Romancing The Sloan.
Part Three
Sloan fumbled in her purse, looking for some change for the soft drink machine, if only Tom wasn't standing there, looking at her she would be able to get her thoughts together. She didn't even want a drink; she'd only used it as an excuse to get away and think about what Tom had said in front of Ed.
"Do you need some change?"
"Err, do you have a quarter?"
Tom dug his hand into his pocket and retrieved a handful of coins, instead of passing her a quarter he simply held out his hand in front of Sloan, forcing her to reach out and take the coin from him, touching his hand.
Sloan jumped back as she felt the electric shock of attraction pass between them, Tom smiled, she was embarrassed.
"Take what you need Sloan, why don't you get a candy bar as well, you look like you need something to eat."
"I shouldn't, it'll only make me fat."
Tom threw her a skeptical look. "You don't need to watch your weight Sloan, if anything you could do with putting on a few pounds."
Sloan just stared at him speechlessly, he'd hurt her feelings, now Tom was confused, human women were preoccupied with their weight, he'd heard human males complimenting their females in such a way, and this was not the desired reaction, somehow he had made a mistake.
Sloan searched her brain for a comeback to Tom's comments but couldn't think of anything she would ever want to change about him physically. She ended up repeating the words her mother always used when she was losing and argument with her father.
"Tom Daniels, sometimes you are so insensitive."
Sloan thrust the can of Coke into a surprised Tom's hand and stormed off.
Tom stood still for about three minuets, trying to figure out what had just happened, but couldn't put his finger on it. He only turned as he felt Ed approach, the taller man smirked at Tom's bemused expression.
"Just had your first lovers' spat with Sloan, I see."
Tom glared at Ed, but this only seemed to make Ed's amusement more obvious, he was actually struggling not to laugh now.
This was the first time Ed had seen the Dominant look unsure of himself and decided to take pity on him,
" OK what did you do?"
"I, I'm not sure, I thought I was paying her a compliment but it seems to have backfired."
Ed was laughing out loud now. And Tom's glare was starting to turn menacing.
"I can't believe you told Sloan she was too skinny, that she needed to put weight on."
Tom frowned, that had not been his intention, he had meant his words to reassure, to be a compliment
Ed carried on.
"No wonder she stormed off like that, you do know about her complex don't you?"
Ed was enjoying himself now, the look of discomfort on Tom's face had turned to one of horror.
"What complex?"
"Well, ever since I've know her she had this thing about herself, she doesn't think she's curvy enough, if you know what I mean!" Ed followed this up with a dramatic wink and Tom's reaction was priceless
He looked totally shocked, as if the thought had never crossed his mind, mind you it was obvious from the way he looked at Sloan that he was more than happy with her curves. Ed smiled and wondered just how far he could push the other man.
"Well me and you both know that's ridiculous, I mean you should see her one of those little black dresses she has, man she is one stunner. Hey I'll tell you something, man to man, you should offer to play racket ball with her, you get to see a whole lot of leg when she wears those cute little tennis whites….."
That was when Ed knew that he'd pushed too far, the word murderous did not cover the look in Tom's eyes.
Tom was furious, he knew that Ed was attracted to Sloan but the thought of another man looking at her in the way that Ed had described was enough to make his blood boil.
Ed's voice was suddenly serious.
"Hey Tom, I know she's yours, it's just kind of hard to let go y'know, I always thought she would be mine eventually. Never figured you would come along and sweep her off her feet. I'll help you sort this thing out, I want to see her happy and, like it or not you put a smile on her face. But I'm warning you Daniels, dominant or not, you hurt her and you're fish bait, you get me?"
The tension seeped away from Tom's shoulders as he sensed the truth in Ed's words.
"I get you."