Page 8 of Jack of Hearts
“Good-looking man.”
“And he knows it. If he makes you feel at all uncomfortable, kick me under the table, and I’ll knock out one or two of his teeth. Won’t be so good-looking then.” Ever since he’d pulled Ramon off Madison, he’d been itching to rearrange the man’s face.
She slipped her hand around his arm as they approached the table. “Tell me this isn’t personal for you, Alex,” she said quietly.
He’d said too much. “No, just can’t abide a man going where he’s not welcome, that’s all. Let’s walk by them first, see if he’ll call us over. Make him think it’s his idea we join them.” He turned his attention on her as they passed. “Laugh at something I said.”
She laughed as she leaned her head toward him, her cheek brushing his shoulder. “You’re such a funny man, Alex. You know what they say, a hot guy who can make a girl laugh is a deadly combination.”
Her words were spoken softly so that only he could hear, and to an observer, it would appear as if they couldn’t take their eyes off each other. That there was no sexual chemistry between them, he found interesting. Actually, he’d not picked up on any of his fellow FBI cohorts thinking of her as anything but one of the team.
She was a woman who turned the heads of every male she walked by, though, and he didn’t miss the envious looks directed his way. If she had a steady man in her life, no one knew, although being the gossipy men they were, they’d often speculated about her private life.
Just when he thought they were going to have to pretend to notice Ramon and Madison, he heard his name called. “Showtime,” he whispered. He put an arm around Taylor and led her to the table. “Ramon, dude, didn’t know you were back in town.”
Ramon stood, his eyes on Taylor’s chest. “Just got back today. Have a seat and catch me up on what I’ve been missing.”
The bastard pulled out the seat next to him, clearly wanting Taylor close to him. Alex let go of her and sat next to Madison. Her lemony scent was the first thing to hit him. It reminded him of the hot summer days when his mother would bring him an ice-cold glass of lemonade to make the chores his father had assigned him tolerable. He hadn’t thought of those times until recently, when he was close enough to Madison to catch her scent.
Shaking off the direction his thoughts had veered, he said, “Ramon, you devil, you try to steal my date, we’re gonna have words.” As expected, Ramon’s eyes lit with pleasure that he’d been challenged. The fool. If anyone could best Ramon at his own game, it was Taylor.
“Introduce us,” Ramon said, his head bent, giving him a better view of the cleavage showing above the low cut of Taylor’s dress.
Alex would have killed him then and there if he’d leered at Madison like that.You gotta stop thinking of Madison as yours, dude.
“Ramon, this is Taylor. Taylor, my friend Ramon Alonzo.” He nodded at Madison. “This is Madison Parker, Ramon’s cousin.” He’d intentionally left off Taylor’s last name. If asked, they would tell Ramon it was Crawford, an alias already set up if anyone was curious enough to check.
Ramon, being the ass that he was, slipped his hand under Taylor’s and brought her fingers to his lips. While Ramon’s attention was on Alex’s partner, Alex slanted his head and gave Madison an eye roll. She smiled back, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Had Ramon already acted inappropriately with her?
Their waiter arrived to take their drink orders. “I always forget what I like,” Taylor said, giggling. “It’s pink and fuzzy, and it tickles my nose.”
Madison muttered something under her breath, and Alex leaned toward her. “Pardon?”
She gave a little shake of her head. “I’ll have a glass of Merlot, whatever your house brand is,” she said to the waiter, as Ramon attempted to help Taylor figure out what kind of drink she wanted.
“My date,” Alex nodded toward Taylor, “wants a Magic Fuzzy Pink.”
“That’s it!” Taylor exclaimed, giving Alex a brilliant smile as if he were a genius.
“I was just going to suggest that,” Ramon said.
Alex winked at Taylor, and her smile grew brighter. The woman should be on the stage. She had Ramon thoroughly convinced that although she was gorgeous, her elevator didn’t reach the top floor. His favorite kind of woman.
“I need to find the restroom,” Madison said, pushing away from the table.
As Alex watched her walk away, the first thing that came to mind was how fresh and pretty she looked in her colorful dress. The second was how much he wanted to see her long red hair spread out over her pillow, and her cat-green eyes darkened with desire while he was deep inside her.News flash, Alex. Not gonna happen.Yeah, he had to stop forgetting that.
He didn’t like the dull look in her eyes, though. Reaching his hand under the table, he slipped out his phone and made it buzz. “I gotta take this,” he said. Ramon waved him off, and Alex slipped out of his seat, making his way to the women’s bathroom. He leaned against the wall outside the door and waited for Madison to appear.
Madison ran a brush through her hair and then freshened her lipstick. “It tickles my nose,” she muttered, mimicking Taylor’s giggle. There was no denying the woman was gorgeous, but she didn’t have the brains God gave a cabbage.
How disappointing that Alex would go for someone like that. In the few conversations she’d had with him, he’d seemed intelligent, like a man who enjoyed lively conversation. They had even talked about the books they liked when he’d learned of High Tea and Black Cat Books.
She supposed she couldn’t hide in the bathroom the rest of the night, but she so did not want to sit at that table and watch him wink and smile at his date for the next few hours. Maybe she could plead a headache and leave the two men to battle over the bimbo’s attentions, since they both seemed to be enchanted by her.
“Blah.” She made a face in the mirror. Actually, Alex had done her a favor by showing her how shallow he was. As of now, she was over him. She would go back, finish her wine, and then make her excuses. After snapping her purse shut, she washed and dried her hands, holding on to the paper towel to open the door. She gave the management a nod of approval for placing a trash can at the exit.
“I was beginning to think you’d climbed out the window and gone home.”
