The server’s question snaps me out of it, and in a panic, I choose an item at random.
I’m used to being levelheaded, keeping my wits about me. But between my confusing relationship with Evgeny, being captive to a powerful Russian mob boss, and the attack on the bookstore, everything feels out of control.
Water sloshes over the rim as I lift the cup to my lips.
“Eva?”
Evgeny’s gaze is on my hand, which I realize is shaking.
“Sorry.”
More water sloshes onto the table as I set it down too fast, and I hide my hand in my lap.
“Are you okay?”
I give him a smile I don’t feel. “I’m fine.”
One of his dark, expressive eyebrows arches. He doesn’t believe me.
“Just a lot going on these past few days, you know? And this isn’t exactly my scene. I’m used to two-dollar beers and a four-dollar burger special on Tuesdays.”
“Eva.” His hand covers the one still resting on the table. My fingers keep twitching, my gaze skittering around the dining room. “Look at me.”
It’s an order, but a soft one. When I meet his ocean-green eyes, he holds my gaze until my nervous energy drains, my shoulders come down from my ears, and my heartbeat slows.
He finally releases me when the bottle of wine and the first appetizer arrive at our table, fragrant with pepper, bright citrus, and something sharp and acidic. The first taste is even more incredible than the scent.
“Oh, wow.”
A small smile curves his mouth as he places a serving on his plate. He doesn’t seem half as amazed at the dance of flavors on my tongue as I am.
I take another bite, then another in quick succession. “I mean, I know this probably isn’t special to you, and I’m sure you get this all the time. Probably something even more spectacular, but—” Another bite follows. “But wow. I mean, wow.”
It’s an inelegant response, and I flush as Evgeny watches me.
Then I hear it. An odd rumble in Evgeny’s chest that works its way up, and I realize he’s laughing.
“Are you,” I pause, wondering at the marvel that is the sound, “laughing at me?”
“I have never seen anyone enjoy food like you do, Eva. It is remarkable.”
“Thank you?” I imagine it’s a compliment. It sounds like a compliment, anyway.
A smile lights his face and even his eyes, a smile unlike any I’ve seen before. All I can do is swallow my heart, which leaps straight up into my throat.
He’s so beautiful. So handsome. So strong and terrifying and sexy and elegant, and I want him with everything I am, every last little part of me. Not just for the incredible orgasms but for the way I feel around him, very sexy, lighter, and protected.
All my life, I’ve been the protector who takes care of everyone and everything. From my sick mother to my kindergarten-aged sister, to making sure we had enough food in the house and enough money for the food, to scheduling doctor’s appointments and cap-and-gown fittings, and scaring away overeager girlfriends, it had all been me.
But I called Evgeny when those men broke into my father’s bookstore, and I was terrified. I called the one person who came to mind to help, to keep us safe, and he came.
And he had cared for me as no one else had before.
This frightening, powerful, forbidding beast of a man is, if not kind and gentle like the beast inThe Scarlet Flower, at least tender, caring, and protective.
“You eat like you read.” Evgeny’s smile has dimmed into a smirk as he takes a small bite, chewing thoroughly before speaking again. “Voraciously, savoring each word, tasting it until you have its entire character. Until you can appreciate it for all it is.”
My cheeks grow warm, the feeling spreading to my ears. “Thank you,” I murmur, tracing the pattern of the wood beneath my plate. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
