Chapter 10

Chapter

Ten

When I toldJill to have dinner with me tonight—and yes, it was a demand and not a request—I didn't have a solid plan. In all the time of wishing I could get past her walls and open her eyes up to the possibility of an ‘us,' I should have come up with one. At the very least, some general ideas for how to romance her.

And maybe, it's because I've spent my time focusing on containing my feelings to avoid ruining our friendship, but now that the time to woo has arrived, I've got nothing. That's okay. For every bit of game I'm lacking in the romance department, I can make up for it with my knowledge of Jill.

I know my Jill with a bone-deep certainty that convinces me I can make her happy. Sure, she has secrets and mysterious thoughts I've never been privy to, even as her friend. A lifetime of knowing her won't be long enough to discover every depth of her magnificent mind. Tonight, though, right now, I know exactly what a perfect first date for my Jill will be.

Her hand in mine while I lead her from through the crowded bar then out the front door feels like a claiming. Showing Magnolia Point, and the world, this woman is mine. Together, we walk the short distance to the studio where I do my glasswork, veering to the side and the entrance to the loft above it where I live.

"There's roast beef and au jus in the crockpot to make French dip subs. Are you hungry?" It's a question I already know the answer to. When it comes to the slow-cooked beef sandwiches with melty cheese and toasted rolls, she's always starving.

"Don't tease! You know the answer to that!" Her laugh makes my heart race, and my chest swells with macho pride. Woman happy. Man made his woman happy. I am man. It's some Neanderthal shit, but I'll own it.

"Sweetheart, of course, I do. Because I know you. I know what you need."

Confidence fills me. Today has been a wild rollercoaster of highs and lows. From embarrassment to absolute joy.

"Prove it then, Tater-head. Feed me and give me what I need." Challenge rings in her teasing tone. As always, my body responds. The difference is, now I don't have to hide it. It's not a war between arousal and hopelessness.

We eat with the same comfortable companionship as we've shared dozens of times before this. It isn't until after I've grabbed the prepackaged tub of chocolate chip cookie dough from the fridge and a couple spoons from the drawer that I notice the change in her. I set our favorite guilty pleasure dessert on the table, pull back her chair back to face me, then kneel in front of her.

"Where's your head gone?" I'll be damned if I let us slide backward. If she's worried or overthinking or whatever's going on in that beautiful head of hers, I'll stop it.

"This is a date." I'm not sure if she's asking or telling.

"It is."

"And lunch? Also a date." Still not sure where she's headed with this.

"It was." I wait, letting her work through whatever's eating at her.

"So are you a three date rule kind of guy? Or what's the timeline?" A hint of attitude peeks through now, and I'm damned if it doesn't make every drop of blood in my body race to my dick so fast I get dizzy.

"A three date rule kind of guy? Do explain." I have an idea of what she's getting at, but I want to hear her say it. She clearly needs to hear again that I'm not an experienced seducer of women. I'm no virgin, but if she's still laboring under some gossip-fueled idea that I'm the type to have a little black book, she's got another think coming her way.

"I just mean…" Silence stretches between us, her doe-soft brown eyes searching mine. Finally, as I knew she would, she caves and finishes her thought. "It's only that…that this thing between us, this new thing. But it doesn't really feel new," she rushes out.

I can tell it took a lot out of her, and she slumps back into her chair as if I just dragged her through a 10K marathon. Which I would never do, because knowing her as well as I do, I know she absolutely loathes running.

"Probably because it isn't new. Not even a little bit, baby. It's been you and me for a long, long time now. The only thing new is, we're calling it what it is."

"Then that means we've been dating for a really long time already." Jill's watching me like an entomologist studies a bug under a magnifying glass.

Biting my tongue to hold back my smile has earns me a coppery taste in my mouth. It's worth it to watch her work through what she wants to say. I'd never pressure her to move at any speed other than whatever speed feels right, but fuck if I haven't been hoping she won't ask to take things slow.

Slow's the only way we've taken things for years. So damn slow that, half the time, it feels as if my fucking balls will atrophy and kill me.

I nod, agreeing with her proclamation we've been dating for ages. She rewards me for confirming her realization by tipping forward from her chair to land in my lap, her long legs straddling over my thighs where I'm kneeling in front of her.

"Since we've been dating for so long, does that mean I'm your girlfriend?" Jill's being sassy, her words and movements taking on a flirtatiousness that's brand new between us.

"Girlfriend? I'd say you're more than that, baby. Not sure you're ready to hear how much more, though." It's a strain to string together a sentence with her warm center pressing down against the part of me that's currently hogging all the blood I need to think.

"Maybe, we can get to that later. What I really want to know right now is…" Her hips swivel over me, and her smile is deviously sensual. She leans forward until her plush lips are nuzzled against my ear to whisper my deepest wish come true. "Since we've been dating for so long, do I have girlfriend privileges?"