Page 18 of The Sweetmate
As he walks away, Lisa asks, “Are you excited for the competition?”
She’s probably trying to bring me back into the conversation. I can’t even hide the enthusiasm in my voice. “You have no idea. I can assure everyone that this is going to completely change the public’s image of me. They’ll finally see the real Casey Riis. I’m still that goofy guy who likes to joke around and tease, and not the playboy they think I am. I can’t wait to reveal myself.”
Lisa chokes and sputters. “Poor choice of words. No revealing.”
“Why? What’s wrong with a reveal?” I love the color that creeps up her neck. Holding her stare, I playfully say, “Okay. I want to expose myself.”
“I think I liked reveal better. Fine. We’ll tease and say the ‘The big reveal: the real Casey Riis.’”
The others at the table nod and agree that they like her idea. Of course, I snicker. “I appreciate you using the wordbigreveal.”
“Referring only to your ego.”
I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun eating dinner. Lisa comes off as too serious, but she’s actually quite witty. She’s the exact opposite of what you’d expect her to be. I’ve always been annoyed by people who fit into boxes. I appreciate how direct and honest she is with me. I also appreciate how her eyes eat me up when she doesn’t think I’m paying attention.
The waiter clears our plates and replaces them with plates of flan.
Lisa must take my silence as me being upset. “I’m sorry, did I hurt your fragile ego?”
“Despite what you think about my ego, I’m the type of guy who can take a blow.” I wink at her.
Lisa leans forward and whispers, “You strike me as the type who takes his blows prematurely.”
“Instead of assuming, why don’t you do your research and find out for yourself?”
Very slowly, Lisa leans back into her seat. She takes her spoon and scoops up some of the caramelized custard dessert. Her pink lips wrap around the spoon as her eyes fall closed. She deliberately releases a pornographic moan.
Well, that got the attention of everyone sitting around us.
“You play dirty!” I hiss.
The two execs clear their throats. One of them announces, “I’m certainly excited to try this now.”
I bet you are,I fume to myself. She licks her lips and then sighs. Leaning forward, I snarl.
“You’re faking it. That’s not a real foodgasm. Don’t act like this out-of-the-box monstrosity is as good as what I gave you this morning.”
“What makes you think it came out of a box? Anddon’t knock desserts from a box, okay? I can make an amazing Devil’s Food Cake from a box mix.”
“So you’re not denying that it was fake.”
We take a moment to stare each other down. Who will break first? Instead, we both laugh and go back to eating the flan and paying attention to the other two at our table. To be fair, the flan is delicious, but I plan to top it. I’m going to make it so that nothing else can compare to the foodgasms I give her. Those sounds of pleasure will only be for me.
Chapter 5
Lisa
When we return to the room, I walk straight to the bedroom and take a few moments to compose myself. I’m being ridiculous. Everything is fine. There was a moment of flirting—me being more brazen than I’ve ever been in my life, and him acting jealous over me enjoying dessert. Other than those weird moments, the meeting went wonderfully. We have a game plan. Everything. Is. Fine.
I plan to spend the rest of the evening doing my best to avoid Casey so there’s no risk of us sharing another heated look. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him as a boy wanting to bake. He seems like the guy who would’ve easily been the most popular jock at school. But he wasn’t. He faced his own insecurities and peer pressure. Which explainsa lot.I’m no psychologist, but his need to flirt and be over-the-top charming must come from trying to prove himself. He could easily get any of those guys’ wives now—any woman he wants. But it’s not enough for him to know it; he wants the world to know it. Except now, all that has backfired. He’s being made out to be a manwhore, when at the end of the day, he’s just a silly, overgrown boy. It’s all lies. He isn’tthatguy, but it’s like he can’t help himself. It’s a habit or reflex for him to seduce. Yet knowing all this, I still keep falling for him. I melt every time he throws me that smile full of delicious promises, when I know it’s simply his charisma and past trauma speaking. He’s not serious about his attraction toward me. I have to remember that, because he’s easily the type of guy I could see myself getting a broken heart over.
My phone dings.
Mr. Casey Riis:Can you please join me in the kitchen?
So much for trying to avoid him for the rest of the evening. I’m tempted to make up an excuse, but that’s unprofessional and cowardly. I can do this.
Me:I’ll be right there, sir.
