“You would have had more luck offering me meatloaf, my little grasshopper,” he informed her, catching her arm as she tried to make another escape.
Haley exhaled heavily as she pushed her glasses back up her nose. “I was going to offer that, too.” She gave him a hopeful smile. “What if we go home and I cook-”
“Too little, too late, my little grasshopper. Besides, there’s nothing in your fridge.”
She frowned up at him. “But I just went shopping the other day.”
“I got hungry,” he simply said, ignoring her adorable glare.
“You better not have touched the last slice of pumpkin pie,” she warned.
He had to laugh at that. “It was the first thing to go,” he informed her as they stepped up to the maître d’s podium. She sent him a glare that promised all kinds of retribution. Where Jason could eat just about anything, and often did, his little grasshopper was a pumpkin pie junkie.
“Welcome to Harrington’s. My name is Elizabeth. How can I help you?” the woman asked them both as she sent Jason an inviting look that let him know he’d be getting offered more than just the specials tonight.
He looked down at Haley to see if she’d caught the inviting look and wondered what she thought, not that he wanted her to be jealous or anything. He had to smile when he caught her gazing longingly at the exit sign.
“It won’t be that bad,” Jason promised her, taking her hand in his, mostly to keep her from bolting again.
“Yes, it will,” Haley mumbled pathetically.
Jason turned his attention back to the woman who was now frowning unhappily at their entwined hands.
“We’re joining the Blaine party,” he said, tightening his grip on Haley’s hand when he felt her trying to pull away.
“Right this way,” the woman said with a tight smile.
As they followed her through a richly furnished sitting room, Jason couldn’t help but wonder why Haley settled for losers when she was clearly used to so much better. He’d seen some of the losers she’d dated over the years and doubted they’d pulled out their wallet for much more than Denny’s and even then, probably only if they had a coupon.
She should be dating someone who was willing to bust his ass to show her how much she meant to him. He’d have to work on that with her, but that was for later. Right now, he had to focus on dragging her alongside him.
“What are you doing?” Jason asked, smirking as he glanced down at her.
“Nothing,” she said quickly as she tried to discreetly shift so that Jason was standing in front of her.
“Doesn’t look like nothing,” Jason noted, quickening his pace, probably to annoy the hell out of her.
“It is nothing,” she bit out between clenched teeth even as she hurried to keep up with Jason again, angling a little to the right so that her entire body was hidden.
She dared a peek behind Jason’s back and nearly cried in frustration when a pair of smoky gray eyes that she was all too familiar with met hers. She sent him a polite smile and did her best to ignore the determined glare he sent her way.
“Who’s that?” Jason asked as they continued following the hostess through the spacious aisles and around the large tables that surrounded the small dance floor.
“No one,” she lied.
Tonight was going to be difficult enough. She didn’t want to get into the drama of ex-boyfriends, who still took her refusal to sleep with them as a challenge, one that Robert seemed hellbent on winning no matter how many years passed.
The man was a self-professed playboy and truly believed that he could have any woman he wanted. He hadn’t always been like that. When they’d started dating at fifteen, he’d been shy, sweet, and down to earth. It wasn’t until their senior year, when his skin had cleared up and he’d inherited thirty million dollars from his grandmother, that he started to change.
He went from the sweet guy that she could watch Indiana Jones movies with to the guy screwing around on her with every bimbo he could find. When she’d confronted him about it, he’d denied it until finally, he broke down and placed all the blame at her feet. They’d parted as friends, well, sort of, and since then, every time he saw her, he did his best to get her in bed. Last time they ran into each other, he’d ended up ditching his fiancée two days before the wedding to pursue her.
His desperation to get her in his bed had nothing to do with love. It had to do with the fact that she was, according to him, the only woman who had ever said no to him. He’d do just about anything to get her into his bed. She really did not need this tonight. She had enough to deal with.
She was not looking forward to being embarrassed and belittled in front of Jason. Although it wouldn’t be on her top ten favorite things to do on a Friday night, Haley would have gladly come alone tonight to keep her grandmother company. She couldn’t stomach the idea of Jason witnessing just how little she really meant to her family.
“Mr. Blaine, the rest of your party has arrived,” Elizabeth said, smiling politely as she stopped in front of the round table where Haley’s parents, sisters and their husbands sat. Haley frowned when she didn’t see her grandmother.
“Thank you,” Jason said, ignoring the inviting look the woman was sending him, surprising Haley. His disinterest in all the women who practically threw themselves at him when they were out always surprised her. He wasn’t much of a playboy, after all, she absently thought as she forced a smile for her family.
