AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He really was gorgeous. Every woman who walked by stoppedand stared for a moment. A bunch of the men, too, since they were in Oak Lawn.The café was small and tasteful, with early morning light that showed off thisguy’s immaculate skin care regime. He practically glowed.
TJ had looked rumpled and adorable this morning, totally outof place with a pink comforter around his chest.
“I work in research and development with a company called4L. And she mentioned you’re an accountant, right? She said you and Phoebe metat a conference recently and started helping each other out.”
“Yes. She’s a bright one, Phoebe is.” He leaned in, his eyesfastening on her. “But accounting is such dull work. I wonder why I went intoit sometimes. Your work is much more interesting. And your family. I must say Ifind Mrs. Taggart’s family utterly charming. How do you know them?”
The woman who worked the front counter refilled Lou’scoffee. She was the only woman who hadn’t looked at her date like he was adessert and she was starving.
“I’ll take another tea when you have a moment,” the Britsaid. “And some more milk.”
The petite woman sighed. “Right away, sir.”
That woman did not like her job, but she seemed to be theonly one working. It was lucky there hadn’t been a bunch of customers. Thewoman with curly blonde hair walked away muttering something Lou couldn’t makeout.
“My father has worked for McKay-Taggart for over twentyyears.” She didn’t go into the fact that he was technically her stepfather.This relationship wouldn’t warrant that level of knowledge. While he wasgorgeous, there was something cold about the man.
“Yes, my own father has been at the same firm for years. Heworks as the head of a subsidiary company in London. The main offices are herein the US. You would think I would have gotten to spend a lot of time overhere, but with the pandemic and political situations being what they’ve been, I’mafraid I lost touch with some of the people I knew when I was younger. It’s whyI was happy to be able to work here in Dallas for a bit.”
Though she knew this wasn’t going anywhere, she had sometime before she needed to get to the office and go over all the data andreports Zach had sent this morning. She found herself curious about the man infront of her. “I have to ask. You are not what I was expecting when Charlottetold me I would be meeting Miguel Garza.”
He grinned. “Ah, well, we have immigrants in the UK, too,you know. My mum is British. She met my father when she went on holiday inSpain when she was a teenager. She told him she was trying to learn thelanguage at the time. She wasn’t. She was fluent, but she wanted an excuse tospend time with him. When he applied to university, he chose an English school,and the rest is history.”
“And what does your father do? You said he works for a UScompany.” She wondered what TJ was doing. Probably having breakfast, and not ata petite café with croissants and pains au chocolat.He would be eating Kenzie’s pancakes and downing more than his share of thebacon. She always ordered extra so he could steal from her.
“He’s in…landscaping.” There was the slightest hesitation.It could be that he was embarrassed, though she didn’t understand why. “I’mafraid the thing my father is best known for is his green thumb. You should seehis garden. It’s spectacular. I’ll be honest. I’ve gotten many a woman fromsimply walking them through the garden.”
His voice had gone deep and low. Seductive.
She was sure it worked on a lot of women.
And she recognized that voice. Well, of course Charlotte hadsent her a Dom. He was giving her Dom eyes and that “do my will, sub” Domvoice.
The barista put a mug in front of Miguel and a small pitcherof milk. “Will there be anything else, sir?”
He glanced up. “Not at all.”
“Good, because my shift is almost over,” she announced andthen turned to go.
Miguel sat up a bit straighter.
“I’m afraid I’m not great with plants. I love them, but Itravel a lot and so do my roommates, so the watering part can get away fromme.” It was the slightest bit awkward, but she’d found most first dates werelike that.
“I grew up surrounded by them,” Miguel replied. “We had acountry home I spent much of my childhood at, but even the house in London wasfilled with them. You seem a bit distracted, dear. Is anything wrong?”
She was hella distracted. “No. Ijust got back from a business trip, and I have to admit I’m a bit jet-lagged.”
But only a bit, and that was a surprise. She usually had ahard time getting to sleep after a mission, but her ever-churning brain hadlocked right down when TJ’s arms were around her. Like something deep insideher knew she was safe, and it was okay to sleep deeply.
“Ah, where did you go?”
“It was a quick trip to New York. My boss is usually inAustin, but he’s got a place in Manhattan.” It was her go-to excuse whensomeone asked where she’d been. Meeting her boss in New York.
He studied her for a moment. “New York is only an hour off.I wouldn’t expect jet-lag from that.”
She really needed a better excuse. “I guess I stayed up late,and I need to catch up.”
He sat back, and suddenly the smooth charm was replaced witha keen, somewhat predatory look. “Or it could be the seven-hour differencebetween Dallas and say, Munich.”
