by Marika Ray
“I take that award back!” I shouted after him.
Secretly, though? I kinda liked the spanking.
He was definitely BBE: best boyfriend ever.
Big Foot woke me up the next morning, meowing to be let out. Moving ever so slowly, I untangled from Titus’s long appendages and creeped out of the bed to open my door. The damn cat didn’t even give me a parting thank-you look, just lifted his nose in the air and marched out like my whole existence was to do his bidding instead of enjoying waking up in my boyfriend’s arms. Freaking cats.
I crawled back under the covers and Titus stirred, instantly seeking me out and pulling me against his chest. I was all too happy to be snuggled there while thoughts raced through my head. My brain was having a hard time coming to terms with what my heart already knew. I was in love with Titus.
It wasn’t hard to figure out why. I’d always loved Titus as my best friend and that love had only grown and expanded when we started dating. It just took a bad-boy asshole treating me horribly—and some real talk from my Hell Raisers—for me to see what was right in front of my face this whole time. I snuggled in deeper and simply breathed him in, watching the way his chest would rise and fall with each breath while he slept. He was so hot, even without a single tattoo marring his virgin skin. Who would have thought I’d end up falling in love with the good guy?
A snort escaped before I could rein it in. I’d become that person. I was watching my boyfriend sleep like some kind of sick creeper or love-besotted fool.
“Jesus, is your brain already firing?” Titus’s sleepy voice came from above my head.
I tilted back to see that his eyes were still closed. “Good morning, grumpy pants.”
He smiled and blinked his eyes open. “I’m not wearing any pants. Nor are any of the pants I own grumpy.”
How could a guy look so good first thing in the morning? Even his ridiculous hair looked good all disheveled from my hands clutching him last night for round two after we ate dinner. So not fair.
“I’m sure they’re not. You’re the happiest guy I know. Do you ever get mad? Like, want to punch someone in the nose mad?”
Titus got serious. “Sure. Didn’t you see me with that peacock the other night? I wanted to punch him.”
I laughed. “Seriously? The peacock?”
Titus sat up, indignant. “He kicked me in the balls!”
I laughed until he hauled me up next to him, our backs to the headboard. When I’d finally calmed down, he took my hand and laced our fingers together.
“I actually have only hated one person in my life and that’s Daire. For what he did to you.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop with the simple mention of his name. My gut clenched and I wasn’t sure what to say to bring back the happy-go-lucky Titus or the joy that had filled me from waking up next to him.
“He’s an easy one to hate, that’s for sure.”
Titus twisted toward me so suddenly I almost jumped. “What happened, Lia? What did you see in him? Please explain it to me so I understand.”
I sniffed, hating the subject but knowing we would have to talk about it at some point. If we loved each other, then Titus deserved to know what had happened with Daire. And especially why I’d put a wall between Titus and me for almost a year.
“I need coffee for this.”
Titus squeezed my hand. “I’ll make you coffee, but only if you promise to trust me with the truth.”
I tried out a smile, but it felt weak. “I promise.”
Titus let me go with a nod, climbing out of bed and making us both a cup of coffee with the coffee maker I had in my room. Once he was back in bed and we’d both taken some fortifying sips, I launched into it despite how little I wanted to cut myself open and bleed out the bitter details I was trying to move past.
“Have you ever been infatuated with someone? Utterly charmed and intrigued?” At Titus’s nod, I continued. “That’s how it was for me with Daire. He was charming and fun and exciting in the beginning. I was dazzled. By the time I realized he’d changed, we’d become a habit I didn’t see how to break. And quite frankly, he was very good with his apologies. So believable. For a girl who doesn’t put up with bullshit, I sure found ways to explain away his bad behavior. And that’s the part that makes me nauseous.”
I put the coffee down, no longer wanting that bitter taste to go along with my story.
Titus took my hand in his again. “It’s not your fault. Wanting to see the good in someone doesn’t make you weak.”
I scoffed and Titus tightened his grip. “I’m serious. Leaving him makes you the strongest person I know.”
My eyes were swimming and I couldn’t look over at Titus for a whole minute in order to get myself together. Crying was ridiculous and I wouldn’t start that shit now. When I had myself under control, I climbed on his lap and rested my head on his shoulder.
“That’s why I love you, Titus. You always see the good in people, specifically me.”
Titus’s whole body went rigid, his heartbeat thundering below my ear. “You love me?”
I grinned and traced a finger over his Adam’s apple as he swallowed hard. “Yep. I know I acted hesitant at first, but the last two weeks have been the best I’ve ever known. I figure loving you as my friend is the perfect jumping-off point for loving you as my boyfriend.”
Titus sprang into action, rolling me onto my back and bracing above me on his muscular arms. His gaze was so intense I couldn’t possibly look away, even though my inclination was to tease him to break the tension.
He reached between us and notched himself between my legs, deliciously hard for me on a moment’s notice. “Say it again,” he growled.
My breath caught even as my body went up in flames at his tone. “I love you, Titus.”
No sooner were the words out of my mouth than he thrust inside me, filling me up in more ways than one. I opened, he pushed, and somehow we found each other as more than friends.
18
Amelia
If there was ever a time for stilettos, it was when your boyfriend was taking you out on a date in front of the whole town you grew up in. Titus didn’t waste any time asking me out on a “real date”—his words, not mine—the morning after I told him I loved him. Those three little words were the green light to letting the whole town know we were together. Reservations at Forty-Diner were for six and I had exactly thirty seconds to spare after I slipped on the heels I’d bought two years ago, knowing I just had to have them.
I took a steading breath and talked myself through the evening. I wasn’t nervous to be with Titus. I was nervous to flaunt my relationship with him to all the world. And for all my twenty-eight years on this planet, Auburn Hill was my world. I hadn’t cared if anyone knew I was dating Daire, which made this whole thing a bit confusing. I guessed Titus was more special than all that. What we had together meant everything to me and I wasn’t sure if I wanted any outside opinions about it until I got used to the idea myself.
A soft knock at my door had me standing up and taking another deep breath. Being nervous was not Amelia Waldo’s style. Rolling my shoulders back, I walked to the door like a supermodel and opened it.
Titus stood there in a charcoal gray suit, minus the tie. His starched white shirt was open at the collar, showing a vee of tanned skin. The man could knock me over in his work clothes, but damn, he looked even better sporting a suit. His face lit up in a grin even as his eyes heated as he swept me with this gaze.
“You look absolutely stunning, Amelia,” he said, voice flowing over my exposed skin like warm honey.
I smoothed down the black dress, knowing it hugged every curve I had. That was the whole point of a little black dress. Stun the man taking you out and still allow for spilled food without ruining your dress. Romantic and practical.
Titus extended a hand full of lavender sprigs and white lilies. “These are for you.”
I took them, finally looking away from Titus’s face. There
was something so fulfilling about seeing his expression change from happy to swamped with desire just from looking at me. I waved him in and spun to put the flowers in the ice bucket each of the rooms came with. I filled it with water, feeling Titus’s hot gaze on me the whole time.
“All ready.” I dusted off my hands and grabbed the purse just big enough to fit my license, a credit card, and my phone.
Titus didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then he stepped up to me and cupped my face, looking down at me with such fondness my heart skipped a beat.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before,” he said simply.
My heart melted, right down to the heels that would be killing my feet before the night was over. Dating the nice guy was so much better than trying to reform the bad guy. I lifted up on my toes—because even in heels, Titus was much taller than me—and kissed him.
“Let’s go. The sooner we eat, the sooner I can persuade you to come back up here and get naked.” My heart felt like it might beat out of my chest.
He grinned and stepped back, grabbing my hand and pulling me out the door. The eyes of my staff were on me as we left the hotel, a wink here, a thumbs-up there. Seemed like everyone already knew about Titus and me anyway. Their approval shouldn’t have mattered, but it did. These people knew me well, even the scary Amelia who showed up when things went wrong and yelled at everyone. If they approved of Titus for me, that said something about my ability to make good choices recently. Frowning, I couldn’t think of one person in my life who’d said they liked Daire.
Not that I was comparing Titus to Daire. That wasn’t even a fair comparison as the two men were in different galaxies in my mind, but when a girl’s been duped by a guy, she tends to question her decision-making abilities.
When we got to the diner, Titus opened the truck door for me, helping me down and squeezing our fingers together tightly. Titus knew how to treat a lady and I was the lucky beneficiary of his mama’s good training. He opened the door to the diner and let me walk in first. The place transformed at night, the low lights and soft music giving the diner a more romantic atmosphere. Sure, we were a little overdressed, but taking a date here to the diner was almost a prerequisite for being a couple. And Lord knew you didn’t want to buck the time-honored traditions of Hell lest the older generation rain down judgement on you. Ever seen Yedda upset? Even her cats were scared of her in that state.
Titus had called ahead and reserved a very secluded table for two in the little glass rotunda that allowed in a steady stream of sunshine in the morning hours. A single white votive burned in the center of the table. Titus pulled out my chair for me and I sat down.
“My, my. Pulling out all the stops tonight, I see,” I teased him as he sat down.
He held out his hand across the table, the callouses formed by his occupation only adding to my attraction to him. There was something about a man who worked with his hands that just fired up the female libido. I laid my hand in his, watching as his thumb swiped across my skin.
“I’ve dreamed about taking you out on a date here for more years than I can count. Damn right I’m going to do everything to make you see how special you are.”
Oh, fuck.
Skip dinner. We should go straight back to my hotel room.
“And no. We aren’t skipping the date to get to the sex. I intend to fully woo you, Amelia Waldo.”
I couldn’t help the blush. Damn boy could read my mind.
The server came, and after deciding on what we both wanted to eat, Titus ordered a bottle of white wine for us to share.
“You sure you don’t want to change it to a red?” I asked him, knowing when I’d seen him drink wine, it was usually a merlot.
He shook his head. “Nope. Pinot grigio is your favorite and that’s what we’re having tonight.”
I smoothed the cloth napkin across my lap. “You know it doesn’t need to be all about me, right? I mean, I know I can be a pain in the ass, but this is about both you and me.”
Titus grinned lopsidedly. “I don’t really care about the wine choice. I just want to sit here and enjoy a good meal and talk to you.”
I shook my head slowly, but couldn’t help the smile reflecting all the emotions bubbling inside my chest. “You really are going for that BBE award.”
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Penelope Fines stopped by our table, a goodness-to-gracious yarn shawl over her slender shoulders.
I almost didn’t recognize her without her meter maid uniform on. Then I saw the pinched-nose scowl.
“Hello to you too, Penelope,” I said dryly.
Titus chuckled low in his throat. “You look lovely as ever tonight, Penelope.”
Her face cleared the second she looked at Titus, a pretty blush creeping into her cheeks and making her appear younger. Actually, that brought up a good question. I had no idea how old Penelope was. She acted at least seventy, but with her face all lit up with the attention of a handsome man, she could pass for barely thirty.
“Why, thank you, Titus. You are always so kind.”
Dear Lord, she was practically simpering at my boyfriend while we were obviously here on a romantic date. A flare of anger had me sitting up straight, the hinge of my jaw warming up for the ill-advised verbal lashing that was sure to come.
“Let’s let the new lovebirds get back to dinner,” Polly murmured, having come up behind Penelope while I decided on exactly how to tell her to take her grimy eyeballs off my boyfriend. Now that we were dating, only I could eye fuck him. New rule.
The pair moved off to a table, glancing over their shoulders at us at regular intervals.
“Here we go,” I murmured, looking around the dining area for the first time and seeing quite a few people I recognized giving us second and third glances.
“Ah, they’re harmless. Probably just want to get the scoop before Poppy.” Titus smirked.
“How do you do that?” At his frown, I continued. “How do you just let things slide right off you while I’m over here getting my blood pressure all screwed up? And why is Penelope hanging out with Polly? We should watch them. I bet they’re up to no good.”
Titus blinked rapidly. “And how do you do that?”
“What?”
“Have five completely different thoughts running through your brain at one time?” Titus laughed and I couldn’t help but smile back.
Our food arrived and we put our questions away for the moment to feast on the deliciousness that only Forty-Diner could offer. I was just about stuffed when Poppy came hustling past us, then almost skidded to a stop before she put it in reverse and came back to our table, eyes wide.
“Ho ho! I see y’all are an official thing now, huh?” she chortled, quite pleased with herself for finding something new to gossip about.
Titus looked at me, I looked at him, and then I gave Poppy a winning smile. “You didn’t think I’d keep this guy waiting forever for me, did you?”
Poppy hitched her head to the side, short green hair reflecting in the overhead lights. “I don’t know. I think the majority of Auburn Hill said you two would be married by twenty-five, so I guess you kept him waiting long enough, girl.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
Poppy huffed. “When you two graduated, there was a bet going around. Everyone’s money was on you marrying sooner rather than later. Aren’t you pushing thirty?”
“Hey!” I didn’t appreciate her insinuating I was getting old. Seemed a little cheeky coming from a senior citizen. And a community bet? What the hell?
Poppy turned to Titus, patting him on the shoulder. “Good work, son. She’s a firecracker. I’m sure you’ll live a very interesting life. Enjoy your dinner.” And then she marched off to join Penelope and Polly, already pulling out her cell phone and wrangling her reading glasses onto her face to rapid fire texts around town about our date.
I turned to Titus, my mouth hanging open. “Did you know about this bet?”
Titus huffed
. “No, of course not. Probably just Poppy being ridiculous. I doubt there was a real bet.”
Our server cleared our plates and Titus fiddled with his napkin as he ordered their famous death-by-chocolate-cake. He no longer looked me in the eye and it made me nervous.
“What?” I finally asked, reaching across the table to grab his hand.
He looked up, an apology hanging there in his gaze. I had no time to question him down, because a raucous noise started up behind my back.
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy, happy, happy…” The singing continued and a cluster of no less than five servers formed around me, plopping a huge plastic crown on my head and clapping with each word. Clearly, their talents were serving food, not singing, but what they lacked in talent, they made up for in enthusiasm.
“Happy birthday!” exclaimed our server at the end of the song, lighting the candle on our huge slice of cake.
They all filed off to wait on their tables, leaving palpable silence in their wake.
“What the hell?” I said, stunned.
Titus’s fist was jammed to his mouth, but the second I spoke, he burst out laughing, the kind that shakes the table and turns heads.
“Oh my God. That was amazing,” he said, wiping his eyes, still chuckling.
I leaned over the table and whispered furiously, “It’s not my birthday, dummy!”
He laughed harder, his blue eyes fairly dancing with mirth. If he didn’t cut it out soon, I’d have to laugh with him and I was really trying hard to act pissy about the impromptu birthday song. Who does that to another person when they know it’s not their birthday? Now people would be phoning my mother and conveying their birthday wishes and my mom would be calling me wondering why everyone was doing so. You can’t do shit like that in a small town without a ripple of repercussions.