Page 32 of Soul Food

“I thought about it before.” She smoothed out her shirt and thrust her chest out. “But wouldn’t it look too weird though? I feel like it would disproportion my figure.”

I didn’t get to respond when I caught sight of a man through the window of the door before he walked off. I placed my chopsticks down and stood. “Hold on a second,” I told her as I hurried to the door and opened it.

Sure enough, I looked around to see Amit trailing down the hall with his hands in his pockets. “Amit!”

He stopped and faced me. Beads of sweat popped up on my neck as I tried to think of something to say. “What is it, Ruth?” His tone was clipped and to the point.

I made my way to him with a rehearsed expression—calm and easy.It’s all right, Ruth. He’s not as open as he had been last night at the charity event but that’s okay. You know there’s still a person beneath his obscurity. You just have to coax him out…None of that explained why I wanted to talk to Amit, and frankly, I wasn’t going to dwell on it.

“Back to being cold so soon?” I lifted my head and stared into his gray eyes.

His nostrils flared as he took me in, and my stomach dipped. He met my eyes once more before he asked, “Was there a time when I wasn’t?”

“Last night.” I smiled freely. “You didn’t seem so bad then.”

He looked absolutely disturbed. “Don’t remind me,” he sighed. “Is there something you need?” The crease in his forehead let me know how much it pained him to ask me.

Somehow, his distant behavior intrigued me. I had no other way of putting it. The more he tried to keep his distance, the more I wanted to know why he treated me so weird. Our association was only through the company which meant nothing, so why did he act so strange toward me?

“Do you want to buy me dinner?” I asked.

His eyes hardened. “You just ate.”

He didn’t make approaching him easy. I sighed. “Would you like to buy me a drink then?” I suggested.

“If that’s what you want,” he said slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Let me grab my purse.”

______

John drove us since Amit never offered to take us himself. On the way to the bar, Amit didn’t leave an opening for conversation. His giant, eccentric aura, as he sat in the backseat with me, only made my skin tingle. It was thrilling as well as scary the way my desire ran rampant every time he was near. The entire drive was quiet but that was fine too since I couldn’t stop myself from picturing how his arms would feel around me. Or what was beneath the suit he wore. He was muscular, that was obvious, but I wanted more—to know how every inch of his skin looked, how he felt, and how hetasted.

Jayne was right. I was extremely attracted to Amit. He screamed male. His aloofness didn’t push me away. Instead, it pulled me in like an erotic magnet—drawing me in a way I’d never felt before.

Looking out my window, I decided how much I loathed the demon and his thirst to kill anyone who wanted me.

This man, less than two feet from me, had me salivating like one of Pavlov’s dogs.

When we arrived at the bar, we used the back entrance and chose a private booth in a darkened corner—I always chose spots away from the eyes of the public.

He could barely squeeze between the round table and cushioned seats next to me. I noticed his obvious reluctance to get close to me but couldn’t stop the hot circuits burning through my stomach at his nearness. Like in the car, I was hot all over again. He was so close, and we were more or less alone. I could see no one else in the fancy bar but him. When the waiter came over, I ordered cocktails while Amit remained stoic and quiet. I imagined his rigid posture had something to do with me staring a hole through him.

“Are you always so talkative?” I asked him as I took a sip.

“Always,” he said, his attention focused on the untouched glass in his hand.

“Do you have a wife?” I leaned into the table and spotted his ringless left hand. “Girlfriend?” I almost said girlfriends, but Amit didn’t seem the type to juggle women. He barely tolerated being with me.

Finally, his icy gaze settled on me. “Are you attracted to me, Ruth?”

Averting my eyes, I considered how to respond. Meekly, I said, “Yes” and took another sip.

“Don’t be.”

Lifting my head, my gaze met his more intense one. I rolled my eyes and muttered, “Okay.I’ll be sure to tell my attraction to go away.”

Like physical attraction, especially one this strong, could be willed away—it doesn’t work like that. Who could decipher why we were drawn to some people while repelled by others? Although Amit and I had little to say to each other, our bodies communicated on a sexual level. Don’t blame me. His body started the dialogue.

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