She deserved to be on a pedestal, with him worshipping at her feet.

“You hungry?” he asked, finally finding his voice. He’d been standing there gawking at her like a moron. There was no telling what she was thinking. She was probably having doubts as to whether she truly wanted him as much as she’d stated. Not that he could blame her. But if she backed out now, he’d likely lose his mind.

“Yeah, I could eat,” she said sweetly. “Want to split something? I put in a lot of hours today and didn’t break for lunch, so I have some calories to spare.”

“Tell me your pleasure and I’ll make it happen.”

Her cheeks pinkened and he found warmth chasing up his neck as well at the double entendre.

“They have a rotisserie chicken, a whole half, with vegetables and sides that sounds divine. If you don’t mind sharing, I’ll just eat part of the breast and the vegetables and let you have the baked potato and bread and the rest of the chicken, of course.”

Since he was starving for her and food was the furthest thing from his mind, he simply nodded his agreement and then called in their order.

“While we wait, why don’t you shower and get ready for bed too,” she said softly. “That way when we’re done, we can go to bed.”

Her voice trailed off, but there was no doubt in his mind what she was saying between the lines. She wanted them to make love tonight. Thank God the hotel room came stocked with an intimate care package because he certainly hadn’t packed condoms for a mission, for God’s sake. Nor would he have ever dreamed that he and Eden would be making love. It still had the power to bring him to his knees.

He hurried through his shower, making certain he was clean and didn’t smell like a goat. He winced as he dried off, seeing the scars that marked his body. The one on his face was bad enough, but the rest of him, mostly hidden by clothing, wasn’t pretty in the least. He hoped to hell it didn’t turn Eden off when it came down to actual intimacy.

He was already sporting an erection, so he pulled on jeans and a button-up shirt that he left open just to give her a chance to again view the sight of his scarred chest and midsection. She’d been sweetly accepting of them the night before, offering him reassurance, but he was just nervous enough to think she might change her tune once she got really up close and personal with him. After all, how would it feel against her skin when he was on top of her, the puckered ridges of the scars pressing into her flesh?

He was as nervous as a teenager taking his dream girl out on their first date. True, most of the pressure he felt was self-imposed, because Eden had been nothing but accepting of everything about him. But damn it, he wanted this to be perfect for her. For him, though he knew just being with her would be utter perfection in itself. It was her pleasure and happiness he had to focus on.

When he was done, he walked back into the suite just as a knock sounded at the door. Damn, but that was fast. Provided it was even the room service order. He damn sure didn’t want it to be one of his teammates dropping in and infringing on his time with Eden.

Swanny motioned for Eden to stay right where she was, then went to the door, checking the peephole. It was indeed room service and he was paranoid enough not to just throw open the door without being prepared for the worst. Someone could easily pose as a hotel employee to gain access to Eden’s room.

He reached for the Glock he’d set on the table just inside the door for occasions like this. For easy access if someone he didn’t recognize or was wary of came knocking. He quickly stuck the gun into the waistband of his jeans and yanked out his button-up shirt so the tails hid the Glock from view. Wasn’t the smartest thing in the world to shove a gun without a safety down his pants, aimed right at his dick, but improvisation was sometimes necessary.

He opened the door and motioned the attendant in with a gesture that clearly made the point to hurry. Swanny positioned himself between the young guy and Eden while the food was set up on the table. Eden was still lounging on the couch, wrapped in her throw as if she didn’t want anyone but Swanny seeing her. That suited Swanny just fine.

Only when the attendant had left did she let the throw fall to the side, and Swanny nearly swallowed his tongue. If last night’s lingerie outfit had him sporting a hard-on to beat all hard-ons, this one made it feel like he had a brick wedged between his legs. Thank God he’d worn jeans, though it was damn painful because if he’d donned boxers, his dick would be protruding out of the damn underwear in clear sight.

She stood, one of the strings sliding down her shoulder, giving him a tantalizing glimpse of one breast. Just a bit farther and her nipple would be exposed. As it was the material just barely hung over the tip, adding further to his already overactive imagination.

He pulled out one of the chairs for her and then took the seat catty-corner to her so he’d be closer to her and not across the table. He wanted to be as close to her as possible. The more time they spent in each other’s company, the more the intimacy between them heightened, growing until it had taken on a life of its own.

Eden moaned when the dishes were uncovered. “This smells and looks divine. I have to admit, I’m starving.”

Swanny frowned. “Do you often skip meals when you’re doing a shoot?”

She shook her head. “Not always. Like tomorrow I’ll have a lunch break, but sometimes, especially if we have to do a lot of retakes, we’ll work through lunch and sometimes even dinner. As it gets closer to finish we usually work long hours to meet our deadline.”

“Speaking of your lunch break tomorrow, Skylar and I plan to take you to buy whatever dress you want for the soiree planned in three nights, and the rest of the team is going to get outfitted as well so we blend in as much as possible. But I’ll take you and Sky to get what y’all need and then I’ll swing by the men’s department to be fitted for a tux. I figured it wouldn’t matter if we wore the same things to both events.”

Eden smiled, her eyes sparkling. “That sounds like fun. I’ll enjoy watching you be fitted for a tux. I bet you look absolutely irresistible all dressed up.”

He grunted his reply. He still wasn’t on board with all this, but he wouldn’t ruin either night for Eden. For her, he’d do damn near anything.

She cut delicately into the roasted chicken and placed a tiny piece on her plate, leaving the rest for him. Then she selected some of the steamed vegetables, but as she’d promised, she left the baked potato and other sides for him.

He felt selfish, even knowing that she was extremely careful with her diet, but he hated eating so much in front of her, and her seeing it knowing she couldn’t have it.

He wolfed down his portion, partly because he didn’t want to be sitting there savoring a meal in front of her, but he was also impatient to get to the rest of the evening. He just hoped to hell he’d read the signals she was sending correctly and that he wasn’t way off base by assuming tonight would be the night they took their relationship a step further. A huge step. Because for him, sex just wasn’t casual unless he determined that going in and just wanted or needed a night to blow off some steam and have a one-night stand.

With Eden, it was a whole different ball game. She was a game changer of everything he’d experienced with women up to now. He wanted her desperately, but he wasn’t willing to let his desire and impatience ruin something as beautiful as what was growing between them.

For all he knew she might only want a one-night stand and then she’d back off or move on. He was making a lot of assumptions, assumptions he had no right making. He was setting himself up for one hell of a fall if he allowed his emotions to overtake reason and read more into the situation than what it was in reality.