Pierce reached his left hand across the table to brush his fingertips against my hand. I did my best not to flinch and released a breath when our waitress brought our main course to the table. The interruption gave me a reason to move my hands out of Pierce’s range.
“The chicken cordon bleu for you,” the waitress said, smiling and setting my dish in front of me.
I nodded at her, a genuine grin cresting on my lips. “Thank you.”
“I really am the luckiest man in the world.” Pierce cut into the steak he ordered. “I have to apologize for canceling on you last week.” He shook his head and frowned. “This business deal we’re working on is getting caught up on every snag you can imagine.”
“Is that right?” I raised my glass of wine to my lips, primarily to hide my scowl.
He nodded.
“Tell me, what’s the deal your company’s working on again?” I asked.
He sputtered a little before covering his mouth with his fist and then raising his napkin to his mouth.
“I’m sorry. If it’s something you can’t talk about, we can change the topic.”
“No, no. Nothing like that.” His voice pitched up a few notches, a clear indication he wasn’t being truthful. “We’re acquiring a new business, and there are some hiccups.”
“Interesting.” I cut another piece of my chicken, shrugging. “I thought you finance guys lived for this sort of thing. The rush of taking on a new enterprise.”
“We do,” he said, sitting up straighter and puffing out his chest. “I’ll enjoy it more when it doesn’t interfere so much with my personal life. How else am I going to continue wooing you if I keep giving you the impression that I’m some sort of workaholic?”
Gag.
I cleared my throat and took another sip of wine. I had to bite my tongue from asking Pierce how he planned to continue wooing me while also devoting enough time to his wife. A wife who, at that very moment, was at home with their twin eighteen-month-old toddlers.
But I held back.
The truth was, the week before, Pierce had canceled because one of his toddlers had an allergic reaction to something he ate, and his family had spent the better part of the night in the emergency department. Pierce’s wife, Gloria, told me all about it.
“I’m sure you can think of something,” I said.
With my head tilted and lips upturned at the corners, I shifted in my chair to lean in further to the table.
Pierce ran his tongue across his bottom lip, not eventryingto hide the lust in his eyes. It was our third date,and by reasonable expectation, some sort of physical attraction should’ve been obvious by now. Unfortunately for Pierce, the attraction was one-sided. So one-sided that all evening I’d had to keep myself from forgetting I was working. Otherwise, I’d drift off into a daydream about going home to play my favorite video game with a glass of wine at my side.
“I had a wonderful time tonight, Cheryl,” Pierce said as our waitress placed the bill down on the table.
“Huh? What was that?” I winced upon realizing I had drifted off into thoughts about suiting up as Chun-Li to kick some villain ass. I was supposed to act smitten with this guy.
“Yes, me too,” I lied.
He stood from the table and extended his hand out to assist me. Proud of myself for not hesitating, I let him help me stand and we exited the restaurant.
Pierce’s hand caught mine, holding me in place outside of the restaurant. “What are your plans for this weekend?”
“This weekend...this weekend...hmm. Let me think about that.” I peered up between my eyelashes. “You know, a woman can never make herself too available.”
Pierce’s eyes sparkled with mischief, and his lips twitched. Even though he was a lying, no-good, cheating son of a bitch, he was a handsome man.
What a waste.
I shook my head slightly. All the good-looking ones always were. Hell, even the not-so-good-looking men cheated. My career as an undercover officer, working the Red Light District and as a private investigator, working for myself, coupled with my personal experiences taught me that much.
Pierce brought my hand to his lips, kissing the outside of my palm. “How about I give you a call later this week, and we can figure it out?”
Smiling, I nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”
