“Okay.” She smiled uneasily, flattening it against her chest. “Thank you.”
“Thomas says you haven’t been eating lunch.”
Nadine paused. “You’ve asked him about me?”
He toyed with the soy sauce bottle. “Let’s just say you’re relevant to my interests.”
When the waiter returned, Cal ordered a bottle of sake and the urchin. Nadine, a little more hesitant, got the tuna belly, an order of wakame, and a little bottle of strawberry ramune. She felt shy ordering with him watching her so closely. This had the feel of a date, even though she knew it wasn’t. Men like Cal didn’t date women like her.
(Has he had you yet?)
“I’m surprised you’ve never tried to order for me,” she remarked, pushing down on the marble with a pop to open the bottle. “Isn’t that supposed to be a hotshot rich guy move?”
Cal glanced at her with that same vague look of astonishment that she’d glimpsed on his face at dinner. “I figured you’d know what’s best for your needs.”
“Y-yeah,” she said. “That’s true. But some people, um, don’t see it that way.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
She saw him turn to look at the rain with a frown; it was driving against the window in sheets and a waitress passing by glanced at it, obviously worried about getting home.
“Really?” she asked, trying to hide her skepticism.
“Just because I’m a lawyer, you think I don’t have a heart?” his voice, though teasing, carried a slight rebuke. “I do like you, Nadine. Despite what you might think.”
Still facing away from her, he put his hand on her thigh. It was the same move he’d pulled in the car, but this time, she didn’t pull away, even though she was confused by the mixed signals. He didn’t want her to stay for the festival, and sometimes he acted like he didn’t want to be seen with her, but then he’d do things like take her out to eat and kiss her in front of everyone, and she wouldn’t know what was going through his mind.
But as he rubbed the inner seam of her jeans with his thumb, Nadine thought she had a pretty good idea of what was going through his mind now. Whatever he was conflicted about, it didn’t extend to sex. And when he looked at her, with a fleeting shadow of doubt limning his handsome face, it did nothing to occlude the spark of wanting in his eyes.
Nadine felt her face color when the food came and the waiter gave them a knowing look as Cal reached for his chopsticks onehanded, the other very conspicuously not on the table. Shifting them to his fist, he poured a cup of sake for her and nudged it in her direction.
“I’m not going to apologize for being rough with you, though,” he said, when the waiter walked away. “Because I think we both know how much you didn’t mind.”
Oh my god.Nadine looked over her shoulder, making sure the slouching young man serving them was nowhere in sight. “Don’t talk about that in here! Someone might hear you!”
“You didn’t seem very concerned about who heard you last night.”
Her face flamed. “Youchasedme.”
“Youran.”
She swallowed hard, remembering how that harsh voice had sounded in her ear.
“Youwantedme to chase you.” He slid his hand higher and growled, “You were trying to make me jealous, you dirty little tease, and I gave you exactly what you were asking for.”
Arousal pounded through her like a hot spike. She remembered the look he’d given her at the bar, the dark promise in his eyes, and how she had immediately felt the desperate need to get rid of Rael and Deena. She took a frantic drink of sake but the alcohol only made her face feel warmer.
She’d known that he would follow.
She’d wanted him to.
“If we were in court, I’d have you for perjury, Nadine.” He ran the backs of two fingers down her cheek. “And then I’d have you again for no reason at all. I still might.”
“What if someone saw?” she asked, suddenly feeling cold.
“Why?” He gave her pendant a gentle tug. “Did you want them to?”
“Your father said some things.” Nadine looked up at him hesitantly. His face had gone still. “It sounded like he’d seen—or like someone else had and told him.”
