Page 75 of Pucking Daddy

The restaurant is beautiful, the food is unlike anything I’ve tasted before, and the company…

I’m not even sure what I was so nervous about. This is… easy. Relaxing.

Jaxon keeps looking at me, something warm in his eyes, a quiet smile playing at his mouth.

This grumpy man—smiling. At me.

“Were they pretty?” I ask out of nowhere.

His brow furrows. “What?”

“The women,” I clarify. “The not-many.”

He leans back slightly, studying me now. “Zara… is it possible you’re just a little bit jealous?”

“Jealous? Me?” My voice is full of outrage—convincing even to my own ears. “I just want to know what I’m up against.”

The second the words leave my mouth, I blink.

“Not competing,” I correct quickly. “Wrong word.”

His gaze sharpens.

“Interesting choice, though.”

“It was a slip.”

“Mm.”

“Because this isn’t a date.”

“Exactly.”

“We both know that. I know it, you know it. So there’s no room for confusion.”

Jaxon quietly signals for the check. I’m pretty sure he’s decided he doesn’t want to spend another second with this lunatic. Or he thinks I’ve had enough to drink.

We stand. I reach for my bag, misjudge the distance, and knock it against the edge of the table.

“Smooth,” I mutter.

Jaxon is already there, steadying it—and me—with a hand at my elbow. “Got you.”

His voice is softer now.

I glance up at him, closer than I expected. “Thanks.”

“Have you had too much?” he asks.

“No.”

A beat.

“…maybe a little.”

His mouth twitches.

“Come on,” he says, offering his arm.