Page 3 of The Vegas Lie

“I apologize for the way I approached you,” he said. “I’m man enough to admit that I was wrong.”

She clenched her jaw to prevent her mouth from falling open. An apology was the last thing she would have expected from someone like him.

“I’d like to try a different approach,” he continued. “I have reservations at a restaurant here at the hotel for later this evening. I was supposed to meet with a friend, but would you join me instead, Raina?”

There was something about the way he said her name, something about the low, rumbling timbre of his voice that made her throat go dry.

“You should keep your word,” she said. “This person might even be unstable enough to be looking forward to going out with you.”

The side of his mouth twitched. “To be honest, I’m having dinner with a colleague…who’s also an ex. Should I still go?”

“Good manners means you have to show up to your obligation.”

“What if I don’t want to be good?”

Apparently, not only the sound of her name on his lips made her throat go dry. The deepening of his voice, the sly smile on his handsome face, and the way he repeatedly sucked wine from his bottom lip? If she wasn’t mistaken, he was leaving contentious and headed toward flirtatious.

“If I’m being honest, Raina?” He used the napkin to pat the damp hair clinging to his forehead. “I did plan to keep my word until a couple of hours ago.”

“And what happened a couple of hours ago?”

“I’ll explain over dinner.”

“Dr. Saraci, what if this is your second chance with someone who’ll end up being the love of your life?”

“I’ll take my chances.”

She shoved her chair back to place a wider gap between them. “Something tells me you only want to have dinner with me to try to force me to see your point of view.”

“You’re not all the way incorrect, but convincing is not coercion.”

“Dr. Saraci, what did I do to you?” she asked. “What made you not only seek me out but walk across a room full of peoplejustto annoy the hell out of me?”

He snorted. “I doubt an exorcism could get ‘the hell’ out of you.”

She stood and tried to walk off, but he grabbed her elbow and directed her back to the chair, his hold borderline tender.

“Dinner would give me a chance to explain.” He released her, one finger at a time. “See, that usually works for me. Now I’m wondering whether that’s the reason those relationships never seemed to make it off the ground.”

She frowned. “Relationships? What are you talking about?”

“What just happened between us. The banter.”

“Banter?”

“Yes. I’m flirting with you, Raina.”

She nearly swallowed her tongue. “That wasn’t flirting.”

“Then what would you call it?”

“You questioned my intelligence.”

He scratched the side of his head. “I didn’t mean to—”

“And you talked trash about my research. Personally, I would call it an encounter with one of the most pretentious people I’ve ever met in my life.”

“Pretentious is a strong wo—”

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