“Uncomplicated and undemanding?” Darcy asked softly, following his urging to precede him to their table.
“Yes.” And suddenly far less appealing. Not that he didn’t note and appreciate Tiffany’s beauty. It just didn’t hold his attention. Instead, he found himself focused on the number of stares directed at Darcy. She looked like a million dollars and carried herself as if she was worth ten times that.
God, she was fucking hot as hell.
And he had it bad for her.
Jared pulled out her chair and took the one next to her rather than across the table. The smile she gave him was warm and it stayed warm as she accepted the menu from Tiffany.
“I know exactly what I’m getting,” she announced when they were alone.
“Do you come here often?”
“Only a couple times, but Jim ordered this phenomenal pasta once. I’ve been dying to get a plate of my own ever since.”
Jared set his camera on the table and made sure that when he spoke his voice was smooth and unchallenging. “I’m still not getting the Jim thing.”
She set her menu aside. “Back in high school, Jim was the hot older guy all the girls crushed on, and he was a fireman, which made him even sexier. When I moved back to Lion’s Bay, some of that adolescent infatuation was still there. Turned out he’d thought I was pretty hot, too, but I’d been jail bait before. We had unfinished business, so we wrapped it up. Like I said, it was never serious.”
“Have you had any serious relationships?” He knew something had to be the catalyst that drew her back to Lion’s Bay.
Her lips pursed as she considered the question. “I’ve had long-term boyfriends, but I’ve never been engaged. Have you?”
Leaning back in his seat, he shook his head. “I’m a busy guy, Darcy. I mostly work this region, but I’m also a SOG deputy—the Marshals Service’s Special Operations Group—which means I’m on call to go anywhere at any time. I haven’t had any serious relationships. My last long-term girlfriend was back in high school and that lasted less than a year. I don’t have commitment issues, but I haven’t met anyone who was worth the inconvenience of trying to get a relationship off the ground.” He took a slow, deep breath. “Until now.”
She stared at him, her gaze darting over his face. Their waiter approached and Darcy ordered, then turned her attention to laying her napkin across her lap as he did the same.
He didn’t say anything when they were alone again, thinking he’d lobbed the ball into her court and she could either keep it in play or drop it. Maybe the duration of the case was all he’d get from her. He wondered if staying out of her bed would make it easier to walk away at the end or harder. It wasn’t a situation he’d faced before. So he asked her, because he suspected she knew. Not from her point of view, but from the perspective of the other guys in her life who’d wanted the piece of her she kept to herself.
“If I stop fucking you,” he asked in a low, even tone, “will it be easier to stop wanting you?”
Twisting in her seat, she faced him. “I’m not sure what you’re proposing, Jared. More of this?” She gestured at the interior of the restaurant with a sweep of her hand. “More dates? Or just an understanding that we’ll have sex occasionally when the mood strikes and we’re in the vicinity of each other? Actually, aren’t they both the same thing when a relationship is too erratic to be steady? One just comes with food and/or entertainment, while the other allots that bonus time to fucking instead.”
“How the hell am I supposed to know what to ask for? I’ve never done this before.” He drummed his fingertips into the tablecloth and tried to figure it out.
“Jared.” Her voice had the slow, conciliatory note of someone about to impart bad news. “I don’t think we can have a casual relationship. The attraction between us…it’s too intense.”
“I figured that out when the first sight of you hit me like a two-by-four between the eyes. Listen…I’m not talking about fitting you into my life as it is. I’m talking about changing things to fit around you.”
“Making me a priority?”
“Yes.” He held her gaze. “With the expectation that you’ll make the same effort for me.”
“Maybe you should wait a few more days before you decide I’m not going to lose my appeal.”
“Don’t start playing games. It insults both of us.”
She exhaled in a rush. “Sorry. You freak me out. And the really scary part is I don’t care. As freaked out as I am, it’s not enough to get me to blow you off.”
“Good.” The rush of relief he felt almost made him dizzy. “So we make it work.”
“It’s going to be work. A lot of it. We’re too volatile. Too…greedy.”
“Like a thirst you can’t quite quench,” he agreed softly. “The flip side being that every time you take a drink, it’s the best fucking thing you’ve ever tasted. If that’s not worth working for, what is?”
Darcy set a hand over her tummy and offered a tremulous smile. “Yes. I suppose you’re right.”
The rest of lunch became a slow exploration of the basics of who they both were. Jared talked about SOG—the Shadow Stalkers, as they were called—and some of the experiences he’d had that he could share. He told her about his sister, Casey, who fell in love every other day and was unable to keep a secret to save her life.