CHAPTER 3 #4
Except … a vision of that identical expression flickered across her mind; Nick, at seventeen, had looked at her the exact same way. At the time, she’d dismissed those flashes in his eyes as he passed her in the hallway. But now …
He leaned toward her. “Have dinner with me later.”
A request and demand at the same time. His scent, manly, aromatic, and woody with a hint of green, drifted toward her like some intoxicating sex potion. She inhaled deeply of that cologne and decided she needed to know what it was. She wanted to smell it on his bare skin.
She thought of Blake, asking the same of her. And suddenly, something bold overtook her.
She’d go to dinner, damn it.
“What’s on the menu?” she asked.
He leaned back again, his dark eyes gleaming, keeping her gaze captive as he fingered his glass, and Jannie felt her head begin to spin. She knew enough about the female anatomy to know exactly what he could reach and do with those long fingers.
And, oh, he knew she knew. Because he flashed a sexy smile and said, “Whatever you want. But I propose a decadent dessert. And there’s no rule that says we can’t have that first.”
He was too much, but then again, he seemed exactly what she needed right now.
“Ah. You’re a dessert man.”
“I am. One of the reasons I chose this hotel was because I heard the pastry chef trained at the Cordon Bleu in Paris.”
Oh, he really meant dessert, as in food. “You checked out the pastry chef? Most people check the location and whether there’s Wi-Fi and parking.”
“Those are important too.” When she shook her head and looked at him in bemusement, he added, “That’s why I work out”—he lowered his voice— “so I can eat whatever I want.”
Was he still talking about food? Jannie didn’t doubt that if she went up to his room, she’d be naked, likely before room service arrived. She wasn’t a prude; she’d had her share of hookups in college before Blake.
Blake …
Blake hired call girls, idiot. The nasty little voice slithered through her thoughts like a fork-tongued venomous snake. He’s not your husband anymore. Get over it.
“So, what’ll it be? Dinner all by your lonesome or with me?”
She wanted to spend more time with Nick. But … not like that.
Not yet. It just didn’t feel right; after all, she was carrying another man’s babies.
But the thought of being alone in that huge penthouse with only her dark thoughts was not appealing.
“With you. Upstairs.” She looked him in the eye. “At the rooftop restaurant.”
If he was disappointed, he hid it well. On the contrary, a triumphant smile spread across his face. “Great.” He checked his watch. “It’s a little after three. How about, say, six?”
“I can’t at that hour. I have to attend a welcome cocktail party.”
“Have to?”
“Yes.” The event was starting in two hours, and Jannie wanted to mingle despite her fatigue. There were people attending whom she only saw at these gatherings, and she looked forward to reconnecting.
He grimaced. “If you must.”
“I must. People will be there who want to see and talk to me.”
He groaned exaggeratedly.
Jannie laughed; not everything about Nick Kent had changed. “Sounds like you want to accompany me.”
His eyes widened.
“Still hate gatherings and crowds?”
“With everything I have.” He paused for a moment, and her heart beat a little faster when she realized he was considering.
And suddenly, it became a goal to get him to attend. “Most attendees will have a plus-one. People will ask about my husband. Save me from looking pathetic?”
His eyes sparkled with amusement. “As if you could ever look pathetic.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “OK, then, awkward. He always accompanied me to these things. People know him. I don’t want to answer or have to dodge the inevitable questions.”
She only wanted Nick along as a deterrent. Yeah, that was it.
Jannie watched him tap his middle finger rhythmically on the chair’s armrest. It was a glimmer of the former Nick Kent; she remembered him always doing that when he pondered something. For some reason, that tiny gesture got her going, her heart skipping a beat.
She tore her gaze from that long finger only to focus on his mouth. God, he had such a sexy mouth. She wondered what it would look like without all that hair framing its plump lushness.
Plump lushness?
She mentally rolled her eyes. Way to describe a man’s mouth, Jannie. This man had her thinking like a weirdo. Maybe she needed to switch back from reading romances to reading murder mysteries.
At last, he nodded. “All right then. I’ll go with you. But you owe me dinner right after.”
“Deal.” She started to rise, and he immediately surged to his feet and offered his hand. She took it; sure enough, electricity sparked when he touched her.
Jannie stood as gracefully as she could. He started to pull away as soon as she was standing, but for some reason, she held fast.
He looked down at their joined hands, then trapped her with that stare of his.
His eyes shone with promises of things too hot for her to even dare to name.
His thumb gently stroked her palm, making her shiver.
“Dress code?” he asked in a low voice.
Naked, her mind immediately suggested.
Oh, shit.
This may have been a very bad idea.