Sweet Addiction (Sweet #6)(58)

He zipped into the parking lot, got out and went around to open Ren’s door. As soon as she was out, he slid his arm around her waist, holding her solidly against him as they walked toward the restaurant entrance.

She flipped her head back, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Then she smiled and it lit up her whole face. “You’re right. It is absolutely beautiful today. I’m so glad I’m not spending it inside working.”

He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “No chance of that. I can’t be away from you for more than a couple of hours.”

They stepped inside and Cole waved to the bartender who jerked his thumb toward the back of the restaurant.

“Ah, good, my table is open,” Cole said as he guided her back.

Ren raised her eyebrows. “Your own table?”

“Well, sort of. I kind of share it with a few friends. Whoever happens to be in gets first dibs. It’s a little quieter. Out of the way and we get excellent service.”

“Sounds like you’re all spoiled,” she said with a grin.

He pulled out a chair for her and smacked her on the ass just before she sat. “You have no room to talk about anyone being spoiled.”

“That’s true,” she acknowledged as he took the seat across from her. “I’m not ashamed to admit I love being spoiled.”

“And I’m not ashamed to admit that I love spoiling you,” he added.

Her face flushed with delight and her eyes lit up. Yeah, it was good to get her out. He wasn’t entirely certain what had made her so melancholy earlier in the morning, but she seemed to have come around now.

“Now, what would you like to eat?”

She studied the menu and then sent him a soft smile. “You choose. You know what I like.”

He motioned for the waiter and ordered two steaks, medium, two salads and a side order of onion rings. At the mention of the onion rings, Ren’s head popped up and her eyes widened in surprise and then she grinned.

“Oh man, it’s been a long time since I’ve had onion rings. I’m surprised you remember.”

“There isn’t much I’ve forgotten about our time together, Ren,” he said softly. “There were parts I didn’t choose to remember, but being back with you has made me realize just how good we were together.”

She reached across the table to cover his hand with her own and she squeezed, surprising him with the affectionate gesture. “We were, weren’t we?”

He leaned forward, picking up her hand and raising it to his mouth so he could kiss the soft inside of her palm. “And as good as we were then, we’re even better now.”

“If I was having this conversation with anyone else but you, I’d think I’d lost my mind. The idea of even contemplating these things with a man I’ve only been with for a few days is just …Well, it’s crazy.”

He smiled because he understood her befuddlement. “But we haven’t only been together a few days and I’m not just any man.”

She nodded. “Exactly. Still, it just seems so …fast. And maybe too good to be true.”

He chuckled lightly. “Still the straightforward Ren I’ve always known.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know how to be anyone else. Maybe I’ve tried in the past, but that never seems to work out, you know? I’ve already decided that if I have to be someone else with a man, then I don’t need to be there.”

“And I’ve always maintained you were an extremely intelligent woman. But darling, it’s not too good to be true. It’s good, yes. But it’s real.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“So tell me how you came to be in Houston,” he said as he sat back in his chair. He had a much better view of her now and he liked looking at her. Liked knowing that at least for now she was his. His woman. His possession.

“Lucas,” she said by way of explanation. “We met in Vegas. He has a club here and maintains a residence here.”

Okay maybe that wasn’t the best question but now he’d opened that particular can of worms and hell, the man was a large part of her life and the reason that Ren was sitting in front of Cole now. He couldn’t be ignored even if it was what Cole most wanted.

“Then how’d you end up in Vegas?”

She made a face. “My last relationship. I sound like such a disaster, don’t I? Like I can’t make any decisions on my own and drift from man to man, following wherever they lead.”

The disgust in her voice was heavy and she shook her head even as she spoke.

“I didn’t live in Vegas. I was there with Grant for a pleasure trip.”

“Grant being the ass**le you were involved with prior to Lucas,” Cole confirmed.

She nodded. “I met Grant in Los Angeles. I hadn’t been involved seriously with another man in two years. I dated but nothing heavy and definitely nothing that would lead to a full-time dominant submissive relationship.”

Cole sat forward a bit. “Okay, let me ask because now I’m curious. When you say full time. What do you mean exactly?”

She sighed. “I don’t trust easily, which probably sounds like bullshit to you. I probably come across as this naïve moron who trusts any man who seems authoritative in the least.”

“That’s not what I think at all.”