With that in mind, I climbed into the passenger seat and buckled up without a word. His distant demeanor continued the entire way into town. He did open the passenger door for me when we arrived and then opened the restaurant door when we went inside, but that was the extent of the chivalry.
Which was fine. Absolutely fine.
Yeah, I didn’t believe me either.
It wasn’t until Remi appeared at the hostess stand and shot me a wicked grin that Daniel’s coldness cracked.
“Cari,” he said, moving around the podium to take my hand in his. He leaned over my hand and caressed the back of it with his lips. A small streak of heat shot from where his lips made contact with my skin to other regions in my body. “I’m so glad to see you.”
I’d never had a man kiss my hand like that before and, even when I read about it in my romance novels, I figured I’d have trouble not laughing in the man’s face if they did it. In that moment, I didn’t feel like laughing in the least bit.
In fact, I was trying to deal with the sudden fire spreading beneath my skin.
Whoa. I had a brief moment of wondering if it would feel like that if he put his lips on other more…interesting…places on my body, but the spell was broken when Daniel’s hand closed over my wrist and tugged my hand from Remi’s.
“Stop messing with her, you fallen bastard,” Daniel said, his voice tight and low.
Remi arched his brows at Daniel. “I understood that she was just your houseguest, Ayres. Did I misunderstand?”
There was a long, tense moment. I tried to look over my shoulder at Daniel’s face, but he was standing too close to me, and he was too tall. I couldn’t see it clearly.
Finally, he released my arm and stepped back. “No, you didn’t.”
Remi smiled at him, then at me, and I had the distinct feeling that none of the tension between them had anything to do with me. Not literally. I was just the tool.
Or weapon. I wasn’t sure which.
I squinted at Remi, who responded with a wicked grin and a wink. I rolled my eyes at him and huffed.
He gestured for us to follow him and grabbed a couple of menus and silverware wrapped in cloth napkins.
Remi led us to a circular booth in the farthest corner of the restaurant. It was dimly lit and cozy. Fairy lights were strung across the ceiling, giving the room an ethereal feel.
The booth was secluded and, after we slid into it, made it seem as though we were the only people in the restaurant. There was a small vase with a tiny bouquet of wildflowers in the center of the table and a flickering votive next to it.
Wow, this was incredibly romantic.
And based on the expression on Daniel’s face, utterly unwelcome.
Great. Just great. The food here was delicious and I wasn’t going to be able to enjoy it because Mayor Stick-Up-His-Ass was sitting to my right.
Before Remi could walk away, I piped up, “Do you have cocktails?”
He nodded.
“Bring me your favorite.”
That wicked grin appeared on his face again. “I don’t drink, but I’ll bring you Marjorie’s favorite.”
I nodded since Marjorie had excellent taste in baked goods.
I looked down at my menu and pretended that I didn’t see the look Daniel slanted me.
When he didn’t stop looking at me, I kept my eyes on the menu and asked, “What?”
“You’re drinking tonight?”
“Yes. I can pay for my booze if you have a moral objection. I understand older people sometimes get uptight about weird stuff.”
