Then she saw the way his eyes had darkened to a deep pine green, hooded and intense.
"Oh," she managed to say, even as a surge of reaction coursed through her.
"Let"s go to the bar."
She tried to push away the longing growing inside her and focus on his words. Words that made no more sense.
"The bar? Leo"s? I don"t think that"s a good idea. You really are hurt-maybe you should just go home and rest."
When he looked unimpressed with that idea, she added, "I will see you tomorrow."
He smiled, her promise seeming to appease him a little.
"No. I want to go to the bar. I feel fine."
She raised a dubious eyebrow.
"Okay, I"m a little sore," he admitted. "But I don"t want to leave you yet. I think I definitely earned some time with you." He rolled his eyes to the side to indicate the beating his back had taken for her. "Then come inside." She walked up the steps and waited on the porch proper for him to follow. He glanced at the house, a definite expression of longing on his face, then he shook his head.
"Nope. Come to the bar."
She frowned. "Why? Why would you want to go anywhere near my brothers? I know I don"t want to see them for a long while." "Because the bar is where we first met. And I want it to be where we meet again-this time on a real date."
She paused, touched by what he was saying.
"Plus, I should have been with you there tonight. So I want to start the night again."
G.o.d, he was sweet.
But instead of telling him that, she glanced at her watch. "It"s nearly midnight. Isn"t that rather late for a date, anyway?"
"The bar stays open until three. Not a long date, but it"s a start."
She shook her head at his persistence. Then she laughed. "I guess it"s time we did something slow."
"Oh, we"ll do plenty of stuff slow." Then he grimaced. "That probably wasn"t an appropriate comment for a first date, was it?"
"That"s okay." Elizabeth had to admit, it was hard to take things slow. Not when she already knew what he felt like against her and inside her.
"Come on, let"s go back to the bar and start this all over again."
d.a.m.n, he was so appealing-and d.a.m.n, didn"t she want to say yes?
She nodded, then touched her face, running her fingers underneath her eyes. "I hardly look ready for a first date." She gestured to her black yoga pants and gray sweatshirt.
He stepped forward, touching her cheek. "I think you look beautiful."
She laughed. "Hardly."
He studied her for a moment, then gestured to his truck. "We"d better get going. I hear there is a great band playing at Leo"s tonight."
His response caught her off guard, and she laughed. "Yes, I"ve heard the same thing."
He held out his hand and she accepted, loving the feeling of his broad palm against her smaller one and the way his fingers curled around hers.
He led her to the pa.s.senger side of his truck and opened the door for her. She remembered him doing that the first night. He"d been a gentleman then, while she"d been more like a wild animal. The memory caused her to hesitate, a blush burning her cheeks. That behavior now seemed so over the top, so not like her.
"Are you okay?" he asked when she just stared into the cab of the truck, not making a move to get inside.
She nodded and untangled her fingers from his to brace her hand on the door and lift herself in. Jensen"s hand moved to her elbow, helping her. He hadn"t done that the first night. In fact, she"d been the one who first touched him. His lips.
She cast a sidelong glance at him. His mouth was still the most beautiful she"d ever seen.
He hesitated as if he was going to say something, then he closed the door.
He rounded the front of the vehicle and opened his door. He didn"t speak as he got inside and turned the ignition.
Elizabeth tried to focus on the road, on the sound of the engine, on her own breathing, but all she could remember was what they had done in this truck. On this very seat. The steam on the windows, the hitched sounds of their breathing, the way he smelled, like woods and s.e.x. The way he"d felt deep inside her, her legs straddling him as he pulled her down against him, groin to groin.
She realized that he"d pulled out of her road onto the one leading to the bar, before he spoke.
"This is harder than I thought."
"What?"
"Pretending this is our first date."
"Yes," she agreed.
"I really kind of liked our first date," he said, slanting her that adorable, c.o.c.ky grin.
Elizabeth felt herself blush. "I don"t think that const.i.tuted a date."
"Oh, I do," Jensen said adamantly.
"I"m really not like that," she felt the need to reiterate.
"I do know that. Frankly, I choose to be flattered."
She paused at that, then cast him a small smile. "Well, I guess you should be."
He smiled back. "Well, I am."
They both still sported a smile as they turned into the gravel parking lot of Leo"s Karaoke Tavern and
Saloon.
Then Elizabeth"s smile faded. "I really don"t know if this is a good idea. My brothers are a little bit
protective."
"I hadn"t noticed," Jensen said, then gave her a wink.
She frowned. "You have to be in pain. You really should be resting."
"Remind me to tell you about the time that I got kicked in the head by a mare in labor."
Elizabeth turned on the bench seat, gaping at him. "That really happened?"
He nodded.
"Wow."
"But I"ve got to say, your brothers are pretty d.a.m.ned protective."
"And you haven"t even met Rhys."
Jensen cringed. "He isn"t going to be here now, is he?"
"No."
"Then I"m good to go. I can handle your brothers. They just got the jump on me."
It was on the tip of her tongue to mention that they were, in fact, vampires, and it had been an unfair fight
from the get-go, but she caught herself. That would be d.a.m.ned hard to explain, wouldn"t it?
As hard as explaining what she was.
"Hey, they are playing "Here I Go Again." That seems rather appropriate, doesn"t it?"
Elizabeth listened to a few of the lyrics, then laughed. "You"re funny."
"I am," he agreed, and they stared at each other for a moment.
"I really want to kiss you. Can you start a date with a kiss?"
She nodded. She actually knew nothing of dating. She"d flirted a bit at b.a.l.l.s. She"d even stolen a kiss at one of the soirees, from a man, a lord who she"d dreamed of marrying and now who she barely remembered. She didn"t know anything about how real dates worked.
"I think we can," she said, her eyes drifting down to that luscious mouth. She did know one thing for sure. No one on earth kissed like Jensen Adler.
He leaned across the seat, his mouth brushing very gently against hers. A faint touch, a mere hint at what his lips could feel like possessing hers. Then he pulled away. The fleeting touch was so entrancing, so erotic, she remained still, swaying toward him, until he touched her face.
"If we kiss any more, our new first date is going to end up pretty much like the original."
Elizabeth blinked. For a moment she really couldn"t find a problem with that. Then she realized she"d degraded to pretty much what she"d been just a few days ago. Acting totally on sensation, on need.
Except this was more dangerous, because with this kiss she also felt emotions that she knew she shouldn"t. Emotions that she was liking far too much.
Still, she didn"t suggest they stop. She didn"t demand they just let things end here. Like she knew she should. She simply wanted him too much.
"Okay, are you ready to go inside?"
She noticed that he was casting a rather wary look at the bar"s entrance.
"We really don"t have to do this. I appreciate your thought of going back to where we met, but I do realize my brothers are a bit-intimidating."
Jensen frowned at her comment, then straightened, his broad shoulders straining against his b.u.t.ton-down dress shirt. Oh, if he were undead or immortal in any way, her brothers would be in big trouble. Jensen had a fine, fine physique-he just didn"t have anything paranormal on his side.
For a moment, guilt hit her again. Then she cast it aside. She wanted this man so, so badly. And she"d never wanted anyone like this. She"d never believed it possible, really. She just couldn"t let it go. Call her selfish. Shewas selfish. But she just couldn"t turn him away. Not while he wanted her, too.
"Let"s go in," he said, opening his door.
She started to reach for the handle, too, then she saw that he was coming around. She waited as he opened the door for her. Again she was struck by what a gentleman he was, reminding her of her life so long ago. When she"d been a real lady-and he would have been the type of man she"d had a right to marry.
It was too appealing, too wonderful to let go of now.
She accepted his hand as he helped her down from the cab of the truck.
"My brothers really are very nice," she suddenly felt the need to say, knowing that if they knew Jensen, they would agree that he was the type of man she"d expected to be with. For a moment, Brody flashed through her mind. Huge, unkempt, coa.r.s.e. He wasn"t even close to what anyone would have thought she"d be with.
She pushed that thought aside. She didn"t want to go there. Too much guilt was involved, too much regret.
Not about Jensen, she realized. But about why she"d made the choices she had earlier in her life. She wished she"d been stronger. But as Mina said, she had made her choices to survive.
"So you have three brothers?"
She nodded. "Three too many, huh?"
Jensen grinned. "Well, you are loved, that"s for sure. Are you the baby?"
The question gave her pause. How did she answer? She had been the baby, but now she was actually older than Sebastian. Sebastian was eternally twenty-five, and she was about twenty-seven now. Werewolves did age, just very slowly. But given birth order...
"Yes, I"m the baby."
"Well, it"s good to have family that cares about you."
She noticed he struggled not to wince as he pulled open the door to the bar.
"Jensen, we really don"t need to go here."