Page 64 of Craving Cooper

I could… but not food, and I smile at her, then glance at the waitress, just for a second. She’s pretty enough, I guess, but nowhere near as beautiful as Mallory, and I wonder why she was so worried. She had no reason to be… not with me.

“Just the check, please.”

“Of course, sir.”

That’s grating on me now, and I reach across the table, taking Mallory’s hand, and leaning in to hold her fingers to my lips, determined to show the waitress how together we are when she returns.

“Your check.” I turn at the sound of a male voice and look up to see Chester smiling down at us.

“What happened to the waitress?” Mallory asks before I can.

“Lilliana hasn’t mastered using the card machine yet. She can cope with hotel guests, but for non-residents, I’m still handling the payments until she’s on top of it.”

“I see,” I say, releasing Mallory’s hand, and pulling my wallet from my jacket pocket.

“How was your meal?” Chester asks as I hand over my credit card.

“It was lovely,” Mallory says. “I really enjoyed the appetizer.”

“You had the asparagus, didn’t you?” he says, and she nods her head, seemingly impressed. “I’ll let the chef know you liked it.”

He hands me the card machine and I input my pin number, giving it back to him, before he gives me a receipt, holding Mallory’s chair while she stands.

“Thank you,” she says, and he nods his head.

“You’re welcome.” He steps away and I place my hand in the small of Mallory’s back, guiding her past the other tables and out into the lobby.

Once we’re on the sidewalk, I take her hand again.

“Are you warm enough?” I ask her.

“Yes, thanks,” she says, leaning in to me.

That feels great, but to stop myself from doing anything about it, I take a moment to admire her dress. I was speechless and tongue-tied when she first opened her door to me this evening, and I saw the way the black fabric hugged her curves. Now, I’m even more impressed.

“Do you wear a lot of black when you’re not working?” I ask, to distract myself from how much I want to peel her out of her dress.

She nods her head, surprising me a little, even though the dress she wore on Saturday was black, too. I’d only been making conversation, but now I’m intrigued.

“Is there a reason for that?”

“Yes. I read somewhere that it’s supposed to make you look thinner.”

I turn and gaze down into her upturned faced. “Who told you that you need to look thinner?”

“No, one. But I own a mirror.”

“In that case, I think I need to get you a new one. There must be something wrong with the one you have.” She tilts her head slightly and I lean in and whisper, “You look perfect… just as you are.”

She gasps, her lips parting in the sexiest of ways, and I have to smile. There’s a tension between us now, which is different from when I called for her earlier. Then, I felt nervous about whether she’d forgive me. Now, I’m on edge, because I want her so much, I can scarcely breathe… and I think she might feel the same way, too. She didn’t dismiss the idea of dinner turning into something more, did she? In fact, she seemed to like it.

Unfortunately, our walk doesn’t take very long and we’re back outside the clinic in no time at all. I let us in, and follow her up the stairs, noticing she seems slightly unsteady on her feet now she’s no longer leaning on me. We by-pass my door, and I rest my hand in the small of her back again, escorting her all the way to the top floor, where we stand outside her apartment.

“Thank you for a lovely evening,” she says, looking up at me.

“It was my pleasure. I hope it made up for my earlier mistakes.”

“I think they were innocent mistakes… and that maybe I overreacted.”

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