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“Noted,” he murmurs, keeping his eyes fixed on mine. And the smile gracing his gorgeous face knocks the breath right out of my lungs.
This woman isa breath of fresh air. I’ve never in my thirty years met anyone like her. I can’t stop smiling, and it’s a genuine smile too. It feels amazing.
The weight that had settled on my shoulders after my run-in with Camille vanished the moment I laid eyes on the petite, pink-haired bombshell sitting next to me. And now that I’ve finally gotten her talking, I can’t shake the feeling that she’s going to turn my life upside down. And I’m totally on board with that.
When those guys were talking about a woman who, essentially, initiates splitsville with shitty sex after three months, I was determined to find her. But I’m having trouble reconciling the woman in front of me with the one they were talking about. I just can’t see it.
“You look like you’re thinking really hard right now. I promise I’m not going to try feeding you to my sharks,” she says, a coy smile playing on her lips.
I want to kiss it right off her face, but I’m getting ahead of myself. I need to convince her to go out with me first. A few tendrils of hair brush against the back of the hand I have curled around her chair, and I turn my palm, catching a few in the tips of my fingers. Soft as silk and slightly damp.
“Were you working with your babies tonight?” I ask.
Hannah nods. “I got off my shift an hour ago.”
“Do you swim with them? The sharks?”
She smiles so big her pearly white teeth peek out. “I do.”
My skin prickles at the idea of getting in that tank, surrounded by . . . I swallow. My eyes flick to the aquarium to the left of us and spot a different shark than the one that swam over my head earlier. This one is much larger. “How many sharks are in there?” I gesture to the ceiling with my chin.
“Four.” She says this like it’s not a big fucking deal.
“You willingly swim in a tank with not one, but four sharks.” I scan her small frame then return my gaze to her face. The amusement shining in her eyes gives me pause. “What?”
“You’re scared of sharks, aren’t you.”
She doesn’t pose it as a question, but a statement. I may as well have thrown my man card on the table and just let her have it, because she obviously has bigger balls than I do. “I prefer to think of it as having a strong sense of self-preservation.”
Her laugh is light and melodic, and it hits me right in the gut.
“Right, whatever you say,” she says, continuing to chuckle softly.
Being laughed at is not something I’m accustomed to. But surprisingly, I don’t even care as long as I get to hear that sound.
A waiter appears to take our orders, and I’m stunned by the amount of food Hannah requests. The look on my face must betray my surprise.
“What, you thought I’d order a salad? Do I look like I eat salad?” she asks, waving her hand over her tiny body.
“Umm, yes?” I hedge, unsure what else to say. She really is tiny, especially compared to me. I don’t know where all the food she asked for is going to go.
She shakes her head and laughs again. “I’m a fully-fledged meat-eater, just like my girls. You don’t get an ass like this from eating salad.”
My gaze instantly shoots down her body, but my view’s impeded by the table. “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen it.”
“You’ll have to take my word for it, then.” She smirks.
I’m irrationally disgruntled by the possibility of not feasting my eyes on that ass of hers. “I’d prefer to make that judgment for myself.”
“I’m sure you would. But I’ve been on my feet all day. You will just have to wait to watch me walk away at the end of the night.” Then she winks.
When I first sat by her, I’d thought maybe she was being weird because she’d realized who I was and how much I’m worth. It wouldn’t have been the first time a woman has freaked out at the prospect of my wealth. But then, when she relaxed and started talking about her job and joking with me, I realized it had nothing to do with money. She was simply nervous.
She treats me like I’m a normal, average guy. It’s a novel feeling.Does she know who I am and doesn’t care, or is she completely clueless as to who she threatened to knife in a shark tank?I’m tempted to ask, but I don’t want to ruin this if it turns out she’s none the wiser. So, I keep my thoughts to myself, instead, continuing with our flirtatious banter.
Leaning closer to her, I whisper in her ear, “What if I don’t want you to walk away, Hannah?”
Holy hot flushes.Is it warm in here? Yep, I’m pretty sure the air conditioner just broke down because I. Am. Dying.
