“And have heartburn all afternoon, no thanks.” With those words came a little smile and he felt the tension in his shoulders relax a bit.
Yet, the strange hold she’d always had on his heart tightened. He liked it so much better when she smiled. Liked it when he made her smile. Loved when he imagined that smile and subsequent enjoyment, morphed into pleasure with her lids lowered, her mouth open as she whispered his name. Her slim, toned body pliant beneath his.
His gaze fell to her slim fingers, gripping the laminated menu and he imagined how the pale pink polish she wore would look as she gripped the length of his dark-skinned dick.
“I think I’ll stick with soup,” she said, forcing him to swallow the erotic thoughts floating around in his head.
“Chicken,” he said, as much to himself as in response to her.
“No. French onion.”
He chuckled. “I was calling you a chicken for not having the same sandwich I am.”
She lowered her menu then and the right corner of her mouth lifted in a part smile, part smirk. “You are hilarious.”
“I’ve been told I have a great sense of humor,” he quipped and closed his menu, setting it to the side.
She arched a brow. “I’m sure you’ve been told a lot of things that have helped inflate your ego.”
The waitress came with their drinks and they gave their meal orders. Taking a sip of his soda, Ben sat back against the bench. “You have a very low opinion of me, don’t you?”
Victoria also took a sip of her drink, then folded her arms and rested them on the table. “You have to know about your reputation, Ben. Everybody has an opinion of you and the rest of the Donovan family, for that matter.”
“I don’t care about everybody’s opinion. I’m talking about yours. You’ve always thought low of me, even back in law school. Why is that?”
She shrugged one shoulder, the tip of a gold hoop earring bunching between her ear and the collar of her pale blue blouse. The color looked amazing on her as it made her complexion seem brighter, her eyes more poignant.
“In school I thought you were a spoiled rich boy, getting by on his looks and too lazy to use his brain,” she said as simply as if she’d just given the weather report.
“Ouch,” he replied and actually jerked back as if she’d slapped him. Of course, that was over-reacting, but he had to admit the words, coming from her, stung.
She held up a hand. “That was what I thought of you eight years ago.”
“And now that’s changed?” He certainly hoped it had.
Another kind of shrug this time with her head moving, her lips curling a bit at the ends. “Kind of,” she admitted reluctantly. “I know this is probably going to come back to bite me in the butt later, but you’re a phenomenal defense attorney.”
He smiled, couldn’t help it. Even though he sensed that admission had cost her greatly. “Well, thank you very much. You’re an excellent prosecutor.”
“Thank you,” she replied.
“And on a personal level you’re a very attractive woman. But I’m sure you already know that.”
“Thank you, just the same.” Ego had survived the “why” questions with her, he wasn’t even going to act like he wasn’t happy about that fact.
Then she sighed. “I thought we weren’t going to do this.”
He knew exactly what she was referring to and had just been about to remind himself the real reason he was here with her today. Still, what was between them seemed to have a mind of its own. “Do what? Get to know each other better? Who told you that?”
When her shoulders sagged slightly and she tilted her head, he wanted to reach across that table and grab her hand. To beg her to smile for him one more time.
“Ben,” she said his name on an exasperated sigh. “We’re colleagues.”
He wasn’t trying to hear that shit. “We’re a man and a woman. Can you deny that?”
She shook her head as the waitress picked that moment to arrive with their food and he accepted that the moment was probably lost. At least for now. For the first few minutes they ate in silence, then she spoke.
“Why throw tear gas through my window?” she asked using a napkin to wipe around her mouth.
