Tierney didn’t move for a few seconds, other than his fingers flexing on Dalton’s back, then he leaned in and whispered. “I know what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?” He couldn’t keep the teasing out of his voice.
“You’re messing with me, aren’t you? Because you like it when I say it.”
Dalton turned, so they were nearly chest to chest, holding this conversation within inches of each other because that’s the kind it was. The special, just between us kind. “Say what?” He gave the innocent look a try, but it probably didn’t work for him, either.
Tierney was grinning by now. He reached up and combed Dalton’s bangs back, tucking the hair behind his ear, then rested his fingertips on Dalton’s face. His cheek and the curve of his jaw and his chin. A small touch that told Dalton exactly how Tierney felt about him.
But still, it’d be nice to hear.
“You want me to say that I want you. Not just need you and love you, but want you in my life and my home and my bed.”
Dalton bit his lip, like it might keep his internal explosion of happy from spilling all over the furniture store and making a spectacle of them. It didn’t work, of course, because Tierney’s hold on him tightened, and then Tierney’s lips were over his own, coaxing him into a deeper kiss than was really appropriate in public, but right then who cared? This little moment was so big he couldn’t contain it. He wrapped his arms around Tierney’s waist and gave in.
“Is that a yes?” Tierney asked when they were done but still holding on to each other in their bubble of intimacy.
“Yes.” He pressed one more short, clingy kiss on his man.
“I want to hear you say it,” Tierney whispered, still smiling, but Dalton could hear that note of need in his boyfriend’s voice.
So he gave him what they both wanted. “I want you, and I need you, and I love you. And yes, I’ll live with you.”
Tierney whooped, jumping back and grabbing Dalton’s hand, then towing him along the aisle toward the door.
“Where are we going?” Like he didn’t know.
“Where the hell are the people who work here?” Tierney shouted. “How’m I going to bribe some dudes to deliver this stuff today if I can’t find anyone?”
Of course, the saleslady magically appeared from an office, and the whole time Tierney was paying her off and giving instructions about the delivery—“Give us at least an hour, because we have to break the old table more, first”—he wouldn’t let go of Dalton.
As if he never intended to again.