Page 60 of Captivated By You

“This is my girlfriend, Kiana.”

I shook Catriona’s hand, but as I moved to shake Garen’s, his eyes narrowed, and he scrutinized me with such intensity that I squirmed under his sharp gunmetal-gray eyes.

“Do I know you?” he asked.

Ash stiffened beside me. Startled, I shook my head. “I-I don’t think so.”

“Hmm, you look awfully familiar.”

He continued to stare until Catriona gave him a dig and diverted his attention. Ash angled his head in query. I shrugged.No idea.

We sat, and the awkward moment passed. The wine flowed, as did the conversation. Catriona was so easy to talk to, and I forgot all about the earlier awkwardness. She had me laughing with tales of meeting Garen and the tough time she’d given him. She’d made him work for it; that was for sure. From what I could glean from the last couple of hours, the man was what my mom would term a “tricky customer.” A complex man with multiple layers, yet Catriona handled him with ease.

“How did you meet Asher?”

Ah.“Um…” I bit my lip.

“We met in a bar,” Ash interjected. “And she seduced me.”

My mouth gaped open. “I didnotseduce you. It was you who did all the seducing.”

Ash laughed, snaking his palm across the back of my neck. Goose bumps sprang up along my nape as he squeezed. “And then she found out who I was and refused to have a thing to do with me. Made me work for it.”

“Sounds vaguely familiar,” Garen drawled.

Catriona rolled her eyes. “Your version of seducing, my darling Garen, was to steal a company that had been in my family for generations from right under my nose.”

His palms came up, and he looked at the woman sitting beside him with such adoration in his expression that even I fell under his spell. “In my defense, I made that up to you.”

Catriona’s eyes softened. “Yes, you did.”

Pulling my gaze away from the private moment, I faced Asher—only to see the same level of adoration on his face as I’d seen on Garen’s. I squirmed. A look like that could melt my panties right off.

“A toast,” Asher announced as he and Garen wrapped up their business discussion. “To challenging women who always keep us on our toes.”

“And asshole men who need to be kept in line,” I countered.

Catriona laughed, raising her wineglass. “I’ll drink to that.”

Garen, though, didn’t join in. He was studying me again, his fingers rubbing over his lips in concentration. And then his eyes widened, and he sat up straight.

“I’ve got it.”

“Got what?” Catriona asked.

“I’ve remembered where I know you from.”

A sense of dread ran over my skin, raising the hairs on my arms and neck and causing a shiver to skate down my spine. I had no memory of meeting this man before tonight, yet now he seemed certain we’d met before.

God, please don’t let it be something awful, like a drunken fumble that I didn’t remember, or worse.

“You spilled an entire bowl of spaghetti carbonara in my lap at a restaurant in Chicago.”

Oh, fuck.

I remembered the incident all too well. It’d been my first server gig after that fucking bastard had betrayed me, and I’d been so nervous my hands had shaken all night. Gia had gotten me the temporary job at her restaurant. They’d needed additional waitstaff for a few weeks to get them through the busy holiday season. I’d tripped while serving a table of six and dumped the entire plate in some dude’s lap.

Butthis dude?What were the chances?

---