Then why not come over here? Why sit in that gloomy old place, which only a few stalwarts and unsuspecting tourists ever visited?
At first, she’d thought he was studying the building and its murals. Perhaps he had a thing for parrots? But he didn’t look the type. Then he’d lifted his sunglasses and his gaze stopped ranging over the building and focused on one thing — her.
It was almost funny how he seemed to think he was incognito — as though someone that striking could blend into the background. Drop-dead gorgeous, with an unsmiling mouth and those dark, assessing eyes that suggested control and intent. Neither of which helped him fade into anonymity.
Salesman? No. He would be some kind of executive — the straight, conventional kind, obviously. Marketing maybe. No. Finance. His clothes and the confidence he exuded suggested he was someone who was accustomed to being the boss, someone used to getting his own way. It also suggested someone who had a laser-like focus on whatever he was doing. And at the moment, he was staring at her. She quite liked that.
And now he was crossing the road.
If he thought she’d scuttle behind the counter and pretend she hadn’t noticed him, he had another think coming.
She handed the plates she was holding to a waitress and stepped forward, folding her arms as she watched him approach. He didn’t look away either. He stepped onto the pavement just outside the shelter of the awning.
‘Good morning,’ she said. ‘Come over for a decent cup of coffee?’
His mouth tilted slightly. ‘Half-decent would already be an improvement.’
‘Brenda’s being awkward. If she liked you, she’d have offered you an espresso. What can I get you?’
He planted his hands on his hips. Even from here, she could tell the sun was getting to him.
‘Do you normally serve your customers before they enter the café?’
‘Do you normally stare at someone for half an hour before deciding to speak to them?’
His lips flattened, and a tiny shiver slid down her spine.
‘I don’t like to rush things,’ he said slowly, lifting his sunglasses. With the sun behind him, she still couldn’t read his eyes.
‘Then why don’t you take a seat here?’ she said lightly. ‘Take your time over some food and a proper coffee. You can continue doing whatever it was you were doing over the road.’
‘Perfect.’
‘Outside?’
‘No, inside.’
‘Sure thing. Follow me.’
She could feel his gaze on her as she walked ahead of him — the prickle at the nape of her neck, the low fizz of awareness in her belly giving it away.
She stopped at the table where her laptop sat and swept it up. ‘Best seat in the house.’
‘No.’ He indicated a recently vacated table still cluttered with dirty crockery. ‘I’ll take that one.’
She paused. People usually did what she suggested.
‘Any reason?’
‘Yes. I can do what I came here to do easier from there.’
‘And what’s that?’
‘Get to know you better.’
Her heart stuttered, and she turned away. She was annoyed he’d won the exchange. But if she’d stood her ground, she could have come off a gibbering wreck. That would have been a first.
Chapter Two
