Page 79 of Beware of Dog

He fully expected an eyeroll, a shoulder shove, bright bark of laughter over the stupid, overused line. Instead, she stared up at him like she wanted to eat him alive.

Her voice was breathless when she said, “No. This is my first time.”

That was true. It was her first time here.

But…Jesus. Jesus Christ. He needed to go splash cold water on his face.

Instead, he took a long slug of whiskey and said, intelligently, “Huh.”

Cass took a swallow of wine, and then another, and another.Slow down, he wanted to say, but that wasn’t part of the fantasy she was aiming for.

She set the glass on the table, twirled the stem between her fingers, and gave him an uncharacteristic, low-lidded look. She got like this sometimes in the throes, but it was genuine, unconscious. Now, it was a clear act, but it was still doing things to him. And that was before she hooked her leg over his thigh, hiked herself up, and laid a hand on his chest.

The left side of his chest.

He hissed before he could help himself, and hated the way she froze, eyes going big.

“Nah, it’s fine, baby.” He moved her hand to a different place. “I got new ink today and it’s sensitive. You didn’t know.”

A spark of real interest—of the real Cass—flared in her eyes. “New ink? Really?”

“Really.” He felt smug.

“What is it? Can I see it?”

“When we get home.”

She blinked, and then her expression slid back into her faux seductress persona. She curled her fingers in the collar of his hoodie and said, “Oh? You’re going to take me home?”

His blood was heading south, but that was down to proximity, and her big, beguiling eyes, and the warm scent of wine on her breath as she leaned in closer. But he wantedher, and not whoever the hell she was trying to be.

“Okay.” He put both hands on her waist. “What are we doing?”

Her face fell. “I thought…” She bit at her lip, and then slid back down to the booth, leg still hooked over his thigh, but the façade wrecked. “You’re not into it, are you?” She shook her head. “Fuck.” Reached for her glass and drained it off.

“Hey, hey, come on, stop that.” He took the empty glass from her hand and set it on the table. She was pouting, and that wasn’tgood, but he didn’t know what it said about him that he was relieved to see her petulant side. “If you wanna play, we can play, I can get into it. But this is out of nowhere. Or, well, not nowhere. What did Raven say to you?”

She shook her head, thick dark hair falling over her face, shielding it.

Shep tucked it behind her ear automatically. “Cassie Jane.” She sucked in a quick breath, lips quivering, and her eyes flashed up to his, taken aback. She looked like he’d struck her.

His stomach caved in. “Oh. It’s what I said, isn’t it?”

She regarded him a long, guarded moment. “Do you think I’m going to gettiredof you?”

Yes. “I never said that.”

“You said ‘give it time.’ Do you think just because my sister’s wealthy that I expect you to, I don’t know, keep me in some sort ofstyle?”

“Baby.” He didn’t want to upset her, or drive her away, or ruin her birthday. “I don’t…I didn’t say that. I just want you to know, going in, that I can’t. There isnostyle with me. What we’re doing? How we’re living? That’s the best I can do. If you want more than that—”

“I don’t!” Her eyes filled with tears, and he leaned in close and pressed his face into the side of her head. In a small, miserable voice, she said, “Do you?”

He reached with his other hand, cupped her chin, turned her head, and kissed her. Hard, and hot, and way too filthy for a public place. It worked: she whimpered, and clutched at his jacket, and kissed him back desperately.

He drew back just far enough to say, “Why don’t we go home and celebrate your birthday just us, huh?”

“Home,” she echoed, and then nodded, forehead pushing against his. “Yeah. That sounds good.”

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