“Give him my love.” We hung up, andI stared at the phone for a minute, wondering if I shouldn’t just abandonservice tonight and meet them at the clinic.
I was just about to pack up shopwhen the door swung open, scaring the absolute crap out of me. I clutched mybutcher knife and spun around.
Killian prowled into the smalltruck, shrinking everything under the strength of his anger. He held up hisphone, shaking it back and forth at me. “Fussy? Pretentious?”
I bit my lip to keep from smiling.He’d found my Yelp review.
“What’s going on?” I askedinnocently.
He glared at me and my knees nearlybuckled under the force of it. Clearing his throat, he turned back to his phoneand began reading. “I went toLiloudespiteeverything I knew it would be. And unfortunately, it lived up to every one ofmy expectations. I knew the atmosphere would be stuffy. And it was. I knew thefood would be fussy. And it was. I knew the chef, Killian Quinn, who is ravedabout in some circles, but otherwise known to be a total douche, would besnobby. And he was. The garnishes were all a little much for my standards. AndI can’t remember one dish that wasn’t overly salty. Not to mention I waslooking forward to a charcuterie board and disappointed to find that they didnot offer one. Obviously, nobody would callLiloucutting edge, but I would have felt comforted knowing they at least tried tokeep up with current trends. All in all, while the food was executed wellenough, I was underwhelmed. To be fair, the desserts were incredible. But Iheard they outsource those. In the end, I expected more from a chef withQuinn’s reputation.” Killian looked up at me again, his green eyes hot andfurious. “That’s my latest Yelp review,” he explained. “Posted by someone withthe screen nameNanananabooboo.”
I cleared my throat and checked theexits. He was blocking the doorway, but maybe I could throw myself out one ofthe windows?
Deciding on guiltless ignorance, Ithrew myself into the role. “Yikes. That sucks.”
“Vera.”
“I mean, why even write something sovicious?” I gulped nervously but just kept digging my grave. “Although,Nanananabooboodoes bring up some valid points. Would it be the worst thing to—”
“Vera,” Killian growled. “Are youkidding me?”
“Yes?” Licking dry lips, I triedagain. “No. I mean no. I’m not kidding you.”
His voice dropped low, menacing. Hedid not find the review hilarious at all. “What is this,Delane?Is this your idea of a joke?”
It was my idea of a joke. Orpayback. After all his helpful notes and midnight tutoring sessions, this wasexactly my idea of vengeance. Only now, with him standing across the food trucklooking so big and scary, I wasn’t so sure that it was my brightest idea ever.
To be fair, Molly had even tried totalk me out of it. But we’d gone back to her apartment after our life-alteringmeal atLilou, opened a bottle of wine and I’d lostthe ability to make rational decisions.
My gaze jumped from Killian to thedoor, to Killian back to the counter behind me, to Killian then up to theceiling. If this was my “act casual” look, I should probably give up my dreamsof being an international spy. “Come on, you can’t think that’s me.”
His expression hardened, his mouthpulling down in a frown. “I don’t think. Iknowit’s you.” He took a step forward. I retreated instinctively.
“You can’tknowthat it’s me.”
He took another step towards me. “Ican.”
I changed tactics. “It’s just Yelp.Who reads Yelp anyway?”
“It’s the first thing that shows upon a Google search!”
He’d stopped moving right in frontof me. I could feel his body heat and smell his skin. My heartbeat skipped inmy chest, desperately trying to run away.
“You were Googling yourself, weren’tyou? That’s how you found it.” I narrowed my eyes, trying frantically to turnthis into a joke we could both laugh about. “I bet you have alerts set up. Ibet it pinged you when it went live.”
His eyes darkened, and his mouthpressed into a straight line, disappearing behind his beard. Belatedly, I foundthe nerve to run, but he was faster than me. Or maybe he’d been expecting me torun and so he was prepared.
I darted away from him, ready tothrow myself out the front door, but he grabbed my wrist and yanked me back tohis body. I landed in a surprised heap against his chest, my cheek smooshedover his chiseled pectoral muscle.
I rested there for a second. Maybetwo seconds.
There was a good possibility it wasat least thirty seconds.
Hot awareness zinged through me withmy body pressed so tightly to his. He was breathing heavily, worked up by thereview, and I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to be plasteredover his well-defined body in other circumstances.
Like if we were both naked, forexample.
Replacing my cheek with my hand, Iquickly pushed away from him, desperate for space. He kept hold of my wrist andcaged me in against the cool counter.
