Miss Howard’s lips twitched. “I cannot deny it.”
Griffin smiled, content with her answer and happy to see her relax.
“So how was it?” He did not ask because he wanted her to flatter his ego, but because he was genuinely curious to know her thoughts on the matter and, if he were being completely honest, to discover if it had affected her to the same degree it had affected him. With feverish awareness.
She bit her lip. “Honestly?”
He frowned but nodded in spite of his sudden apprehension.
“I don’t really see what the fuss is about.”
Griffin stared at her, almost missing the fact that the waiter had returned with their food and was placing each plate before them. “Will that be all for now?”
“I believe so,” Miss Howard remarked. She stared back at Griffin who suddenly blinked, glanced at his plate, and then waved the waiter away. The door closed behind him.
“In other words, it wasn’t as good as you thought it would be?”
Miss Howard was already cutting into her pie. She glanced at him as if considering a puzzle. “Truthfully, I expected more of a sparkle.”
“A sparkle?”
“Or a fizz.”
‘“You’re making no sense.”
She popped some food in her mouth and proceeded to chew while he started cutting his own pie into tiny little pieces.
“I knew being honest would be a mistake,” she murmured. “It wasn’t my intention to offend you in any way, merely to inform you that the kiss we shared with each other this evening was…” She drew a sharp breath and returned her attention to her food.
“What?” Griffin asked. He’d completely obliterated his pie by now and was reaching for his wine.
“I dare not say.”
“But I am asking you to,” he told her in the most patient voice he could manage while this innocent woman destroyed his masculine pride.
“It wasn’t unpleasant,” she said as if trying to placate a child. “In fact, I do think I’d like to try it again, but considering my…er…your…”
“What?” he asked, no longer able to hide his frustration.
“Well, you’re terribly handsome.”
Griffin drew a deep breath, the strain on his body relaxing if only a little. She thought him handsome. Now there was a start. “And you’re incredibly stunning,” he murmured, since it was only fair to let her know she appealed to him as well.
“Right. I mean, thank you.” She ate some more pie and drank some more wine while Griffin decided to do the same. But the silence between them was filled with words yet unspoken until she said, “I suppose that is why I expected more. Because of this mutual attraction we’ve shared since the moment we met.”
Griffin almost choked on his food. He’d never heard a woman be so bold as to call direct attention to the obvious, no matter how awkward it threatened to make things. “Ah.” Was that really all he could say right now?
Apparently.
She pursed her lips. “Considering everything Cass and Mary have said about kissing over the years, I rather expected to feel like fireworks had been set off inside me.”
He gaped at her, unsure which part of that statement he ought to address first. He decided to settle on the part that bothered him most. “There is more to it than I showed you.”
Her face lit up. “Well that would explain it then.” She drummed her fingers slowly against the top of the table and scrunched her nose as if in thought. “Would you be willing to demonstrate?”
“Er…” Griffin’s entire body responded with eager anticipation. His stomach tightened and his heart began to race. He instinctively glanced at the door and forced himself to speak the necessary words. “I don’t think that would be wise.”
Disappointment filled her eyes even though he could tell she tried to hide it with a smile. “Of course not. One lapse in judgment is more than enough for one evening.”
