Page 7 of If We Never Met

"Great," she said, as she followed Dante out of the restaurant. When they got outside, she turned and shook her head. "I can't believe you made that up."

"You sent me an SOS, I answered. At least, I thought it was an SOS. Was I wrong?" he queried.

"No, you weren't wrong." Now that they were standing, she suddenly realized how tall and athletically built he was, with broad shoulders and long, lean legs. More butterflies danced through her stomach. "Thank you. I was feeling a little desperate."

"Are you also feeling a little hungry?" He held up the bag in his hand.

"Is that what's left of your burger?"

"Fish tacos. I ordered them for you."

She was shocked. "No way. Why?"

He tipped his head. "I felt bad for not telling you that you had the wrong guy."

She had a feeling she'd actually had the right guy, but he was taken.

"Forgive me? You did say the tacos are out of this world."

"And yet you ordered a burger," she couldn't help pointing out.

"Next time I'll get the tacos. I was craving some red meat tonight." He handed her the bag.

"Thank you for the food and for the save. He was a nice guy, but I think it was going to take him another hour to decide what he wanted to eat."

"I hate people who take forever to read a menu," he said lightly.

"Me, too. And I gave him recommendations. I even suggested we share something, but I don't think he's a guy who shares his food."

"Very telling."

"I think so," she said. "If you share, you get to eat two things instead of one."

"You don't have to convince me. I love to share."

She licked her lips, wanting to keep Dante talking, even though she shouldn't. "Do you want to walk down to the park, keep me company while I eat my tacos? There's a nice view of the lake from there."

"That sounds good." He suddenly swore, his gaze darting across the street. "Dammit. Sorry. I gotta go."

Her jaw dropped as he took off running across the parking lot. A van came to a squealing stop not far from her, and a photographer jumped out, racing after Dante, but he had already disappeared around the corner of the building.

What was going on? Who the hell was Dante?

Chapter Two

Keira really shouldn't be chasingdown a man who had acted in a shady manner, not just once but twice, but she couldn't stop herself. She'd eaten her tacos in the car, hoping that Dante would come back. When he hadn't, she'd decided to drive across town to the Firefly Inn and talk to her friend Lizzie Cole.

But she was having second thoughts as she entered the inn. It really wasn't her business who he was. Dante had a girlfriend. And she had enough distractions in her life; she didn't need anymore. But she couldn't get him out of her head, and she knew she wasn't going to until she figured out who he was.

"Keira, what are you doing here?" Lizzie asked in surprise. Lizzie was an attractive woman with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile that warmed up a room. "I thought you had a big date tonight."

"That news traveled fast. I only decided to go this afternoon."

"I ran into Hannah earlier. She told me she'd finally convinced you to accept a date."

"Yes. She wants me to work on getting a plus one for her wedding."

"How was he? I'm guessing not so good, since it's…" Lizzie looked at the grandfather clock in the hallway. "Seven forty-five."

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