Page 46 of Strictly Against Policy

I took the seat next to her and begrudgingly tugged my hand off her silky skin. I kept my arm draped across the back of her bar stool, keeping close in case another man decided to approach Lina.

“It’s alright,” I said.

Lina turned to me with a small smile. “Sorry about the misunderstanding earlier, by the way. I got confused for a moment.”

My cheeks heated up as I sat back in my chair. I asked the bartender for the dessert menu. He obliged quickly as Lina continued to watch me.

“Y-yeah, me too. I thought you were my date for a moment there.” Her eyes grew wide, as if I’d said the most insanely offensive profanity she’d ever heard. I quickly explained. “I was on a blind date.”

She perked up with raised brows. “You too?”

My brows crumpled together. “You were on a blind date too?”

“I was supposed to be on one, but my date never showed up.”

My mouth tugged into a grimace at that statement. “I’m sorry about that.”

Lina shrugged nonchalantly before eating a thinly sliced piece of pickled ginger. “I got free calamari and a delicious dinner out of it, so I can’t say I’m too disappointed. With or without a date, I’m perfectly fine.”

I hummed. “I’m assuming you’d been putting off dating for a while, and someone close to you insisted you start again.”

Her cheeks flushed bright red. In a hushed tone only I could hear, she said, “It was supposed to be the first date I’d ever been on.”

Now, I wasn’t expecting that. In high school, I knew she was never romantically involved with anyone. But I assumed she’d at least date in college or pharmacy school, so the fact that she never did feel so foreign to me.

“You’ve never dated before?” I asked, mouth agape.

“No. No one was ever interested,” she replied, before sipping her water.

My brows dropped, and I sighed. “That’s bullshit, and you know it, Lina.”

“I’m serious, Jonathan.” She shrugged.

I tipped my head to the side and eyed her from head to waist. Anyone with a pair of eyes would know that Lina Lee is objectively attractive.

She had large, hooded eyes that caught the light in the room, and a pair of pink, pouty lips. This wasn’t to mention her tiny waist and slim hips. She was intelligent and beautiful—frosty exterior and all. There was no way someone out there wasn’t hopelessly in love with her . . . unless it was her iciness that kept them at bay.

She built her life up and did what she could to support her family. She had honed herself to perfection over years of dedication. She had done something I wasn’t sure I would be able to do myself, given her circumstances. She was fucking admirable, and so damn sexy for the strength she carried.

I leaned into her, letting my lips fall right above the nape of her neck. “I’d be interested,” I breathed softly to coax a response from her.

Her reaction was minuscule—a slight shift in her posture and a tiny flicker of emotion under the currents of her inky-black eyes. Then, she smirked slyly.

“You can’t handle me, Jonathan Lo,” she murmured. “I suggest you try to reach for that in your dreams instead.”

I threw my head back and laughed. “Well, you’re not wrong. I dreamed about you once. To my horror, we kissed in it, and I woke up furious.”

She raised her brows at me and then sighed. She leaned back against her bar stool, glancing at her phone. “Stop playing games. It’s late, and don’t you have a ‘girlfriend’ to take home or something?”

I checked the time, too. “First of all, it’s only ten. Second, that wasn’t my girlfriend. She was a blind date my mom convinced me to meet. And you? What about the ‘boyfriend’ who never showed up?” I shook my head, drinking my glass of iced water.

“His grandma tripped and fell down the stairs,” she answered. “She’s at the hospital right now.”

I blew out a long breath, feeling awful for even asking. “That’s horrible. I hope she’ll be fine.”

“Me too. He felt bad, but I told him it was fine and not to worry about making up for it. Family always comes first.”

I nodded slowly. “Always.” We sat there, the silence dangling over us for a moment. “If you don’t mind me asking⁠—”