“There is, but right now I’m waiting for you to answer my question.”
The corners of his mouth quirked in an almost-smile. “I know we agreed to keep things…simple, but I’m having a little trouble letting it go.”
My mouth was suddenly dry at the implication of his words. I grabbed my cocktail and took a sip. “Explain please,” I said once I swallowed.
He leaned toward me until all I could see were his eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about you, Gigi.”
“Gigi?”
His almost smile became an arrogant smirk. “You call me Eli. I thought cute nicknames were going to be our thing.”
I huffed out a laugh and rolled my eyes. “Okay, sure. It’ll be our thing. Though you already call me Brown Eyes so another nickname seems a bit redundant.” Then, I focused on his answer to my question. “What do you mean, you can’t stop thinking about me?”
I almost jumped when his palm curved over my leg beneath the table, his fingers hot and slightly rough against my skin just below the hem of my skirt. Without taking his eyes from mine, his fingers slipped beneath the fabric and dragged up my thigh, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.
“I hear you moan in my dreams and when I wake up I swear I can taste you on my tongue.”
I couldn’t control the shiver that ran through my body at his low, hoarse words. The idea that this man was dreaming about me…it sent a bolt of electricity through my veins, leaving every part of me throbbing in its wake.
“Seeing you tonight is only going to make it worse,” he continued, his hand inching higher up my leg. “And I just needed to know if you feel it, too.”
I licked my lips, my thoughts torn between the sensation of his fingertips skimming dangerously close to the front of my panties and the words coming from his mouth.
“I feel it,” I admitted, my voice little more than a whisper.
His hand stopped moving, the tips of his fingers brushing the scalloped lace that edged the hem of my panties. I took a sharp breath at the heated look he shot me, his blue eyes burning into mine like hellfire. He could have been Lucifer in the flesh because every word from his lips, every movement of his body, was pure temptation.
Before either of us could speak, the server returned with our appetizers. Elijah slipped his hand from beneath my skirt, resting his palm on my knee. I swallowed hard before I thanked the woman, who winked at me before she sauntered off. My face heated because I knew she’d probably seen what was going on at our table.
I felt Elijah lean toward me, but he didn’t have a chance to say anything before Davide returned to his seat.
“Excellent! I’m starving,” he exclaimed, plopping down into the booth and reaching toward the plate of bruschetta in the center of the table.
I was starving, too, but not for food.
A small white plate appeared in front of me. I glanced at Elijah, who was reaching for another one of the plates the server had left with the apps.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
We ate mostly in silence until the server returned with our entrees. Well, at least the ones Elijah and I ordered. Davide’s was boxed.
“Well, it’s been fun, kiddies, but Daddy has a date with a hot man,” he said, getting to his feet.
I gaped at him for a second. He was abandoning me with Elijah?
“Have fun,” Elijah said, grinning.
“See you Monday, assistant,” Davide said to me. He grabbed his food, gave me a little finger wave, and sashayed over to the guy he’d been talking to at the bar.
I never even had a chance to reply. Not that I would have been able to even if I’d had the time. My brain was moving too fast for me to formulate a decent response. My thoughts were nothing but a blur that would come to an abrupt halt on one half-formed concept before taking off again, like a rollercoaster gone haywire.
Finally, I turned to Elijah. “Did that just happen?”
He drained the rest of his beer and smirked at me. “It did.”
With a sigh, I shook my head and picked up my fork. Might as well eat since the food was already here. We chatted a little as we ate, but it was mostly innocuous small talk—how Lucy and Chris were doing, a new movie coming out that I wanted to see. Basic, casual topics that were completely at odds with the heated words Elijah said to me earlier. Once I shoved my mostly empty plate away, he turned to me, putting a hand on my leg. “So, how would feel about going somewhere a lot more…private with me?”
I knew I shouldn’t. I knew that hooking up again was opening the door to a situation that would almost definitely lead to me catching feelings for this man. I should be rational. Responsible.
