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“The man who attacked you last night?”
“No.” He studied me for a moment and watched to see if my lie would surface.
“You’ve a major chip on your shoulder, don’t you?”
“And you don’t?” I tossed back as I wondered why he’d bother to attempt to figure me out.
“I do, but I can, because I own this place.”
“Wait, you own this place?” Sarcasm oozed out of me. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I figured I’d wait for your smart mouth to take off again before I reminded you.”
“Consider me reminded.”
“Fantastic.” We glared at one another. “Well, if you’re quite finished, I thought you might like this back.” He pulled my sketch book out from behind his back, and I reached for it and pressed it close to my chest.
“Thanks,” I pushed past my lips. I had hoped to go back tonight and find it. I’d planned to take Dale with me this time. It had slipped my mind when I couldn’t break free after my father’s reprimand earlier. It still smarted that he’d done that in front of Grim and his brother.
“I like your idea on the last page.”
“You looked at my drawings?”
“Of course, I did,” he drawled.
“Wow, okay.” He didn’t see how incredibly invasive that was.
“Why are you just a hostess when you can draw like that?”
His comment sucked the wind right out of me. The fucking nerve.
“Not all of us have the luxury of daddy’s hotel to pave the way for us,” I fumed.
He ran his fingers along his lips, and I could see I may have gone too far, but he had, too.
“This is your first warning, Kenna.” His tone made my mouth run dry but also made my legs clench unexpectedly. “The second warning won’t be so kind.”
“You insulted me.”
“No,” he shook his head slowly, “I didn’t.”
A blush ran across my chest and up my neck as I became uncomfortable with his stare. “Anything else?” When he didn’t answer, I stepped forward and pulled his card out of the slot. I held it out to him, but he didn’t make a move for it as the doors closed between us.
What the hell?
I shook him off and stabbed the number for my floor as I tucked his card in my purse. I needed a good orgasm and some friggin’ sleep.
“Well?” Dale asked as I savored his seared scallops with brown butter and lemon pan sauce.
“It’s perfect,” I purred, not wanting it to end. I closed my eyes and tried to pull out each flavor as I slowly swallowed.
“Yeah.” I sighed and opened my eyes to find his grin close to my face. There was a time when those blue eyes made me melt with pleasure. But I could only see the boy behind the smile now, and the knowledge he couldn’t handle a mature relationship no longer upset me. We’d become good friends instead, and I knew that was what we were always meant to be. Dale was gorgeous, with short, dirty-blond hair, a lean build, and magical hands. Damn. Those hands were useful for a lot of things; they could make magic in the kitchen as well as the bedroom. The sad thing was that I knew Dale needed a woman’s affection to feel whole, and that was a damn shame because he’d let me, a pretty amazing woman, go. Someday, he’d grow up, but I wondered how many women he’d leave in his wake. It had been eight months since we’d broken up, but sometimes it felt like yesterday.
“I think I might just need one more taste to be sure.” I pretended to look serious.
“Mm,” he chuckled as he placed two more plump scallops on a little white plate, drizzled sauce over it, and handed it to me. “I like this.” He ran his fingertips over my pink silk skirt. He was as flirty as ever, but I knew it was harmless.
“I thought it was cute.” I cut a scallop in half and moaned at the taste. “You really are an amazing cook.”
