He exhaled, visibly frustrated with himself. “I screwed up. I thought I could stop you from leaving and salvage the situation with the pickpocketing date. But I’ve only made things worse.”
I looked at him, slightly mollified by his explanation, against my better instincts.
“I’ll fix this. I’ll do anything to make it up to you. Hang on,” he said, and he reached for his phone. In a second, he was speaking to someone and issuing instructions before he turned and handed the phone to me. “Rhea needs your dress size.”
Seriously?
“That’s crazy,” I whispered, covering the mouthpiece of the phone while I dripped over the marble floor.
“We could debate that,” he said, “while you have a big splotch spreading over your chest?—”
“Okay, size four, please,” I cut him off and spoke into the phone, warmth spreading over my cheeks.
When I handed the phone back to him, he smiled. “Give her half an hour. She’ll be here with a spare set of clothes. Meanwhile …”
He shrugged off his jacket. His gaze was already on me, on the goosebumps prickling my skin, before I even realized I was cold. Iwasfeeling chilly, and I needed the jacket, but my gaze went to his empty wrist.
“Your watch,” I began, realizing that Tahlia had made off with it.
Jonah shrugged it off. “Forget about it.”
“But you asked me to help you.”
“I needed to stop you from leaving. That was more important than a piece of metal. I can replace that watch easily.”
Red-faced, I sat down at the bar, warmed by his compliments while he put his jacket on my shoulders. His fingers rested briefly on my arms while he made sure the jacket covered meappropriately, and I liked the feel of his fingers through the fabric.
And the way his scent enveloped me.
I gulped. He had just been on another date.
“How did you meet Tahlia?” I asked.
Jonah shook his head. “My married friends set me up on a blind date. I don’t know what it says about the world of married couples today that they can’t stand to see a friend remain single.”
I considered it. Even though none of my friends were married, I still couldn’t escape being pressured into dating.
“Marriage is a club I have no intention of ever joining,” I muttered.
He gave me a surprised look.
I swallowed and spoke the first thing that came to my mind. “Who is Rhea?”
“Someone who works for me,” he said with a disarming smile. “She’ll be here soon.”
I looked at the exit, wondering if I really did trust him to have new clothes delivered for me. I could just go home and change into dry clothes and never come back.
“You aren’t leaving, are you?” he asked, and his glorious gaze fell on me in a way that seemed to say he was disappointed. “It’s only a little after nine.”
I looked away, remembering Sasha’s warning and my promise to stay out until midnight. Shoot.
“I’m staying,” I announced. “For another three hours, apparently.”
His smile grew even wider. “Well, Cinderella,” he said promptly, “what can I get you, seeing as you left your last drink untouched?”
“You saw?” I asked, leaning against the counter as heat prickled across my already-flushed skin.
He nodded, amusement in his eyes. “I did wonder why you got the same drink again after you had such a hard time finishing the last one.”
