Page 17 of Shattered

“Don’t act like you didn’t notice her blatantly flirting with you, right in front of me.”

“Nope, didn’t notice her at all, actually.I only have eyes for you Sara.How many times do I have to tell you this?”

Oh, I’m good.

I reached for her other hand and thankfully she gave it to me.I ran my thumbs across her knuckles, reveling in the feel of her soft skin.The longer we touched, the hotter my desire simmered just below the surface.

Our waitress returned relatively quickly, our food in tow.She glanced at me caressing Sara’s hands, shooting her an annoyed look before turning her eyes to me.

I didn’t even acknowledge her.

Keeping hold of Sara’s hands, I simply raised them up as the waitress served us.

Once she was gone, I reluctantly broke our connection.

“Shall we?”I asked, grabbing my cutlery and preparing to dig in.

“This looks really good.”

“Wait until you try it then.”I smiled and placed my first forkful into my mouth.“What are you waiting for?Dig in.”

I didn’t think she even realized she was staring at me, my words jolting her out of whatever thoughts were running through her head.She placed a small piece of salmon on her tongue, a small moan escaping in the process.

“You like?”If she keeps making those noises each time she takes a bite, I’m going to be forced to bend her over the table and take what’s mine.

Not being able to form a complete sentence, she simply mumbled, “Uh-huh.”

I laughed and continued eating.I understood completely.They had the best salmon around.

After the majority of our meal was consumed, I didn’t waste any time asking her the question I’d been dying to pose for the past hour.“Do you have any plans for next Friday?”

“No,” she answered right away, gasping as if she hadn’t meant to answer so quickly.Especially since she had no idea why I’d asked.

“I have to attend a charity dinner and wanted to know if you would be my date.” I hoped I hadn’t come across nervous, the fear of her refusing always a reality.

She hesitated a moment before answering, her eyes searching my face for something.What, I had no idea, but she could look all she wanted if it meant she would agree to accompany me.“I’d love to.What’s it for?” she asked as she took the last bite of her delicious meal.I think she’d agree to just about anything, her love of her food tipping things in my favor.

“It’s a charity for domestic violence.”

Her brows almost hit her hairline, her look telling me how much my statement shocked the hell out of her.

“What?You didn’t expect me to be involved in something which actually had merit?Maybe a charity for struggling yacht club members would be more my speed?”

The look on her face was priceless.“No…it’s not that.I…uh…”

I put her out of her misery.

“It’s all right.I’m only having a bit of fun with you.It’s fine, really.”

Nervously looking down at her lap, she fussed for a minute before meeting my eyes again.“I don’t currently own anything which would be appropriate.I’ll have to buy something, but I would have a better idea if I knew exactly what type of dress was required.”

“It’s a black tie event, so you’ll need a gown of sorts.But don’t worry about any of the details because I’ll take you to buy it.”I knew her well enough to know she was going to give me a hard time, ever the proud woman.“Don’t try to tell me no, Sara.I’m asking you to be my date, so it’s only fair you allow me to buy you the dress.”Her mouth parted as if preparing to argue, so I cut her off before the breath left her beautiful lips.“I won’t take no for an answer,” I said, hoping I wasn’t coming across too curt.

“Fine.”Thank God she didn’t argue with me.We’d been having such a nice lunch, I’d hate to taint it with her stubbornness, no matter how much her feistiness turned me on.

“That was easy enough.I wish you were so agreeable all the time.”

“Yeah, that’ll never happen.” She smirked.

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