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“I just love the idea of sinking my teeth into…” he paused and looked at the menu innocently. His eyes met hers over the top of the menu. “Ahh… yes. There we go. Perfect. All that soft pink flesh that tastes so divine? I love the sweetness, that flavor, and just thinking about it haunts my dreams,” he whispered huskily.
Her mouth dropped open and she made a noise in her throat, before realizing she should have known better than to ask him that.
Ian obviously had zero shame. He was a voracious flirt with no boundaries – and just when she was about to say something? He looked up to the waitress innocently, handing her the menu.
“I’ll have the salmon roll, please,” he said simply, looking at June pertly. “What are you wanting to eat, my delectable little Minx?”
“The same,” she choked out, utterly mortified.
“Oooh, kinky,” Ian whispered under his breath, winking at her.
“Except…” she drawled and continued, not looking away from him. “Take the biggest cleaver you’ve got, chop it up into a paste, and then deep fry it until its unrecognizable.”
Ian burst out laughing in sheer delight.
“Excuse me?” the waitress questioned.
“Just a salmon roll – oh, and an order of gyoza, please.”
As the waitress walked away, June kicked Ian in the shin, making him laugh once more as he wiped his eyes… unable to stop smiling. There was such blissful joy written across his face that she realized despite being horrifically embarrassed?
She would never forget this date – or him.
“You should come with a warning sign. I swear,” she muttered.
“Slippery when wet?” he volunteered as she hissed his name, swatting him on the shoulder.
Ian burst out laughing again obnoxiously, burying his face against her shoulder where she sat next to him, laughing uncontrollably. He really was enjoying all of this banter between them, even if it was crossing so many lines of etiquette.
He was crude, outrageous, and… adorably charming.
She should have shoved him away, gotten up and left, or any number of things… but instead, she sat there as a small chuckle escaped her, treasuring the feeling of him being close to her, and them both laughing in amusement.
* * *
Fifteen minute later,they were deep in conversation that she felt much more comfortable with. Their plates had arrived, and Ian picked up the chopsticks with practiced ease, taking a bite.
“So, tell me all about Tyler,” he said simply. “Is it a big city? Are there suburbs? Is there a specific part of town you like better than others?”
“I like the area,” she began, picking up a slice with her own chopsticks. “It’s a large town, but still has that small-town appeal. The schools aren’t overcrowded, there are parks and spaces of open land, while the convenience of shopping districts are…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa…” he said, putting up a hand. “Drop the realtor act and tell me what June Peyton likes. What’s your favorite area of town, and tell me all about that.”
“Sorry,” she began sheepishly, realizing that she’d slipped into her role easily without even realizing it. “I guess it would be the Azalea District.”
“Tell me about that,” he encouraged, taking another bite.
“Oh gosh,” she smiled wistfully. “Where to start? I guess without sounding too much like a realtor, the Azalea District earned its name from all the flowering bushes everywhere, but it’s much more than that.”
“Tell me everything…”
“Ian, it’s so beautiful,” she breathed, putting her chopsticks down and resting her head on her hand as she stared off into space. “There’s so many historic houses that have been renovated, red-brick roads that just make you feel like you’ve stepped into another world, and even walking bridges that extend over drainage ditches and culverts, like something out of a fairytale.”
“It sounds lovely.”
“It is,” she smiled distractedly. “There are antebellum mansions, carriage houses that have been converted, sweeping Tudor-style homes, along with a few ‘castles’…”
“Castles?”
