Ignite On Contact (Brotherhood by Fire #2) -Jaci Burton Page 0,21
he told you this himself?”
Rafe shrugged. “He didn’t have to. He’s a man who’s still in good enough shape to mostly take care of himself, with a small amount of assistance. But you baby him and treat him like an invalid.”
She’d never been more insulted in her life. “I’m a nurse, in case you forgot that, and I’m more than capable of assessing my grandfather’s medical needs.”
Rafe pushed his plate to the side, seemingly unaffected by her rising anger. “I didn’t mean to insult you, Carmen. I’m just saying that it seems to me that your grandpa gets along just fine. He goes out with his friends to play cards, he gets regular therapy for the side of his body weakened by the stroke he had several years ago, and other than maybe requiring some assistance now and then, he appears to be able to care for himself just fine.”
She lifted her chin. “He needs me.”
“Or maybe it’s you that needs him. And so in your mind you’ve decided that he’s worse off than he really is.”
Fucking douchewipe. She should walk out of there, grab a Lyft and head home. She didn’t need this. Unfortunately, her food was delicious, and she’d be damned if she’d bail on an excellent Fra Diavolo. No man was worth leaving a good meal.
So she pierced her fork into her noodles and swept some up. “How is it that you think you know me so well that you can make assumptions like this?”
While she was chewing, he said, “I don’t. I’m just trying to liven up the conversation.”
She swallowed and took a drink of her wine. “By pissing me off?”
“Oh, come on, Carmen. You don’t want to talk about the weather, do you?”
“Wait. Those are the only topics? My hiding from relationships by living with my grandfather, and the weather?”
“Not the only topics. Do you want me to tell you how beautiful you are? Because I could spend about an hour on how soft your hair looks, on the way your eyes sparkle in the moonlight, how delicate your fingers are and how much I’d like to kiss your shoulders.”
She blinked. Hold on. What was happening here. First he insulted her, and now he was waxing poetic about her damn shoulders?
Who the hell was this guy? Some Jekyll and Hyde personality? One minute he was an insulting dipshit, the next a romantic?
“I don’t know what to make of you, Rafe. I thought you were a nice guy.”
His lips curved. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, so now you’re going to tell me you’re a bad boy? Because if you are, I’m not interested.”
He laughed, seemingly so relaxed she even found that irritating. “I don’t even know what that means. I’m neither, Carmen. I’m just me. I like to tease, and I also like to compliment. But I’m always honest. And sometimes that means saying things that people don’t like to hear.”
“Oh, you mean about me living with my grandfather. Or, should I say, hiding out at my grandfather’s house.”
He shrugged. “Just calling it like I see it.”
“Well, you’re wrong about that.”
“Prove it.”
“How?”
“Go out with me.”
This was ridiculous. “I am out with you. Right now.”
“No, I mean really go out with me. You bent over backward making sure tonight was going to be labeled nothing more than a thank-you dinner.”
“So it wasn’t?”
“It was. I want more.”
She cocked a brow. “Excuse me?”
“Not like that. I mean, yeah, like that. I like you, Carmen. I want to see you. Like, a lot. Going out. Dating. Doing fun things together. Romance. Kissing. Sex. The whole thing that you do when you’re attracted to someone.”
Her face flamed hot at the mention of sex, though she didn’t know why, since it was often Rafe she fantasized about when she was alone in her bed, naked with her hand between her legs.
And just the thought of that made her even hotter.
“You want to go out with me.”
“Hey, I’m not proposing or anything. I’m just suggesting we have some fun. Get you out of the house.”
She frowned. “I wasn’t suggesting marriage, either, idiot. And I’m hardly wasting away in my castle.”
He laughed. “No, you’re definitely not wasting away. You stay busy. I get it. It’s one of the reasons I admire you.”
“And yet you think I’m a lost cause.”
He reached over and grasped her hand. The contact between them was electric. He must have felt it, too, because she saw the heat reflected in his warm brown eyes.