Page 20 of In Control

“No.”

“You bore easily.”

My eyes flick back to his. “Y-y-yes, I guess I do.”

He nods, clearly satisfied with his deduction. “So do I get that second date?”

“We could skip straight past that,” I say, sliding the remaining half of the chip between my lips. “And you could take me home to your place.”

He groans as if I just gutted him. “As tempting as that sounds, Sophia, I’m going to take another gamble and hold out on that second date.”

I pout at him and shrink back in my chair.

Without warning, he grabs my seat and drags it around the table so I’m sitting right alongside him.

“No sulking,” he says, then leans in to whisper in my ear, his breath hot, “you have no idea how tempting that is.”

“Not tempting enough,” I mutter.

“I’d like to get to know you better, Sophia.” He kisses the tender skin beneath my ear. I shiver and close my eyes, enjoying the pressure of his lips there. I want him to drag me onto his lap, but I’m curious. He’s different to the other men I’ve dated over the last few years. Certainly, none have dragged me out for a doner kebab.

I twist my head to meet his sky-blue eyes. “You’ve set yourself some high standards now. I’m looking forward to seeing how you’ll top this date.”

He laughs. “Give me your number,” he tells me, “and you’ll find out.”

5

Liam

I’ve never beenable to walk away from a challenge. Especially a challenge laid down by a beautiful woman who has me intrigued. Sure, she’s a little young for me, but despite my teasing, she hadn’t come across as young. In fact, she seemed more mature than many of the women my own age I’ve dated.

I spend the next 48 hours fixated on finding a date venue that will knock her socks off. Hopefully, more than just her socks. I’m planning to seduce her. Thoroughly and completely.

Sure, I’d had my opportunity to do so the other night, but I hadn’t been kidding. She reminds me of one of my packmates. Only interested in the quick hits, the rushed hook-ups, the one-night stands. That’s not me. I’ve always been interested in something more real, more genuine, more long term.

I want Sophia in my bed. But I want her there more than once.

In the end, I resort to asking Marcus. He’s my surgical assistant and while we’re scrubbing up for surgery, I decide to pick his brains.

“Where would you take a date if you wanted to wow them?” I ask him.

He pauses the rubbing of his hands, the foam bubbles popping under the sterile light.

“You’re dating again? Didn’t you just break up with Claire?”

I shrug, rinsing my hands under the hot stream of water. “Claire, was nothing serious. I was a rebound after her ex-husband. She was a bit of companionship for a while.”

“You don’t have companionship with your pack?”

“This is different.” I shake my hands over the sink. “So come on, where would you take them?”

“Liam, you earn about five times what I do. I’m sure you can think of any number of fancy restaurants.”

“I’m not interested in fancy restaurants,” I scoff. “This woman’s not interested in that.” I lean against the sink, waiting for him to finish cleaning his hands. “I took her to Hussain’s for our first date.”

Marcus’s head snaps towards me. “You’re fucking kidding me?”

“Nope. And she liked it.”

---