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“Sure,” Ella lied, voice quavering as she reached for her menu. “Perfectly safe. How about you?”
“Probably as safe as you.”
Chapter Seven
She loved fire,Baird thought, forcing himself to eat even though he wasn’t hungry for food. And being Ella, she had to test the attraction. She had to make sure it was real.
It was real.
And now the heat was back, and the desire hummed, and it was not going to be easy to just pretend to be friends when he wanted her. But Baird was nothing if not competitive, and if she wanted to eat dinner as if nothing had happened, then he’d play the game, bite for bite.
But as dinner progressed, she began struggling with her pretense, taking longer to chew, longer to swallow, longer to lift her fork to her mouth. Ever since the food arrived, they’d been quiet, but she’d look at him every now and then, a question in her eyes, searching his, looking for something. He wondered if she even knew what she was looking for.
She was looking at him now, her eyes like the North Sea, a deep blue with a hint of green. He lifted a brow, hoping to encourage her.
“What do you think they’re having for dinner at Langley Park?” she asked, voice unsteady.
He fought an urge to laugh. That wasn’t what was on her mind, but he’d give her points for trying. “I can’t imagine it’s steak frites,” he said, which is what they were both having. Who knew steak frites was Ella’s favorite meal? It had always been one of his.
“Mrs. Johnson is a good cook, though.”
“Yes,” he agreed gravely trying to match her tone.
What he wanted to do was laugh and pull her out of her chair and onto his lap and kiss her the way she wanted to be kissed. He could feel the yearning in her. Whatever string bound them, it was tight, pulling them in, pulling them so close that every time she took a breath, he could feel it.
Finally, he put down his fork, unwilling to continue the game all dinner. “So, what do we do now? Do we go back to the cottage and start what we began last summer?”
Her eyes widened and her lips parted but no sound came out.
“Or do we just keep pretending nothing is there and we’re both happy and fine,” he added. “Would love to know what we’re supposed to do.”
Ella set her fork down now and it clattered against her plate. “But we are both happy and fine.” She didn’t look at him as she pushed her plate away. “Aren’t we?”
“If we were fifteen, sure. But we’re adults. Sneaking kisses is an appetizer, it’s not a meal. As a man, I’d be lying if I find it completely satisfying.”
Her head lifted, her eyes briefly meeting his before just as swiftly looking away. “Did… do… you want more?”
He shouldn’t torment her, but she had it coming. She started this.
He’d only been with one woman in the past four years, and sex with Fiona was nice, and life with her had been good, but it had never felt remotely like this. “Don’t you?” he countered, studying Ella so intently that she had to look up, had to gaze back, had to see just what he was feeling.
“Why didn’t you marry Fiona?” Ella asked abruptly. “Cara and Alec were sure you were going to be together, always.”
Nothing could have cooled his ardor like mentioning Fiona and marriage in the same sentence. “What do you know of Fiona?” he asked.
“Only that you were together a long time. You were happy together… until you weren’t.”
“But isn’t that the way of relationships? They work until they don’t?”
“If you were that serious, if you’d been together that many years, couldn’t you work through your differences?” Ella persisted. “Wasn’t the relationship worth saving?”
He did not want to be drawn into this. “I couldn’t give her what she wanted.”
“Didn’t you love her?”
He was being drawn into this. Baird smashed his irritation. “I did. But she wanted to marry, and we’d agreed years before that I wasn’t going to marry, and she knew, she’d agreed. I thought we were both content, and then I discovered I was wrong. She loved me, but the need to have a family was stronger, and we agreed she’d be happier with someone who could give her what she wanted.”
“That’s why you broke up?” Ella whispered, stunned.
