“Would you like an appetizer?” Kroven said, his eyes gliding over the menu in faux interest. “As you know, I don’t need to eat, but I am a sucker for cheese.”
“So am I,” I chuckled lightly. “The mac and cheese balls here are pretty good.”
Kroven snorted, giving me a gaze with heavy lidded eyes. “We haven’t even ordered and you’re already talking about balls.”
My face blanched red in an instant, heat pooling to my cheeks. He gave a satisfied chortle as he averted his eyes back to the menu.
He really was gonna be the death of me.
“Only teasing,” He said, not even bothering to look up from the menu.
“I know,” I said calmly, but inside I was screaming. “If you want me to make it through dinner without causing a scene, you might wanna lay off the innuendos.” I made sure to pair my words with a laugh.
“And if I want a scene?” Kroven set his menu down, prompting me to look away from mine. “The scene of you flustered by my words and harder than you’ve ever been does nothing but entice me, Sebastian.”
Absolutely ignoring the affect that sentence had on me, I leaned forward over the table.
“I’m seriously going to lose it if you keep teasing me.” I grimaced, shifting in my seat. “Even if I do…enjoy it.”
“Alright, I’ll stop.” Kroven muttered. “At least until after we leave the restaurant.”
“Thank you.”
Exhaling the biggest breath out of my body, I relaxed into the cushioned booth. I wanted Kroven’s teasing, but I’d prefer it were happening with his pale, perfectly sculpted body hovering over me. Shaking the residual lust burning a hole in my stomach, I gestured to the menu.
“Do you see anything you’d like to order?”
“I think I’m going to give the…” He squinted at the menu, the skin around his eyes crinkling, which only made him look more adorable, if that was possible. “Spicy alfredo, but without the chicken.”
“Not a fan of meat, huh?”
“Not that kind, anyway.”
For some reason, that made me burst out into laugher, apleased sentiment rolling across his face like clouds settling behind a sunset, warm and inviting. When we locked eyes again, we stared at each other for a second. It felt like something…deeper than what we’d been experiencing already was passing between us. A sharp jolt of understanding or our souls recognizing one another, if that was a thing. Something about it made my heart race, and I was thankful for the distraction when our waitress came sauntering back to our table, setting our drink orders down accordingly.
“Ready to order?” Her saccharine voice rang through our palpable gaze, and when Kroven turned to face her, his smile was tuned to Prince Charming.
“Yes, thank you.” His face twisted, facing me again. “Are you ready?”
“Oh, yeah. Go ahead.”
“We’ll start with the mac and cheese balls as an appetizer, but you can just bring it with the meal. And then I’ll take the spicy alfredo but without the chicken, if possible.”
She wrote this down on her pad with the blur of her wrist. “Absolutely. And for you?”
“I’ll take the chicken parmesan.”
“That comes with a side or salad.” She beamed.
“Caesar salad is fine.” I said, folding my menu.
With our orders finished, she declared that they’d have it out shortly for us, leaving us alone yet again. I was determined to get ahead of whatever Kroven could concoct in that double entendre brain of his.
“So, tell me more about you.” It looked as if he were about to protest, and I put up my hand in faux protest. “I talked about my parents and my love for lemonade, which is fantastic Sebastian Grant lore.” Folding my hands underneath my head, I stared into those ruby eyes I loved so much. “Tell me more about Kroven.”
He sighed, but with the tinge of a smile in the corner of hislips. “Well, there’s lot of stories, I guess. None of them particularly interesting over the centuries.”
That made me do a double take. “Did you saycenturies?” I figured that Kroven had something different than a human lifespan, but to think that he’d lived centuries? I hadn’t ever really contemplated it because it never mattered to me.
