I’d like to do with you while you’re wearing this dress.”
Emerson grinned, slowly looked down at the growing tent in his pants, and then back up, pinning him with those eyes of hers that positively sparkled with excitement. “I’m certain pizza in bed with you would be incredible, as would be the ten things. But tonight, you promised me a wonderful dinner, so perhaps you can tell me about them en route. Let’s go.”
Connor lifted Emerson’s hand to his lips. “Your wish is my command. Do you need a coat?”
“My purse and wrap are by the door. And if I get too cold, you’ll give me your jacket, right?”
As she turned to grab them, and he caught sight of the exceptionally low dip of her dress and the bow at the base of her back, he figured he’d give her just about anything she asked for.
“Can one of the things I do to you in this dress start in the car?” Connor asked as he opened the door to their ride. “My tongue somewhere it shouldn’t be in public.”
Emerson blushed. “Save it for later,” she said, looking around to see if they’d been overheard.
Once at Maison Noir, the host seated them in one of the round booths and left them with their menus. The deep burgundy leather sofa, dark wood, and low lighting was perfect.
Emerson groaned when she looked at the menu. “Don’t you just love it when you open a menu and immediately see so many dishes you’d like to try?”
Connor leaned toward her. “Kind of like when I look at you and think about ten things I’d like to try?”
Her eyes met his. “Tell me another,” she dared him.
For a moment, he debated whether she meant it or not, but the way she looked at him, the way her lips were ever so slightly open, told him she did. He moved closer in the booth and whispered into her ear. “When we get home, I’d like for you to kneel on the edge of the bed in this dress while I take you from behind. I might even take a fistful of this glorious hair of yours…hold you in place while you come.” He ran his fingers gently down her spine.
“Is that before or after I wrap my lips around your—”
“Welcome to Maison Noir,” a female voice said. “Can I get you an aperitif while you look at the menu?”
Emerson blushed, while Connor moved slightly away from her, but threw an arm around the leather seat behind her. He’d never been less happy to get service, no matter how crisp the woman’s black uniform and attitude were.
He wanted Emerson to finish that sentence more than anything else in the world.
“Could I get a French 75, please?” she asked, without glancing down at the cocktail menu.
Connor grinned. “I’ll take a gin and tonic. Dyer’s Medallion if you have it.”
“We do. It’s my current favorite,” the woman said.
“I like the taste of Dyer’s, too,” he said, winking in Emerson’s direction.
When the server disappeared, Emerson turned to him. “Oh my god, do you think she heard?”
Connor tipped her chin and pressed a brief but intimate kiss to her lips. “I doubt it, but honestly, I don’t care. She probably doesn’t give a rat’s ass that we were flirting. She’s probably thinking about how many of the specials there are left and whether she gets next Tuesday off on the staff rotation. Anyway, I want to hear what of mine you were considering wrapping your lips around.”
Emerson grinned as she shook her head. “You are incorrigible.”
“Only when I’m aroused,” Connor replied.
She lifted the menu to hide her face from his. “I’m thinking oysters,” she said.
He pressed down on the top of the menu with two fingers so he could just see her eyes. “Nature’s aphrodisiac? I approve.”
Their drinks came, and they placed their orders. Oysters and the seared snapper for Emerson and the Wagyu beef tartare and the short rib for him. With a light Beaujolais cru to dance between the lightness of Emerson’s seafood and his own meat choices.
“I’m glad things went well with Jake and Liv,” he said over their appetizers. “I’m glad they were reasonable.”
Emerson nodded. “Me too. I’d never really thought about what Dad would leave us, beyond the distillery. And so, the fact we get to use his estate to keep the distillery is a bonus.”
In between courses, Connor resumed his teasing of Emerson, offering her more suggestions on the ten things he wanted to do to