AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I sneer at her. “You are enjoying this way too much.”
“Are you kidding? I’ve been your roommate for three years, and I’ve never seen you with a guy. Ever. There’s a point where it’s just sad.”
Sad. I swallow past a tight throat. I know she doesn’t mean to be hurtful, but the words sting anyway. After the breakup with Jason, there was just no time—or desire—to hook up with anyone else. My studies always come first, and everything else is a distant—very distant—second.
I clear my throat and say, “Fine. I’ll take him the damn cappuccino.”
“Go talk to him now.” She glance at her watch. “It’s time for your first break, anyway. I’ll make him his drink and take it over.”
I reach up and untie my apron, shoving it at Sam. “Fine—if it gets rid of him, then I’ll talk to him. Jeez.”
I take a deep breath, steeling myself. I feel like a lamb about to step into a lion’s—or wolf’s—den. I walk over to the table and stand awkwardly on the opposite side of it from him. “Um. Hi.”
He stands up. “Hello, Madeline.” With that rich British accent, he sounds as oddly formal as he looks. How the hell old is he, anyway? Early thirties is my guess. I’d studiously avoided looking him up on the internet since finding out is identity. It would come to no good to look at pictures of him and reinforce just how awe-inspiring, gorgeous, brilliant and downright fucking perfect he is. I don’t need to read about that. He’s still the skeeve who hires his girlfriends.
He gestures to the chair next to him. “Won’t you sit down?”
I fold my arms across my chest. “No, thanks. This won’t take long.”
He raises a brow. “I’d like to talk, if you have a moment. Sam said you’re on your break.”
I clench my jaw. Nice, Sam. Telling him I’m on a break, then suggesting I take one. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was working for the enemy. I’d deal with her later.
“What do you want?” I bite out.
He reaches to the front of his suit jacket and buttons it. “Can we take a short walk?”
I eye him for a minute. The university’s large botanical gardens are close and we’d have privacy there. But do I really want to be alone with this guy? Especially after our weird encounter the week before. On the other hand, do I really want to chance my co-workers overhearing the rehash of that embarrassing incident? It would be best to get this over with as quickly as possible.
“Fine. You have five minutes.”
His brow twitches up. “I thought your break was fifteen minutes?”
I arch my brow at him. “Yes, but you only get five of them.”
His face splits in that same wicked smile I’d seen from him that first day, and my heart literally palpitates. It actually hurts. I take a deep breath and look away, irritated with myself. It’s been too long…since Jason. But I’ve never really had the desire since then. I’ve never thought of myself as a romantic, but my heart has never wanted to go there since it had been broken so cleanly and thoroughly once before.
But we aren’t dealing with anything to do with the heart here. This is all physical. A chemical reaction to gorgeous, cutting blue eyes, a perfect, square jaw, broad shoulders. He leads us toward the front door and leans forward to push it open for me.
My arms are still folded tightly across my chest as I slip through the doorway and lead the way, along the sidewalk toward the nearest entrance to the garden.
Kohl is by my side in seconds, matching his long-legged stride with mine. I’m only five-five so he towers over me by almost a foot and that, together with his cold, business-like persona, is more than a little intimidating.
I stop at the gate, lifting the wrought-iron clasp to enter. He follows after me, and I immediately determine that this is a bad idea. At this hour the place is deserted. Flat out empty.
And here I am, alone with a handsome stranger who wants a mistress. But clearly, given the fact that he’d interviewed half of Hollywood’s most gorgeous women, he couldn’t be approaching me as anything more than a cover-his-ass type of gesture.
“So…” he begins. I clear my throat but don’t speak. He wants to talk, after all. He must know exactly what he wants to say. “We got off on the wrong foot last week.”
King of the Understatement. I expel a laugh. “You could say that.”
He grins. “I just did.”
I throw a sidelong glance at him and then look away. “So what do you want?”
He fixes his gaze on me. “Not what. Who.”
I blink, suddenly afraid to look at him. He’s playing with me, clearly.
