Page 8 of Passion and Deception

“Your Highness?” Asti prompted again.

Ramit growled. “This is a personal matter. I will handle this, but I appreciate your offer of assistance.”

The man said something more, but Ramit was too angry at being manipulated to listen. He ended the call and returned the phone to his bodyguard. “Tomorrow night at eight thirty at the TBC club.”

“Your friends own that place, correct?”

Ramit nodded grimly. “Yes, and I’ll have to apologize to them for putting their establishment into the middle of this mess!” He looked around, spotting his other guards. Two of them had gone up to the dessert truck while he’d been on the phone.

Apparently, a large number of other people meandering around the park had also decided to get dessert, so the line was relatively long. Thankfully, everyone’s order was efficiently taken by the food truck operators and prepared quickly, so it wasn’t long before his bodyguard took possession of several dessert bowls.

Even as he watched, Ramit’s mouth watered as he stared down at the enormous desserts.

“I didn’t know which she’d prefer, so I got an assortment,” the guard explained.

Ramit nodded his approval, then picked up a strawberry shortcake dessert and the brownie. “These will work. Thank you.” Then he turned and headed back to Maggie.

His irritation over his prime minister’s incompetence disappeared as soon as he sat down on the blanket next to Maggie. There was something soothing about her presence.

Correction, her soothing manner helped ease his temper. But Ramit didn’t consider her to be soothing. Not when he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, kiss her until neither of them knew what day it was.

As his body tightened at the images flashing through his mind, Ramit forced himself to think of something less salacious. If he didn’t gain control, it would be embarrassingly obvious what he was thinking. And Ramit didn’t want to scare Maggie away.

“Which would you prefer?” he asked, showing her the dessert options.

“Wow!” she laughed, pulling back slightly as she stared in awe at the strawberry and chocolate options. “How about if we share them both?”

Ramit had never shared food with someone before. It was such an outrageous idea, he hesitated for a long moment. When she looked embarrassed, he shook his head. “I think that’s a perfect solution,” he admitted. And he was stunned that it was the truth. He really did want to share this experience with her. Hell, he wanted to drizzle chocolate and strawberry syrup all over her body and enjoy her as his dessert.

Later, he vowed, not allowing his eyes to move over her curvy figure. And whipped cream! The decadent thought popped into his head before he could stop it.

“Oh, this is wonderful!” she whispered, licking the spoon after taking a bite of the brownie. “I love that they warm the brownies.”

Ramit had to admit that he was more focused on her tongue as it licked the last bit of whipped cream off her lip. But he forced his eyes to look away. It took a great deal of concentration to maneuver a bite of the chocolate brownie, ice cream, syrup, and whipped cream onto his spoon, but his reward was a mouthful of chocolate decadence.

Nodding approvingly as he relished the indulgence of the chocolate brownie dessert, he smiled. "That's fantastic!" he declared, gesturing toward the chocolate decadence. He repeated the gesture for the strawberry creation, finding it equally delightful.

“Oh wow!” she sighed, closing her eyes and tilting her head backwards.

Ramit’s thoughts instantly went to her neck and how much he wanted to tease that soft, delicate skin, to discover all of the places on that neck that would cause her to sigh and moan.

Instead, he looked down and took another bite of chocolate. “We need some brandy with this,” he thought out loud.

She laughed. “I’m not a brandy fan.”

“You just haven’t had really good brandy,” he countered. “Next time we dine together, I will ensure that you can experience an excellent brandy.”

He watched her stunned expression, then smiled at the soft blush that stole up her cheeks.

“That would be…nice,” she finally muttered, then took another bite of the strawberry concoction.

For the next two hours, Ramit asked Maggie questions and she learned more about him. They walked along the riverfront, laughing at the kids playing nearby and talking about anything and everything. It was one of the most delightful dates Maggie had ever had.

When it was over, Ramit walked her to her car. She looked up at him, having a terrible foreboding that she wasn’t ever going to see him again.

“Thank you for meeting me tonight,” she whispered, her eyes moving from his dark eyes to his lips. Was he going to kiss her? Maggie normally pulled back when a man wanted to kiss on a first date. It was silly, but she needed to know a man more than just a few hours before she kissed him.

But Ramit was…different. There had been that one moment of concern when he’d asked where she lived earlier today, but ever since then, he’d been nothing but gentle and respectful. And funny, insightful, and…just delightful to be with!

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