Page 29 of Revelation (Love Isn't What It Seems 3)

“I’m not letting you go till you eat,” he insisted. He was already pulling me into the cafe. “Want to sit outside or inside?”

“Um, outside.”

He pulled out the chair for me and then seated himself. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from him. He wore a suit, but somewhere along the way, he’d discarded his blazer. He looked like he just stepped off the cover ofGQ. His simmering gaze locked with mine, and I couldn’t look away.

Why do you affect me unlike anyone before,I whispered the silent question in my head.

His thin white shirt clearly showed his strong abs, and if I wasn’t careful, I could start drooling. His rolled-up sleeves, showing off his strong forearms, revealing just a peekaboo of ink. Not enough to distinguish what it was. He leaned back, his one hand casually in his tailored suit pants.

I swallowed hard. There was no denying it. Maxim Caldwell was a fine specimen.

“Layla?” His voice brought me back to earth and left my drooling firmly behind.

“Yes?”

“What are you in the mood for?” Images flashed in my mind, making my skin instantly hot. Burning over every single inch of my body.Oh my gosh, I’m going to burn out.

I found myself fanning myself, and Maxim’s eyebrows scrunched. “Are you alright?”

No.

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded my response. I couldn’t very well tell him he caused my inner body flames.

“What food did you have in mind?”

Oh, of course. He was talking about food. I caught his lip curl into a cocky grin, and suddenly I had a feeling he knew exactly what happened to me.

“Whatever you are eating.” I cleared the breathlessness from my throat, trying to slow down my heartbeat. This man was killing me, in the best way possible.

He flagged a waiter who quickly scurried over. I watched him as he ordered, but for the life of me, I couldn’t grasp a single word he uttered. All I could focus on was the way his Adam’s apple moved as he talked and the lines on his neck. Those broad shoulders and his biceps. This man waslickable. I was an idiot to even think he wasn’t my type. He totally was.

The smell of his woodsy cologne and fresh soap surrounded me and my body leaned in, as if it needed his heat. What the hell was happening with me around this man?

Now that the waiter was gone, his eyes studied my face. I wondered if he could see this intense attraction I felt towards him. I denied it from the first moment our eyes connected, but it was there all along. Maybe I was too tired to pretend today or maybe I was tired of waiting for my life to start.

I frowned. The blackmailer though. I had to do something about that. Who in their right mind would want to date someone that had a blackmailer hanging over their head for the rest of their life.

I blinked, startled at my own thoughts. The thought of dating hadn’t entered my mind in a while.

“I can almost see the wheels turning in your head.” Maxim said, a small smile playing around his lips. I have never met a man with such nice lips. “Penny for your thoughts?”

I scoffed, despite warmth spreading through my chest. “My thoughts are worth a lot more than a penny,” I joked.

“You are probably right,” he mused. “A pound for your thoughts.”

I chuckled. “I guess that’s better.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“About the fact that I knew Livy was my half-sister and decided not to tell her?” I asked him. “Or everything else?”

“Anything.” His deep voice did things to me. “And everything. I want to know it all.”

I furrowed my eyebrow. Nobody had ever wanted to know anything about me. Or maybe I didn’t let them. But for the first time, it became painfully apparent that I kept myself so closed in, I wasn’t even sure how to get out.

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