Page 13 of The Temptation
Pierce grunted and turned toward the counter, leaving me hoping he’d return without the grimace. I watched from my table as the two female baristas fought over who got to take hisorder and who got to make it. I smirked. They were barking up the wrong tree. Pierce Sutton was gay, with a capital G-A-Y. My dilemma was getting the chance to stake my claim.
He returned a few minutes later with a complicated latte and a somewhat mellower expression, because who didn’t feel a little better about themselves after someone flirted with them?
“We should talk,” Pierce declared the moment he sat down.
“Of course.” I lounged back in my chair and grinned brightly up at him. “However, I won’t listen to comments like how the kiss shouldn’t have happened or that the kiss was one-sided or even that you didn’t enjoy it.”
Pierce’s lips parted, but no sound came out. A delicious blush stained the highest points of his cheeks. God, he was hot. It was wrong how attractive this man was, and he only got sexier when I left him speechless.
His mouth snapped shut, and he cleared his throat. “I didn’t ask you here to discuss what happened at Declan’s birthday party, but I see that we need to before we can move on.”
This time, it was my turn to be rendered speechless. He had something else he wanted to talk to me about? Pierce had my full attention now.
“Fine. You kissed me. We were both intoxicated and not thinking. Regardless of how it might have felt, it is an act we cannot repeat,” Pierce continued.
“Wow. Can you sound more like a boring lawyer?”
“Yes, I can.”
My lips twitched against my best effort to hold on to my glower.Asshole. He was not allowed to make me smile. At least, not for real.
“Not only do I plan for us to repeat it, but you’re also going to enjoy it. You’re going to instigate it and crave more.”
“Simon.” My name was a warning, and I knew from years of practice how far I could push him.
“Anyway, you wanted something,” I prompted, showing that I was willing to move on from our unresolved kiss discussion.
“Yes.” Pierce dropped his dark eyes from my face to glare at his cooling latte in the oversized blue mug between his hands. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. As if it were an afterthought, he lifted his mug and took a deep drink.
“Geez, please don’t tell me someone died,” I broke in.
Pierce’s wide-eyed gaze snapped back to my face. “What? No!”
“Well, you’re having a lot of difficulty spitting out your problem. I’m beginning to panic a little over here.”
Those perfect lips twisted into something like a wry grin. “No. Nobody has died, but I’m beginning to wish I had for getting myself into this mess in the first place.”
Okay, now this was becoming interesting. I shoved my nearly empty cup aside and leaned forward, resting my forearms on the table. “Now I’ve really gotta know what happened. Let’s start with the obvious. Did you murder someone?”
“Are you kidding? That’s the obvious?”
I shrugged. “It could be accidental murder.”
“Manslaughter,” he corrected.
“Whatever.”
“No, this isn’t about murder or death of any kind.”
Judging by the way Pierce was glaring at me, though, I’d have believed it if he were contemplating my murder.
“Okay, my second guess would be that you woke up married to some woman you just met during a trip to Vegas. But we both know that it’s not possible,because you’re gay.”
Yeah, maybe I’d said that last part a bit louder than necessary because I could see the two baristas out of the corner of my eye watching Pierce.
Get a clue. Move on, sweeties.
Pierce glared at me. Not amused.
