Page 47 of The Heiress's First Date

“This is amazing.”

I smirk. “They’ll be thrilled to hear that.”

“How have I lived here so long and never tried this place?”

“Did you know about it?”

He shakes his head.

“Then you can’t fault yourself.”

He pauses mid-chew as if I’ve just said something extremely profound. After a moment, he gathers himself and finishes his bite.

His gaze drops to my lips. “Do I have a glob of mustard or something?”

I wipe my mouth with a napkin, and he shakes his head. Awareness crackles between us, the kind of potent electricity that I’ve only felt with Katherine.

Oh hell. As if our situationship wasn’t complicated enough.

I look away, not ready for him to see the emotions churning through me. Not ready to dissect them myself.

The bell over the front door rings its familiar tune, and I reach for a handful of chips.

“Thanks for coming with me today,” he says.

“No problem. Glad I could help.”

“I want to move fast on the renovation.”

My gaze flicks to him. Just a brush. Then moves around the room. “Money greases wheels. You know that.”

He nods. “Yeah. But?—”

“I know.” It’s actually pretty sweet how attached he is to that house. And to the project. Bringing something back to prime condition isn’t easy. I can’t wait to see how it turns out. What the future will bring?

That’s a scary thought. There are so many unknowns. Alex. Gabe. This new attraction brewing between the two of us. And the world is not likely to embrace such a unique relationship.

“You okay? Something wrong with your sandwich?” he asks in a hushed tone.

The sandwich is fine. It’s all thewhat-ifsswirling around in my brain, making me uneasy.

My phone buzzes in my pocket just as he leans away to reach for his.

“Text from Alex?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

Alex: You guys mind if I steal Katherine for the weekend?

18

KATHERINE

I lace my fingers through Alex’s as we approach his plane. What an amazing day. My soul needed this. Time off. Time away.

It’d been hard to say goodbye to Shon. No one keeps me grounded the way she does. Not even King.

The attendant greets us at the top of the steps. The old me would have dropped Alex’s hand, not wanting to give any ammunition to the stories about us. But if I trust his bodyguards to keep our secrets, surely I can trust his flight crew.

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