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“White wine, beer or vodka?”
“I’ll have a martini if you have the ingredients, or a vodka tonic would work too.”
“Martini girl, huh? Got a thing for James Bond?”
“Who doesn’t?” I shot back with a smile. “Do I smell fish?”
“Yep. Caught them fresh earlier today.” Miles flashed a boyish smile and held the cocktail shaker up, giving it a shake that drew my attention to bulging biceps threatening to burst the seams of his shirt. “You fish?”
“Never have before, but I’m open to it.”
“Good to know.” He handed me a drink and grabbed his beer before nodding for me to follow him onto the back deck, where the table was set with a striped cloth, place settings and a single candle in the center. “How is it that a California girl has never been fishing? There’s a whole ocean just to the west of you.”
“I’m not from California, it’s where I’ve lived for the past five years. My family lives in Philadelphia.” And some days, Los Angeles felt too close.
“My family is in North Carolina. I was born and raised there.”
“And you came to Texas for business?”
He shrugged, looking sexy and masculine as he checked on the fish and put it on a platter. “I knew Liam was looking for something that didn’t require so much travel, and I’d been kicking the training program around as an idea for a while. I came down to gauge his interest and he showed me the property two days later. Now, here I am.”
“Enjoying Texas?” It had been a culture shock at first, but the people of Pilgrim had made it so easy to feel comfortable.
“I’m loving it. The people are nice, the weather is almost always great and business is booming. About to get even better.”
At his words, I froze. It was an instinctive move, but still, I held my breath and waited for the inevitable business pitch. The loan request. Moments later, it didn’t come and that made me want to know more. “Yeah, why?”
“Finally got Liam on board to add corporate clients to our roster. You know, team building retreats and things like that?”
I rolled my eyes and realized how bitchy that probably seemed from his perspective. “I’m familiar with the concept. Daddy loves a good team building weekend for his executives. Says nothing gets them back on track like facing their own mortality.”
“Exactly.” He turned back to grab a foil tent filled with vegetables, talk of work all but forgotten as he came back to the table, a gorgeous, teasing grin curling his lips up. “So, Shannon, it sounds like you don’t have to work. Why do you?”
“I have a lot of interests, which means I don’t have any kind of expertise, but I’d like to become a good businesswoman, making my businesses successful in their own right.” Even to my ears, it sounded pathetic. “Does that sound stupid?”
“Hell no,” he growled and slid to the seat beside me, giving us booth a gorgeous view of the lake. “It’s sexy as hell to know you’re using your wealth to create jobs for people and to see the passion you have to be good at it?” His pause was so long I thought maybe Miles had lost his train of thought.
“Yeah?”
His lips curled into a sexy grin. “It’s a real fucking turn on, Shannon.”
“It is?”
Miles nodded and threaded one hand through my hair, smiling as his mouth came closer and closer to mine. Then his lips were on mine, soft and demanding, his tongue teasing the seam of my mouth until I opened for him willingly. His kiss could only be described as intense, almost hungry as if I was more appetizing than the food on the table. Too soon, he pulled back, a lazy grin on his face. “Yeah Shannon, it really is.”
“I’ll say.” I fanned my face dramatically, but even the breeze off the lake couldn’t cool my overheated skin. “I’ve never had a man cook me dinner before.” It was a pitiful admission, but I was flattered that he’d gone through the effort, just for me.
“Then you’ve been dating the wrong men.”
“No kidding,” I admitted with a groan as the moist piece of fish hit my tongue. “This is fantastic.”
“The trick is to cook it with the skin on, it stays moist and the flavors are incredible.” He looked so adorably sexy as his chest puffed out with pride.
“Now that I have my very own fish cooker, why do I need to know all that?”
He grinned at my teasing words and stabbed at a piece of broccoli. “You do, huh?”
“Seems like it.” I motioned to the pieces of fish on the colorful platter at the center of the table and shrugged. “I now get the appeal of hot chefs.”
“Just now?”
“I know a few chefs, and they are temperamental jerks. Talented, but talented jerks.”
