“In the shower, in my bed, the toilet. Pretty much every time I’ve needed to get off has been because of you.”
“And you were jealous of that woman.” She laughed. “I can’t even remember her damn name.”
“It doesn’t matter to me. The only person I wanted was you, baby.”
“Baby?”
“Yeah, baby. How is your steak?”
“Juicy.”
They finished their meal, but it stopped being an awkward moment. The tensions at the table were mounting.
She stared at Pie and had this sudden image of him between her thighs, making her forget everything. She’d not been with anyone since meeting him. When they first started looking for their respective Mr. and Miss Rights, she’d simply not wanted to be with anyone else, and had taken the search seriously.
The dates he’d organized hadn’t thrilled her or made her wait to go that next step. Now though, watching Pie, knowing all that he’d done for her, she wanted him.
Since Richard’s attack she’d been terrified that he’d taken something from her. Whenever she was around Pie though, regardless of the memories, she was aroused by him. At first, she believed she shouldn’t be. Who would after being attacked like that? Richard hadn’t taken anything from her, and she wouldn’t give him this power either.
Pie wasn’t like him.
He’d never be like him.
She wanted Pie. Craved him.
Thought about him.
Even now as they sat at the table, women were glancing toward him, and she felt this jealousy building up inside her. She didn’t want them looking at her man.
That’s what made Pie different.
With him, she wanted to claim him.
To push all other women aside and only have him, no one else.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“How do you feel when other men look at me?”
“I want to smash their faces in because I don’t like anyone else’s eyes on you. At the same time, I love that they want you, that they want to be me by your side, knowing they’ll never be with you because you have me.”
She’d never been attracted to possessive men in her life, and yet coming from Pie it seemed so natural to her. She loved his possessive nature, especially as she knew deep inside he was a passionate, loving man.
As they finished their meal, the tension between them mounted.
When he took her home, did he expect her to send him packing?
The moment she accepted him into her home, everything changed. They were no longer the best of friends. They’d be that and more.
Biting her lip, she stared at him, unsure what to do.
“I know you’re nervous,” Pie said.
“If we do this and it fails, I’ve lost you.”
“You’ll never lose me, Lindsey.”
“But you don’t know that?”
“No one knows the future. I never claimed to be an expert, baby, far from it.”
She nibbled her lip, unsure. “I love you as my best friend. You’ve been my rock for so long. I can’t even imagine not having you with me.”
He took her hand, locking their fingers together. “You know why I know we’re going to be okay?”
She shook her head.
“Because it’s us. We don’t allow anything to come between us. It’s you and me, and everything else can go and fucking suck it for all I care. I love you, Lindsey. Not just as a friend. As something more. I love you, and I want to be with you. I’ve been hiding it for a good part of a year. I can’t hide it anymore. I won’t.”
“The club?”
“They know how I feel. They’ve even had bets to see how long it would be before I caved. I don’t want to pretend anymore. I don’t want to go and stand in another bar and watch as you point out endless women that you think will do me good. No one else will. They never appealed to me. The dates I went on, I thought about you. I compared them to you.”
“Pie, you shouldn’t have done that.”
“But I did, and now there’s no getting away from it. You’re the woman I want more than anything else in this world. I would do anything for you, Lindsey. All I ask is that you have me, all of me. The good and the bad. I’m all me, and I’m right here for you to take.”
She stared at him, completely blown away by his raw honesty. It hadn’t been what she was expecting, but at the same time, she’d been wishing he’d say something.
Glancing down at her half-eaten food, she didn’t want to be here. She wanted to be at home with Pie, together and away from an audience.
“I think it’s time we got that check, don’t you?” she asked.
Chapter Ten
Pie hadn’t intended to spill his guts like that, but the moment he started there was no holding back. Lindsey opened the door, and he waited as she turned to face him. She sucked her bottom lip in, and he saw she was nervous. Hell, even he was, and he got it.