Romancing My Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens) Contemporary Romance by Melissa Foster

enough time to stop feeling pitied when you tell someone.”
    “I don’t pity you. I feel sad that you’ve gone through losing someone so close to you, but it’s not pity.” He touched her cheek. “And now? You said you’re picking up the pieces of your life.”
    Her face brightened, and when she spoke, every word carried hope. “I am. I’ve got a strong business sense, and I only have a couple classes left before I graduate. I don’t know if that will help in finding a job, but it can’t hurt. At some point I’ll move from waitressing and bartending to the business field, I hope. But for now, I’m good with people. Well, other than yelling at Martin and decking that doofus in the bar.”
    “I can tell that you’re good with people. Besides, Chiara wouldn’t have hired you if you weren’t. Every job at the resort revolves around people.”
    “Oh my gosh. I almost forgot. I should probably go. I have to memorize the menu, and I only have a few days to learn it.”
    “I’ll help you.” The offer surprised him as much as it surprised Rebecca. Pierce had never held a waiter job, and truth be known, he had no idea how difficult it might be. In fact, he had no idea that the waitstaff had to memorize the menu. He left those details up to the restaurant managers to handle. But he wasn’t ready for this date to end, and if that meant helping her study, he’d damn well do it.
    “You don’t want to spend Friday night learning a menu when you can be out carousing.”
    “Carousing? Didn’t you hear anything I said to you?”
    “Sure, but what did that have to do with not carousing?”  
    He slid his hand up her thigh to her hip and scooted closer. Up close, he noticed the quickening of the pulse at the base of her neck. “I like you. I want to get to know you, Rebecca. I guess I haven’t said it enough. I’ve been saying it in my head, though.”
    Her soft, full lips parted, and he leaned forward and kissed her.
    “Sorry. I’ve been dying to do that all night.”
    Her cheeks heated. “Me too.”
    “Now maybe I can think a little clearer.” He kissed her again, longer, more sensually, basking in the taste of her and the feel of her sweet mouth against his.
    He drew back, hoping the distance would ease the desire pulsing through his body. He wanted to touch and taste every inch of her, to claim her as his own, marking her with his mouth, his hands….At the same time, a different torrent of desire coursed through him—he wanted to protect and care for her. He knew it was fast, and yet he could no sooner stop the feelings from swelling inside him than he could stop making business deals for a living.
    She touched her kiss-swollen lips, as if she wanted the feel of him to linger. Pierce was compelled to explain his feelings in a way he never had before.
    “I’m thirty-six, Rebecca. I’ve done a lot of carousing , and I know it’s a little crazy, but I’ve never met anyone like you. I don’t have an interest in going out tonight. I want more time with you, not less.”
    “But studying a menu? Talk about boring.” She pulled her knees closer to her chest, and the skirt of her dress bunched around her upper thighs.
    “Well, if you do that, it won’t be boring—but we also won’t get much studying done.” He forced himself to stand and untucked his shirt to hide how that flash of skin had aroused him. “I’ll get your purse.”
    When he returned, she was sitting on the edge of the couch, nervously wringing her hands. “Are you sure, Pierce? Because I feel kind of guilty. I mean, you must have better things to do than hang out with me while I study for a waitress job.”
    “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.” He handed her the purse.
    She shrugged and withdrew the menu from her purse. “Okay, well, I’ll try to learn fast.” She scanned the menu as she drank her wine. She glanced at him. “Do you want to go watch television or read or something?”
    He realized he was standing