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“Long day?” I asked, lighting the button to the roof with a jab of my finger.
I turned to find she looked more relaxed than when we’d met on the street.
“It was, but to be honest, I’ve had a lot of people around me all day. It’s just nice to have a moment of silence.” She noted the curiosity on my face then gave me a smile that felt more genuine than any I’d experienced in too many years. “With you.”
My fingers drummed against the cold metal railing behind me. I wanted to pull her into my chest, breathe in the floral scent of her hair, and beg to be the solace she needed at the end of an exhausting day. But there was a reason I chose this restaurant, and he wasn’t here yet.
The doors opened, and the sprawling patio garden welcomed us out into the evening air. Weaving my fingers through hers, I led the way to the table I’d reserved, which was in direct sight of the senator’s favorite seat at the bar.
It wasn’t hard to pass time with Evie. She enjoyed her job and recanted the reconnection she’d attempted with the friend who’d brought her to The Deacon a couple nights earlier.
“Oro got off easy.” She laughed comfortably through her story. “Once in high school, Rhomi’s father came to our economics class and threatened to sue a guy who had stood Rhomi up for prom.”
“What was he accusing him of?”
“Emotional distress and loss of value for the dress he bought her.”
She squeezed my wrist as we laughed.
“I am sorry for my brother. He doesn’t know the meaning of moderation.” My excuse was far from acceptable. Orobas knew better than to force himself on a human with so many witnesses around.
“He does seem to have a track record of not being able to resist his urges. That’s going to get him into a lot of trouble someday,” she warned.
“My brothers have a way of finding trouble.”
At the mention of the other princes, she squirmed in her seat. “About Sy.” Her cheeks reddened. “I didn’t know he was your brother and—”
“Unless you’re about to give me a reason to bloody his nose, you have nothing to worry about.”
Her embarrassment for being entranced by Sitri was useless. I held no ill feelings toward her or my brother. She was beautiful. And he was pure human desire. In fact, I found it telling that she was still interested in seeing me at all after meeting Sitri. It was difficult not allowing that to go to my head.
She didn’t need to answer with anything more than the tight-lipped smile and nod before we moved on to the topic of what we were going to order for dinner.
When she excused herself to the bathroom, I moved our chairs closer together. I could have told myself that I was setting the scene for Harris, but it would’ve been a half truth. I wanted her scent on my skin and to hear her breath hitch when she caught me smiling at her wit. As if she shared my desire, she returned and scooted her chair even closer until our knees were touching and my hands easily slipped over her thigh.
“I always wanted to go to Paris.” She paused between bites and sentences for short sips of her wine. “But once I got to London, I spent the first year learning to drive on the right side of the road.”
“I never drive internationally for that very reason.” My thumb caressed the top of her knee, encouraging her further.
“It’s so much harder than it looks, but I’ll never get used to the Channel Tunnel.”
I hung on her every word and immersed myself in her world. She loved to travel, and I could take her away from Los Angeles, away from the expectations of her ruthless father.
During our first dessert, Evie ordered a custard pastry and made a sound that instantly made me jealous of a cream puff. She sucked the vanilla-bean-spotted cream from her spoon and ignited visions of other things I wanted her to suck so seductively.
She caught me staring and smiled at the heat in my eyes, disarming me once again. I shook the feeling away, and when I looked back at her, she leaned in to press her lips to mine.
Restraint warred with every natural impulse that coursed through my body. It took every ounce of willpower I’d gained in the Fall to not take her on top of the table after I saw the coy satisfaction on her face for making the first move. The sight of Harris’ daughter bent over in front of the entire bar would have been worth the slip of my original plans.
Evie cleared her throat and took another forkful of dessert, licking the sweet custard from the prongs and sending a signal straight to my dick.
She would be mine. After her father knew she was no longer his pawn to play.
The sun had long since disappeared beyond the horizon when the man of the hour finally arrived with his trophy wife on his arm and several local politicians at his back.
I knew I shouldn’t have, but the prudence I’d once possessed had departed with my third glass of wine over a second dessert. The slow caresses of my fingers over her skin had brought her walls down, and her father was now seeing his daughter practically purring in my lap.
His face fell and drained of its color, and I could almost see the thirst for my blood in his eyes. I half expected him to storm over and rip her from her chair, but his diplomacy won out over his fatherly instincts. His wife pulled at the crook of his arm, and after a quick pause, he followed her to their reserved seats.
