to the back of my head when an idea struck me like a bolt of lightning. “How about if I win, you’ll let me use my handcuffs on you in the bedroom tonight?”

Big blue eyes locked on mine. I wasn’t into all that kinky shit that women were reading about lately, but that didn’t mean I didn’t like to spice it up every once in a while, and have a little fun. I wanted Lexi to trust me. I wanted to take away all her troubles and physically fuck them out of her system. The only thing I wanted her to worry about was where my mouth and hands were going to land next.

A small smile curled at the end of her lips. “And if I win?” She asked, arching an eyebrow. She seemed to be warming up to the idea. Either that or she was feigning interest and planned on shooting me down.

I fought hard to cover my grin when I answered. “If you win, you get to use the handcuffs on me.”

She laughed, “So, either way, you win?”

I brushed my thumb across my bottom lip as images flashed in my mind. “I’d like to think either way, we both win.”

“You do realize you’ll be mine tonight, right?” She answered, with a confidence that flooded my brain with images of her lying beneath me. I imagined her soft curves, pink parted lips and all the possibilities of what those handcuffs could entail. I shifted my legs when I felt a bulge grow in my pants.

I reached out and cupped her face, loving the way she leaned into my touch.

“Sweetheart, I’m yours tonight and every night.”

God, I was completely screwed. This woman had slowly stripped away my defensive walls, leaving me emotionally bare and exposed. It was as if she scrubbed all the ugliness away from my life. There wasn’t a part of me that was off limits to her.

Our purple-haired waitress returned to the table and placed an unending supply of food in front of us. We both laughed hysterically because there wasn’t an empty space left on the table. I very carefully rearranged the plates and placed Lexi’s half in front of her.

“Okay, just so we’re clear on the rules... if I can manage to finish all this, you’ll tie me up. If I don’t, then I get to tie you up?”

I placed my napkin on my lap and started to dig in. “That’s correct, now eat up.”

“You must really want to feel the cold metal against your wrists tonight, huh?” She teased and then took a bite of her pulled pork sandwich. “Oh my God.” She moaned, while rolling her eyes into the back of her head. “This is amazing.”

We both knew in that moment that she knew she was fucked either way.

After the waitress cleared all the empty plates, Lexi leaned back and placed her hand over her stomach. It looked a little bloated from all the food she’d consumed, but I wasn’t stupid enough to say anything. Especially if I still planned on getting laid tonight.

“I can’t believe I ate all that food.”

“Told you so.” I smirked and reached across the table so I could wipe a smudge of barbeque sauce off the side of her face.

She narrowed her eyes at me, took a sip of her beer and placed it on the coaster in front of her. “I can’t believe you made me choose between the taste of baby back ribs or the feel of handcuffs around my wrist.”

“You’ll have to let me know if it was worth it, later.”

She laughed, “Yeah well, I may need a nap first.” Her hands patted her stomach in satisfaction not caring that she’d just lost the bet.

I shook my head, leaned back and let my eyes roam all over her. My stare was so obvious it should have made her uncomfortable, but she just held my gaze like the champ she was.

“No sleeping allowed. I’m keeping you up all night.”

A blush worked its way up her neck before landing on her cheeks. Not being able to wait any longer, I leaned across the table and brought her mouth to mine. I kissed her hard, not caring about what anyone else in the restaurant might have thought. A quiet moan left her mouth; I was thinking the check couldn’t come quick enough.

Her expression softened as I pulled away. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get out of here.”

As I signed the bill, I heard footsteps approaching our table. When I looked up to see who it was, my face fell.

“Hello, Brad.”

I dropped the pen, folded up the receipt and stuffed it in my wallet while trying to sound casual. “Hey, Samantha, how’s it going?” To call Samantha an ex-girlfriend was probably a bit of an overstatement, but I knew she was much more into us than I had been. Not that it mattered anyways because at the time I couldn’t see myself being in a relationship with anyone.

She adjusted the strap of her purse along her shoulder. “Have you not been getting my messages?” She asked, as I forced myself to make eye contact with her. Samantha really was a beautiful woman. She was half Italian and half Spanish and had an hourglass figure that most men would pay money just to look at. But that didn’t change the fact that the emotional connection was never there with her.

“Sorry.” I apologized. “I’ve been really busy lately.”

I’d been dodging her calls for over a month now. I knew why she was calling and instead of dealing with her directly, I had simply avoided her all together.

Samantha crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze on Lexi. She didn’t look pleased. “Yes, I can see that.”

“Samantha,” I said, throwing my napkin on the table. I wasn’t going to allow her to disrespect Lexi in front of me. This was awkward and going downhill fast. “This is my girlfriend, Lexi.”

She blanched at my words as if I had physically struck her. “I thought you said you weren’t ready for a relationship?”

Lexi started to get up from the table. “I’ll give you guys a few minutes to talk.”

Panic started to shoot through me. I reached for her hand “Lexi, no. You don’t have to go.”

Samantha’s face fell. “Really, Brad you can’t give me five minutes?” She fired back, getting more pissed off by the second.

I ran my hand through my hair tugging on the ends like it was going to pull an answer from my brain. I was getting fucking nothing. “Lexi, please sit down.” I half told her, half asked. I didn’t want to be inconsiderate of Samantha’s feelings, but I was more concerned about Lexi. We’d had enough drama for two lifetimes in the last 30 days and I really wasn’t sure where this conversation was going.

“Brad, it’s okay.” Lexi reassured me, “I need to use the restroom anyway, and it sounds like this woman has something she really needs to say to you.” I was so conflicted on what to do. Her accepting tone confused me, but as I watched her walk away, I felt a small sense of relief.

Samantha slid into the empty seat across from me and rested her hands on the table. She looked like there were a million questions swirling through her brain.

“I didn’t mean to come across as a bitch, but I wasn’t expecting to see you with anyone. When you stopped returning my calls, I assumed it was because you weren’t ready for a serious relationship. So can you imagine my surprise a little over a month later when I run into you on a date and you introduce me to your girlfriend? Didn’t take you very long to get comfortable being serious with another woman, did it?”

I wanted to be angry, but the girl had me dead to my rights. Things were going great, and she gave me all the space I asked for. She played by the rules and I didn’t. She deserved better than me ignoring her calls and dumping her without an explanation. I should have manned up.

“Look Samantha, I’m sorry. Okay? I’m sorry that I didn’t call you back and I’m sorry that you got hurt. That was never my intention. You didn’t do anything wrong. You were right; I wasn’t looking for a relationship when we were together.”

Her eyes sharpened, trying to mask the hurt she felt. “Why is she so special? Help me understand.”

I sat back and weighed my words carefully. “I’m not trying to be a dick here, but my relationship with her is none of your business.” I needed to be blunt. I didn’t want her to leave with more questions than answers. “I wasn’t looking for any kind of commitment, it just happened. You’re an amazing woman and I do care about you. But, you need to understand something; you and I were never meant to be more than a moment in time. I never misled you. I was always honest about what I wanted out of our arrangement. The second I realized that you were in a different place than I was, I knew I needed to end it. I didn’t want to hurt you. I know that’s what I ended up doing anyway, and for that I’m sorry.”

Samantha was about to say something but I cut her off. “Don’t ask me to explain it because I can’t. It just happened.” She looked a little hurt, and I was reminded to soften my words. “Again, I’m sorry that I hurt you. I swear it wasn’t anything you said or did. I hope you can accept my apology.”

She wiped the corner of her eye and it made me feel like shit. “This girl is she…?” She stopped and then tilted her head. “Is she what you were looking for? Does she make you happy?” She asked. Seeming to finally pull herself together.

Blonde hair caught my eye, and I turned my head to see Lexi standing off to the corner. She was giving Samantha and I time to finish our conversation. I ignored the instinctive urge to run over and pull her into my arms. Never in my life had I ever felt such a connection to someone as I did to her. There was no limit, no line I wouldn’t cross for her.

A flood of emotions hit my chest and squeezed my heart so tight that I felt it deep down in my gut. I was in love with her. I scrubbed my hands down my face and tried to ease the panic filling me up from the inside out. The last time I’d felt like this, I had lost everything.

I took a painful swallow and tried not freak out. “Yes Samantha, she does.”