Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 381(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
I was just grasping at the last part and it earned me an incredulous look from him. “Really? Relationship building?”
“I panicked and forgot the word. There’s a real one. I know that.” There had to be. “Couples date to strengthen their relationship and to keep the romance going. I know that.”
I just hadn’t seen us that way.
Did he want romance?
How was I supposed to romance Leif?
The way he rolled his eyes wasn’t giving me any hints, but it was making me decide if I could throw something at him and run fast enough to escape.
I probably couldn’t.
“You are…” Shaking his head, he came around the side of the table and leaned over, bracing his arms against the back of my chair and trapping me.
It was sexy, but I decided it probably wasn’t the time to point that out.
“Special?” I was back to grasping at straws. “Funny? The ha-ha kind not the erection kind.”
Well, I was dying of embarrassment inside, but at least he was trying not to laugh?
“Yep, I think those are a good place to start.” The look on his face said the rest of it wouldn’t be very nice, so I was glad when he sighed and decided to change conversational tactics. “You’re also stubborn and a bit ridiculous. But I can handle that.”
Oh, what did that mean?
As I tried to decide if I was going to have to ask or not, he got a wicked grin and raised one eyebrow. “Ask. You know you want to.”
“No, thank you.” Sir? “Sir.”
Yep, couldn’t hurt.
“I know you’re a wonderful Dom and partner for putting up with my…my drama, and I appreciate you.” What else?
There had to be something else to distract him.
Work?
No, if it’d been going well, he wouldn’t have randomly shown up downstairs when he was supposed to be writing.
Domination was out because I wasn’t sure what he’d do in his current mood.
“Where should we go on our date?” I knew I’d gotten it wrong when the stern look in his eyes sent a shiver through me.
I was shit at making decisions under pressure.
Fuck.
“Um, can I blow you?”
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
“I want to. I’m asking.”
Yep, that was better than trying to figure out what that expression meant.
His eyebrow went up again. “You’d rather ask for something that we both know makes you squirm rather than about our date? Aren’t you curious about what I have in mind?”
Oh, the danger signals were flashing like an old Star Trek episode and I could hear the cute guy with the Russian accent panicking in my head.
“Um, you always have very special things in mind for us even when the us was just friends. Important friends. Special ones. So I trust you.” Praise and a dash of guilt.
Would it work?
His smile didn’t give me enough to go on because it was still kind of wicked looking. “That was very good, but it’s not going to save you.”
Yay?
Oh no?
“Not going to respond?” The teasing edge to his voice sent another shiver through me.
“I don’t know what to say.” Might as well be honest. “Everything sounds stupid or dangerous.”
That actually got a laugh out of him but he didn’t pull back. “See. I knew you were smart.”
Before I could decide if that was a good thing or him just fucking with me, he leaned in and kissed my forehead.
Fucking with me.
Definitely fucking with me.
“What were your first thoughts when I said it was date night?” He seemed curious and less likely to do something scary like practice punishing me, so I managed to answer him.
“I…it took me a second to go from it’s the Saturday we usually go out to Saturday is now date night. I don’t know why it took so long.” I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t thought about dates. “It’s not a bad thing. I just…I hadn’t thought of it?”
That got a smirk and he rolled his eyes. “Too busy thinking about when we’ll get naked next and not enough time thinking about romancing your partner.”
Technically, he was right.
“Well, it hasn’t been that long since we’ve…since we made that leap?” Yes, this was just very new and I needed time to process the changes. “I need time to make it an everyday thought.”
Yes, I could romance him.
Leif looked like he couldn’t decide if he was going to laugh or shake his head. “You forgot we were partners.”
Shaking his head won.
“Now I’m feeling unloved and just shoved into a corner.” His drama queen routine needed some work, but it didn’t seem like the time to point that out either. “I spend all afternoon thinking about you and you’re just wasting time online.”
Kind of.
“I can’t be blamed if the people in your head aren’t talking to you.” Yep, not going to take responsibility for that one. “But some naked thoughts can be romantic, so technically, I wasn’t ignoring you.”