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Chapter Ten
“Miss, the gentleman at the far table by the window wishes to know if you would like to dine with him rather than sit here alone.”
Rylee turned toward Jake and saw the look on his face. She knew instantly that the invitation wasn’t because he found her irresistible. He’d seen her with Maddie and knew something was up.
“Yes. Sure. Okay.” She bobbed her head like an idiot and wished she could hide under the table. Good Lord, the man looked at her, and she melted into a hot mess. What the hell was wrong with her?
As she approached, she saw the fierceness in his stare. A thrill surged, shocking her senseless.
She’d felt a slight attraction earlier that day, but it was nothing compared to the buzz of delight she experienced from his arched eyebrow, slight grin and penetrating gaze.
If she didn’t watch out, she’d be admitting everything and let the cat out of the bag.
Cat?
Shit, don’t start giggling!
The smirk she wore as she approached had a questioning look appear on his face. There was just no way she could share her cat quip with him.
He stood as she reached his table and held out his hand. “Hello again.”
“Excuse me?” She noticed he held her hand a little too long and rather than pull away as she would have done with anyone else, she firmed it so he wouldn’t feel the trembling. “We almost met each other on the dock earlier.”
Her heart dropped. “Oh, so you saw the tussle with the boys?”
“No. What tussle? I was referring to noticing how lovely you are and wishing I could meet you – especially after I watched your kindness with the street lady, and your gentle handling of her kittens. When I noticed you sitting alone, I decided to make my move and asked the waiter to invite you to join me. This table has a splendid view, and I’m more than happy to share.”
“That’s nice. Thank you. I’m Rylee James.” The hovering waiter pulled out a chair across from Jake and waited for her to sit.
Jake gestured to the seat. “Please, take pity on me. Everyone on board is a stranger, and I dislike eating alone. Especially, when most of the others in the room have dinner partners.”
“You don’t know anyone else on the ship?” Rylee watched to see how he’d answer her pointed question.
“No one I particularly want to spend time with.”
Cagy bastard didn’t lie. There was no way she could call him on it anyway.
He broke the silence and added, “How about you? I noticed you were sitting with a Chinese beauty before she left.”
As if you don’t know her.“She’s just one of the passengers. We got to talking about the dining room’s impressive features.”
“Yes.” As he gazed at the fancy ceiling, she noticed the kitten’s signature scratch on his face and stopped the grin before he asked what she found humorous. “It is quite something.” He picked up the menu placed in front of them, and before his eyes switched to read the fine print, he smiled and added, “You were going to explain about the tussle with the boys?”
No way Rylee wanted to bring up that earlier scene and try to explain away her actions. Though it went against the grain, thinking back, it would have been far smarter to have refrained from making any move to stop those kids. Now, most likely, there’ll be talk about the incident, and she could only pray it didn’t reach Jake.
Pretending to be totally involved in the menu, she downplayed those previous moments.” Just a couple of young boys making bad decisions. We talked it over, and they decided to leave. No big deal.”
“How did you become aware of them getting into… ahh, mischief?”
“I guess I noticed how sneaky they were acting.”
Completely enthralled, Jake sat staring, glued to her expressions.
Not comfortable with such a direct scrutiny, especially from deep green eyes that glowed with an inner light of intelligence, Rylee belittled the incident with the intention of cutting the story short and changing the subject.
“How sneaky were they acting?”
The man never gave up, did he? Fine, two could play at this game. “Why does it matter? They were kids, up to no good.”
