Page 95 of Black Flag

He chose dirty talkingin front of his family.

So, while looking overthe menu, he leaned into my side throwing his arm around the back of my chair.

No one noticed but whenhe started talking, they took notice.

I could feel the warmthof his body in contrast to the cool restaurant. It reminded me of our time inthe hotel room moments ago.

“Sway?” he whisperedlow with a gravely baritone that was a fine representation of our time justmoments ago. As though I needed yet another reminder he was in control of this.“Have I ever explained to you how engine builders check a cylinder head forwarpage?”

Oh Jesus, he was goingto do this here?In the middle of a restaurant with hisfamily?

He was trying to winthe battle that’s for sure.

Tommy, sitting acrossfrom me, choked on his beer and then started laughing knowing exactly whatJameson was doing.

I couldn’t focus enoughto respond and he went in for the win. “You seehoney,the cylinder head is the hottest part of the engine and reaches thousands ofdegrees. Cast iron and aluminum metals used in cylinder heads flex under thehigh temperatures in a race causingwarpageand thehead bulges.”

He was trying to killme. Quickly, to hide any outward arousal from being noticed, I squeezed mythighs together. Jameson grinned knowing he was now in the lead with acomfortable cushion.

“When this happens,it’s necessary to break the engine down back at the shop and measure thespecific tolerance. You start by removing the cylinder head, clean it and makesure there is no carbon in the cylinder head combustion chambers. When thecylinder is cleaned, you place the cylinder with the combustion chamber facingup in a wide jaw vice. Then, you take a ruler and a feeler gauge in between thebottom of the ruler and the head surface working the gauge along until itslides in.” he smiled, I wasn’t. “Then, on the gauge, it will show a numberthat will allow the maximum thickness that will enter the gap—”

With heavy breathing, Istarted a bout of coughing. I couldn’t take it any longer with words likeinserting and feeler and thickness. It was too much for a girl with myhormones.

Jameson, the overlyconfident ass, let out a giggle. “What’s the matter honey? Can’t handle it? Iwas just about to tell you how I find out the highest thickness an engine willallow.”

Emma, a little drunk bynow, leaned over the table with wide eyes. Before speaking, she chugged Aiden’sbeer. “My god, that even got me going and he’s my fucking brother!”

Aiden stood to shoveJameson’s shoulder nodding in approval. “Thanks man!”

Jameson laughed againfinishing his own beer, completely satisfied with himself. “I win.”

Emma turned towardAiden. “Let’s go cowboy.”

That was the last wesaw of them for a while.

“That was not cool,”was all I said to him for a good thirty minutes.

Jameson, needing toredeem himself after that stunt, knew the one thing I would appreciate morethan a gift would be him singing for my birthday. I loved his singing voice. Ithad the perfect combination of rasp and smooth velvet.

When he got up to go tothe restroom, I didn’t think anything of it. But when I heard his raspy velvetvoice flowing through a microphone, I blushed and hid my face against Alley’sshoulder.

“Oh my god,” I mumbledas he stepped out from the kitchen of the restaurant holding a microphone tohis lips with a crooked grin to sing one of my favorite songs of all time byThe Beatles,Something.

His baritone carried throughoutthe restaurant causing everyone to turn and listen to his resonant tenor. Hehad the perfect voice for this song, letting his voice do that drawn out rawcrackly whine at the end of each note.

He smiled, finallystanding before me.

Jameson dropped to hisknees, just as he had done in the bedroom earlier, the burn from my cheekscrept across my entire body. Throwing his head back, he belted out the lyricswith such emotion everyone cheered.

I watched as themuscles in his neck strained. He looked up at me and his free hand came up tocup my cheek softly while he continued to serenade me as his voice droppedlower.

Tears flowed freely, asI was one pathetic in love pigizzle. Jameson brought the microphone back to hislips. “Happy Birthday, honey,”

Leaning forward, Iwrapped my arms around him, crying as he slipped a black box onto my lap.

“What’s that?” He’dalready proposed so it obviously wasn’t that.

“Open it.” His eyessparkled mirroring the enthusiasm beaming from me.

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