Page 9 of The House on Blueberry Lane

He nodded. “Then Captain Scampi is the best place. Fresh seafood is flown in daily. Have you been there before?”

“Yes, once.”

He lifted a brow. “Only once?”

“Yes. I moved here from Seattle less than a year ago and went to Captain Scampi a few months back for my girlfriend’s birthday. The food was delicious.”

“It always is.” He smiled before looking at his watch. “Depending on traffic it’s twenty minutes from here. We can go in my car, and I’ll bring you back to get your car later.”

“There’s no need. I can just meet you there.”

He nodded. “I will be there waiting.”

I will be there waiting... Why did his words stir something deep within her? Something elemental. Shrugging away those thoughts, she moved to the driver’s side of her vehicle. “You think you’ll beat me there?” she asked, grinning.

He grinned as well, and she felt another stirring in the pit of her stomach. Jaye Colfax was way too handsome for his own good.

“Yes,” he said, and she knew pretending she wasn’t attracted to him would not be easy.

As she buckled her seat belt, she watched him walk to a sports car, a red Tesla Roadster. She threw her head back and laughed. Yes, he would definitely get there before her.

JAYE HAD ALREADY snagged a table that had a beautiful view of the mountains when he looked out the window and saw Velvet Spencer pulling into the parking lot. The woman was hot and that’s all it had taken to kick his libido in gear.

He felt the phone in his pant pocket vibrate and figured it was his best friend, Mercury Steele, wondering where the hell he was. They were to meet up for their usual happy-hour drinks at Notorious, a popular nightclub in town. Included in their plans were their pick of women who were always eager for a quickie. But not today for him. Mercury would just have to do it alone. He would explain things to him later and there was no doubt in his mind his best friend from grade school would understand.

He watched Velvet walk from her car to the restaurant and noted several other men in the restaurant were watching her, too. The moment he’d walked into the civic center, he had noticed her. There had not been anything particularly revealing about the outfit she was wearing, a pretty print dress that hit her knees and a short-waisted jacket. But the outfit complemented a small waist and a pair of gorgeous legs. Did he mention gorgeous legs? Everybody knew he was a leg man. He liked all the other parts, too, but a pair of gorgeous legs had always been his downfall and could get his libido riled up real fast. And when his gaze had shifted from her legs to her face, it was a wonder his tongue hadn’t fallen out of his mouth. He thought the woman was stunning and sexy all rolled into one. It had taken him a minute or two to suck in a deep breath before heading in her direction with one purpose in mind. He wasn’t a man who dwelled on the there and after; he mainly concentrated on the here and now.

He would have made it over to her booth sooner had he not been stopped by several people who he knew him, either from his high school days or business dealings. That’s one of the pitfalls of living in your hometown. People not only knew you by name, but they also knew you when...

Jaye could add a lot of words after the word when. That’s how things were when you were a close friend to those Steele brothers. All of them had notorious reputations around town regarding their sexual exploits. Reputations that they’d rightly earned. What could he say? He had earned his as well.

He stood when he saw Velvet enter the restaurant and look around. The place was packed, yet it seemed to him that all eyes were on her...and then on him when he stood. He saw the knowing looks in a few pairs of eyes, especially those who knew of his womanizing reputation. For some reason, it annoyed him that they’d immediately assume she was his next conquest. But why should it bother him when she was?

Still, there was something about Velvet Spencer’s smile that got him below the belt. She’d said she’d been in town less than a year so she might not have heard about him—mainly that he liked women. He enjoyed bedding them and the one thing he wouldn’t do was get serious about one. Ever.

He figured she probably didn’t know of his reputation. Otherwise, chances were she would not have agreed to go out to dinner with him. From the moment they’d engaged in conversation, he’d known something about her was different than his usual conquests. He just wasn’t sure what that difference was. One thing he did know was that everything he saw about Velvet spelled class. Not that I-want-to-be-classy or I-am-trying-to-be-classy. She seemed to wear an invisible banner that stated I am classy.

It was there in her smile, in the way she walked and even when she talked. He could sit and listen to the sound of her voice for hours. That’s why more than anything he wanted to get to know her...before he took her to bed. That meant he didn’t have much time because he intended to achieve the latter tonight. Plus, he had that meeting in the morning with the Empire Group that he needed to prepare for. Hmm, he found it odd that for the first time he wanted to get to know a woman before bedding her.

Most people credited him with being a good judge of character and could pretty much sum up a person and their worth within the first ten minutes of meeting them. That skill definitely helped him as a banker who didn’t have time for bullshitters, scammers and fraudulent asses who thought they could pull something over on a Colfax. It wasn’t happening. That was the main reason he had a feeling there was more to Velvet Spencer than her unusual first name.

“You did beat me here, but I’m not surprised,” she said, finally reaching their table and taking the chair he pulled out for her. “I like your car, by the way.”

“Thanks. Maybe one day I’ll take you for a spin,” he said, returning to his chair.

Jaye knew the words weren’t true because tonight was one and done. At least that’s the way the ball usually bounced. He wasn’t a man who hung around a female if, for whatever reason, she thought she could get her claws into him. Nor did he particularly like an aggressive woman who targeted the man. He liked being in control and went after the woman he wanted and not the other way around.

“Thanks for the offer, but no thanks.”

No thanks? Had she just turned down a chance to ride in his car...for the second time that day? Didn’t she know there weren’t many women around town—he honestly couldn’t think of a single one—who wouldn’t want to take a spin in his car with him? If nothing else, other than to be seen.

At that moment, the waitress walked up and smiled. “Hey, Jaye.” She looked over at Velvet and didn’t smile as much. In fact, she seemed annoyed. He honestly didn’t know why. Monica had been one of his many one-and-dones from their high school days. She had gotten a divorce last year and since then had come on to him a few times. However, he’d made it pretty clear that he wasn’t interested. And just like in high school, it appeared she didn’t know how to take no for an answer.

Monica looked back at him without even acknowledging Velvet. “You want your regular, Jaye?” Then he recalled that common decency wasn’t one of her strong suits. Regardless, he would not let her disrespect any woman who was with him.

He held her gaze. “What I really want is for you to give my dinner date the same courtesy and respect you’re giving me.”

The smile vanished from her face and an innocent look appeared. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

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