Page 93 of The Charmer

"You go into your other locations as well?" I guessed.

"Correct. I mostly stay in one bar, the one you came to, but I do want to be seen in the others too. You know, to check with the team if all is good. Want to show me your route?"

"Of course. Thank you again for the pralines," I said, just as he touched my back.

Oh, that's it. That's what was missing. He wasn't touching me. God, why was I craving this so much?

I simply leaned into him, needing more, and more, and more. I was insatiable, especially after last night.

He kissed the side of my head. "Figured I'd surprise you."

Then he brought his mouth to my ear. "I wanted to deliver them in person, but you explicitly forbade that."

My skin turned to goose bumps, his hot breath on my ear taking me right back to our night together.

"See what you do to me?" I pointed at my arms.

He pushed my sleeve farther up, kissing that spot. I felt that as if he'd kissed straight between my legs. Holy shit, we were in the Quarter, and he was turning me on by doing nothing more than whispering sweet nothings—not even sexy things—in my ear and kissing my forearm. I didn't even recognize myself.

He’d looked up from my hand before straightening, amusement clear in his eyes. He knew what he was doing and how good he was at it.

"So, what are we doing on Saturday?"

He was holding my hand, interlacing our fingers. My first instinct was to ask myself if this was all for show, but there was no one to show off for. It seemed like an incredibly romantic thing for two grown-ass adults to do. I vividly remembered him telling me that he didn't do relationships, so this handholding thing had to be as new to him as it was to me.

"There's a restaurant I really like around here. I've made some special arrangements for us. It's best if you dress a bit warm."

That was interesting, but perhaps we were in one of those inner courtyards that I loved so much.

"Got it."

We arrived in Jackson Square sooner than I'd wanted to.

"Where's the station?" he asked.

I burst out laughing.

"Hey, don't judge me. I've never used it."

"You don't use public transportation at all?" I asked.

"Streetcar sometimes, but that's it."

"Across the park," I told him.

We walked straight through the park. It looked lovely at this time of night with the lampposts lightly covered in fog and St. Louis Church beautifully lit up.

“This area is so romantic at night. I like when it gets this foggy."

"We can gallivant through the Quarter after our dinner," Julian said.

"Oh, yes, yes, yes. That's an amazing idea."

He grinned at me. "You're fascinating."

We both stopped suddenly, and he turned to me.

"How do you mean that?"

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