Page 27 of Abduction
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“JOSH!” AKIO CALLEDto me as soon as I stepped into my favorite sushi restaurant in the city. The owner had known my father for years. They’d been involved in some shady business back in the day, when he had first been setting this place up, and there’d always been a table here reserved for any member of the family who wanted it.
“Evening, Akio,” I greeted him as he came out from behind the counter to give me a warm hug and usher me to a private seat near the back of the restaurant. I knew I would be cutting it fine for what I needed to do with Tommy later this evening, but I could handle it. No way was I going to send Amber home alone, when the two of us had come so close to sealing the deal back in the aquarium.
“I’ve never been here before,” Amber told me as she took a seat opposite me, clearly a little surprised at the greeting I’d just gotten.
“Best sushi in town, trust me,” I promised her.
She tipped her head to the side, grinning. “Is this some kind of joke? Going to the aquarium and then taking me for fish?”
I laughed. “No, but can I say it is to score those points?”
“I’ll allow it,” she agreed, and she picked up the menu and started looking over it. “God, I’m starving...”
We chatted a little about the food here, about how I’d come to find out about it—I skipped out on the part where I told her I had met this guy because of my father’s work, not wanting to freak her out or make her feel like we were involved in something we shouldn’t have been. She still hadn’t asked about what I did for a living, and I hoped she kept it that way. Something told me she wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Eventually, she handed me the menu and told me to order what I thought sounded good. I wondered if she was being careful not to order something I couldn’t afford, but it wasn’t as though money was an issue here. I didn’t need to tell her that, though. I could just show her.
I ordered a selection, and within a matter of minutes, the table was groaning with food. She cast her eye over it, brows raised.
“Okay, I know I said I was hungry,” she remarked, but this might be too much, even for me.”
“Hmm, guess we’ll have to find out,” I shot back playfully. Beneath the table, I could feel her knees brushing against mine. Could she sense it, too? The chemistry between us was crackling in the air, impossible to deny, not that either of us wanted to. I had the urge to lean over the table right then and there and kiss her, but I knew I had to hold back, at least for now. I didn’t want to overstep and blow this, not when I had her out on an actual date with me.
As we ate together, I noticed her ring was turned around so the gem was pointing down toward the table. Mistake, or was she doing it on purpose so she didn’t have to look at it any longer?
“You ever go out for sushi with your fiancé?” I asked her. I knew I shouldn’t have been reminding her of him, but I wanted to know how he treated her. A woman like this, she deserved to be worshipped like a princess, and judging by what I had found out about him so far, he was failing dismally on that front.
“No, we don’t really do dates,” she replied with a shrug.
“You don’t?” I remarked, surprised. “How did you end up together, then?”
“Uh, we hooked up a couple of times, and then we wound up together after that,” she explained. “We never really did anything formal, just...hanging out.”
“He sounds like a scrub,” I told her bluntly, and she parted her lips in surprise, looking defensive.
“He’s not that bad,” she protested. “It’s just...not really our thing.”
“Not really your thing?” I asked. “Or not really his?”
“I don’t need all of that stuff,” she replied, waving her hand. “It’s not like I’m into all the old romance stuff. Besides, he’s taking care of me. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?”
“Does it?” I asked. She glanced away from me. I could tell this bothered her more than she wanted to admit.
“There are guys out there who would take care of you and romance you,” I added. “Like me.”
She laughed, surprised I would come out with it so blatantly.
“You think a lot of yourself, huh?” she asked, and I shrugged.
“I wouldn’t say it unless I knew I could follow through on it,” I replied. “Look at how quickly I got us seated in here. You see how busy it is?”
She looked around, as though just noticing for the first time. She nodded. “I guess,” she murmured.
“Yeah, exactly,” I replied. “And this isn’t the only place I can do this.”
She just looked at me for a moment, as though trying to work out whether or not she believed me. I didn’t blame her. I would bet she’d had plenty of guys offer her the world before, only to fall through when the time came. Not least this shithead fiancé of hers, who seemed to think he hardly needed to take her out to earn her love. She deserved so much better than him, and I intended to show her just what she could expect if she was to get down with me.
