Fucking hell. Just the thought had him hardening behind his fly. He needed to get out of there. Fast. When he spoke, he was surprised by the gravel in his voice. “I won’t be long.” Then he spun on his heel and strode out to find the closest men’s store…and enough time to lose the hard-on he was currently sporting for his friend’s little sister.
Chapter Six
Lucie couldn’t remember a time when her nerves were more frayed. Her stomach felt so twisted inside out she thought for certain if she looked down she’d see a knotted mess where her normally flat abdomen should be.
Reid led her gently with a large hand at the mostly bare small of her back through the maze of restaurant tables until the hostess indicated which was theirs. After holding her chair while she seated herself, he walked around the linen-draped square table to his place across from her.
She marveled at how graceful he moved and how at ease he was in the expensive clothes he’d bought for their evening out. His white, fitted dress shirt hugged his frame, clinging to his muscles with every movement. And even though they were at a five-star restaurant, she loved how he didn’t completely pander to the dress code, leaving the top few buttons undone and leaving the shirt untucked over dark dress jeans.
With his hair brushed forward and up, creating that hint of a peak down the centerline of his head, and his tattoos faintly visible through the material of his shirt, he was the epitome of a bad boy out on the town. The exact opposite of her taste in men. And yet somehow she found him utterly delectable.
Just like his kiss.
Lucie quickly picked up her menu to hide the heat flooding her face at the memory of his lips on hers. She knew he’d done it just to shut her up—that there’d been nothing sexual about it for him—but the moment his mouth touched hers the world around her became hyperfocused to exist solely on his lips. Her reaction to such a small, intimate gesture had startled her, to say the very least.
“So what are you in the mood for?” he asked.
Clearing her throat as delicately as possible she lowered her menu and picked the first thing she saw. “Chicken Marsala sounds good.”
“That does sound good, but I’m more of a steak man.” The waiter approached and asked for their drink order. “I’ll have a whiskey sour and my sister would like a bottle of your Moscato wine, please.”
The waiter couldn’t have been any older than twenty-two to her twenty-nine, but he gave Lucie an inviting smile, winked, and said, “My pleasure. I’ll be right back with your wine.”
Stunned, Lucie waited until he was out of earshot before she spoke. “If it’s so embarrassing to be seen with me in a place like this, you shouldn’t have brought me.”
The hand holding his water glass froze halfway to his mouth and his brows drew together. “Why in the hell would I be embarrassed to be seen with a beautiful woman?”
“Yeah, right.” She snorted and busied herself with unfolding the dark napkin from its impossible origami-style design. Why did restaurants want to make a person feel inept before their drinks even arrived? “I see the types of girls you and Jackson date. They’re the MMA’s equivalent of the rodeo buckle bunnies. Big-breasted bombshells who probably hold master’s degrees in Bedroom Acrobatics.” After placing the finally unfolded napkin in her lap, she looked up to see Reid still had the audacity to look perplexed. She sighed and explained, “You made it a point to call me your sister in front of that waiter because you don’t want your dating stable tarnished with a Plain Jane like me.”
Lucie swore she heard him actually growl and if the look on his face was any indication, it seemed as though she may have indeed poked the sleeping bear. “Let’s get one thing perfectly clear,” he said, setting his glass down. “I don’t want to hear the term Plain Jane in reference to you ever again. Any man, myself included, would be proud to have you on his arm.”
Though she recognized his reaction as a protective thing, much how Jackson would have been, the conviction in his voice touched her…until another thought reared its ugly head. Stephen doesn’t see it that way.
As if reading her mind, he added, “And soon that doctor of yours will get his head out of his ass and realize it, too.” He paused to flick his napkin into his lap without any trouble. “But for now, you need to flirt shamelessly with the waiter.”
“What?” she stage whispered while leaning over the table. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m dead serious. Did you see the way his attitude toward you changed the moment he found out you weren’t my date? He damn near drooled on our table.”
“You’re out of your mind. No,” she shook her head. When all he did was give her that annoying Oh, really look she barely stopped herself from flinging a fork at his forehead. “What in God’s name will flirting with a stranger accomplish?”
“Multiple things, but first and foremost, it’s going to show your date that you’re desired by others. Here’s lesson two: Men always want what they can’t have, or what other men want. It’s a scientific fact.”
“No it’s not.”
“Well, it should be,” he said with a grin.
“Even if you’re right, I don’t know how to flirt, Reid. So this won’t work.” Wasn’t it typically cold in restaurants? She was close to burning up. Maybe she was coming down with something. She reached for her ice water and took several long gulps, trying to numb herself from the inside out.
“That’s what I’m here for, sweetheart. Now, there are two types of flirting. Body language and banter. Tonight I just want you to try using body language. You could recite a Mother Goose nursery rhyme, but if you give off the right signals, the guy won’t stand a chance.”
A teeny snort escaped, but she quickly composed herself. Clearing her throat she said, “So what exactly am I supposed to do? Flip my hair and giggle in a high-pitched voice at everything he says?”
“Only if you’re looking to attract the captain of the high school football team.”
She gave him her best evil eye, hoping he’d drop this whole ridiculous notion. Fat chance.
He leaned in, resting his forearms on the table and clasping his hands in front of him. “It’s easy, Lu. Carry on the conversation like you would normally, but add in subtle things. Make eye contact with him and hold it. When your eyes dart around it tells people you’re nervous or uncomfortable. You want to show confidence.”
“That’s all? Eye contact? I can do that.”
“No, that’s not all. You need to draw his attention to all those beautiful assets you have.” She rolled her eyes, but he ignored her and continued. “To draw attention to your eyes, you hold his gaze or give him quick glances from under your lashes. Guys go nuts when a woman plays coy.”
Lucie thought about all the times she’d seen women do that exact thing when talking to Stephen and how he’d smile back as though they were somehow having sex in their brains. She’d never attributed anything to the actual body language, though. Since she’d always been an intellectual she’d assumed it was what they were discussing that forged that connection.
She barely restrained from slapping herself in the forehead. She’d been such an idiot. But no longer. Sure, it kind of irked her that she had to resort to using physical wiles to get a man’s attention. After all, it was the intellectual things she appreciated about Stephen, and she’d hoped it would be the same for him. But once she got his attention and he felt that spark with her, the rest would surely fall into place. The idea of learning how to make that connection with Stephen was starting to excite her.
“Coy, got it. What else?”
“Draw his attention to your mouth by smiling, eating, drinking, nibbling on your lip, licking your lips…actually it’s not real hard to get him to focus there since one of the first things a guy thinks of is what a girl’s mouth will look like around his—”
“Reid!”
He leaned back and laughed, a rich, throaty sound that didn’t do anything to help cool her down. She mentally added “laughing�
� as a way of drawing attention to one’s mouth as her eyes transfixed on his full lips framing those perfectly straight, white teeth. And staring at his mouth only served to remind her of the searing kiss he gave her at the store, which then made the temperature in the room escalate another few degrees. Crap!
“Okay, here comes your boy with our drinks. He’ll wait for you to approve the wine. I want you to channel Jessica Rabbit and give him a show.”
Her jaw dropped. “You want me to channel a cartoon character from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”
Reid’s expression actually looked like he couldn’t believe her incredulity at his choice in sex goddess. “She’s sex on heels. Every dude wants to bang Jessica Rabbit.”
He was utterly insane; that’s all there was to it. Her knee-jerk reaction to argue with him was cut short by the arrival of their waiter. He set Reid’s drink in front of him without so much as a glance in his direction. Then he presented the bottle of wine to Lucie, rattling off the year and vineyard as if she’d know the difference between that and the stuff that came out of a box, and poured a small amount for her to taste in her glass.
Okay, I can do this. I can. Jessica Rabbit…slow, deliberate movements, bedroom eyes…no sweat. Oh, God, I’m sweating.
Trying her best to ignore the drop of perspiration she felt slide between her breasts, she slowly picked up the glass, held the waiter’s gaze, and tipped the wine to her lips to take a small sip. The sweet wine flowed over her tongue and spread its warmth down her throat and into her belly. She let her lids drift closed and emitted a satisfactory moan before pulling the glass away. Opening her eyes again, she smiled and asked, “I’m sorry, what was your name again?”
“Daniel.” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “My name is Daniel.”
She toyed with the ends of a section of her hair and threw him what she hoped was a dazzling smile. “Well, Daniel, the wine is lovely, thank you. Though he’s usually fairly clumsy, I’m certain my brother will be able to refill my glass while you take care of your other customers. We’ll be needing just a few more minutes to decide our order.”
Daniel performed a shallow bend at the waist, returning her smile. “Of course. I’ll be back shortly to take your order. And please, if there’s anything I can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask.”
As soon as he left, Lucie downed the rest of the wine in her glass in one shot. Meanwhile, Reid was giving her a subdued slow clap. “Brava, sweetheart. You could’ve asked him to lick your shoes and he’d have thanked you for the opportunity. How did that feel?”
“Awful,” she grumbled while he refilled her glass.
“Come on. I know it’s not your comfort zone, but be honest with me.” He leaned forward, forearms crossed on the table. “Be honest with yourself.”
She treated herself to a few more gulps of wine and welcomed the feeling of it swirling in her veins, easing the tension in her body. Placing the glass on the table she met his gaze and thought about what he said.
He was right. She wasn’t being honest.
“It was…flattering. Empowering.”
“Exactly. Remember, even when you land a date with the doc, there’s nothing wrong with a little outside flirting to remind him he’s not the only fish in the sea. Now, let’s get your boy toy back over here, ‘cause I’m starving.”
The rest of the evening passed with great conversation and secret chuckles at Daniel’s continued state of enamor with Lucie. When he gave Reid the check, he slipped her one of the restaurant’s business cards with his number scrawled on the back. As silly as it sounded, a rush of giddy excitement flowed through her. It was the first time anyone had blatantly hit on her.
She would’ve kept the card, possibly laminated it and tucked it into the frame of her bedroom mirror, but Reid confiscated it, tore it in quarters, and left it on his plate. She was about to object when he said, “We’re fishing for orthopedic surgeons, remember? Little ones like waiters, we throw back in. Besides, he didn’t pass big brother’s inspection.”
Lucie couldn’t help but laugh. Whether it was good food, good wine, good company, or a combination of all three, she was feeling fantastically relaxed. Something she rarely felt in public. Turned out a little dose of confidence was addictive and she was already looking forward to getting more.
Reid stood and held his hand out to her. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
She smiled and slipped her hand into his and they retraced their path from earlier toward the exit. When they passed through the waiting area she heard a child exclaim, “Dad, look! It’s Reid Andrews!”
Turning she saw a boy not more than ten years old run up to them with a look of pure awe on his adorable face.
Reid held out his fist for the kid to bump his knuckles against it. “Hey, little man, how’s it going? You a UFC fan?”
“Totally! You’re my favorite fighter!”
Just then the boy’s dad approached. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Andrews. I thought Austin was seeing things, but it’s really you. We’re huge fans.”
“Please, call me Reid. I’m always happy to meet fans. Do you train at all Austin?”
“Uh-huh. Right now I’m a purple belt in Tae Kwon Do, but I want to learn all the different Martial Arts so I can be like you when I grow up.”
“Well, you keep training and work hard and I have no doubt you can do exactly that. Just remember that the skills you learn are to be respected and never used against others outside of the dojo.”
“I know. My sensei tells us the same thing. I can’t believe it’s really you! Man, I wish my friends were here. They’re never going to believe I met you.”
“Tell you what, let my lovely date take a picture of you, me, and your dad. That way you have solid proof.”
“Yeah!”
Lucie was so moved by the way Reid was indulging the young boy she almost didn’t realize he was speaking in reference to her. “Oh! Yes, that’s a great idea. Would you like me to use your phone?” she asked the father.
The man’s face fell as he looked at his son. “Sorry, kiddo, but I left my phone at home so we wouldn’t be interrupted at dinner.” He went on to explain to Reid, “I only get him every other weekend so I don’t like anything interfering with our time together.”
The disappointed look on the boy’s face was enough to rip her heart out. “How about I take the picture with my phone and then I can e-mail it to you. Would that work?”
“Yes, it would. Thank you so much.”
Reid posed with the boy and his dad for a nice picture in front of the gigantic fish tank, and then he suggested a fun picture with just him and Austin. She laughed as Reid crouched down to Austin’s level and they held up rocker hands and donned some sort of fighter face with their noses scrunched up and their tongues hanging out.
After getting the e-mail address and ensuring both pictures had no problems sending, they said their good-byes to Austin and his dad and left the restaurant.
As they walked to the car she studied him from the corner of her eye. Suddenly he stopped and bent to pick up a discarded bag of food from the ground she’d been about to step on. Telling her to hold on, he jogged back to the entrance and tossed it into the garbage can.
When he returned she said, “That was really wonderful of you, Reid.”
“What, that? I didn’t want you to step on it. Besides, I can’t stand littering. It’s lazy, and I hate lazy people who, for instance, refuse to put forth the little bit of effort it would take to throw something away properly.”
“I was talking about what you did for Austin and his father.”
“Oh, that,” he said, smiling. “I’m not as benevolent as you think, Lu. I get just as much of a kick out of meeting them as they do me. Especially the kids.”
“Don’t you worry about the impression extreme fighting could make on young children?”
He slipped his hand into hers and she was surprised at how natural it felt. “A lot of people have is
sues with the sport of MMA. They call it human cock fighting. But they don’t pay attention to the extreme discipline and technical aspects of what we do, or the incredible sportsmanship it takes to shake the hand of a man who just literally beat the shit out of you. As long as kids are made aware of those things, like Austin obviously was, there’s nothing to worry about.” He shrugged. “There’ll always be people who misunderstand it. But I’d like to think they’re the minority.”
They arrived at his car and like the gentleman he was, he opened her door. Before climbing in she turned, tilting her head a little to the side as she studied him. “You really love it, don’t you?”
“I’ll always love the sport.” For a moment he raised his eyes to the horizon before returning his attention to her with a bit of a sad smile. “How much I’ll love being in it remains to be seen.”
It bothered her a great deal to see him without his usual to give him a kiss. She’d intended for it to be on his cheek, but the wine must have messed with her aim because she landed square on his luscious mouth.
For several seconds they stayed like that, frozen in time, lips pressed together, until the sound of someone’s car alarm brought her senses back. She pulled away and touched her fingers to her lips as if she’d just been caught doing something scandalous
“Not that I’m complaining,” he said, “but what was that for?”
She studied her feet in the strappy heels before looking up from under her lashes. “Because you’re a good man. And to thank you for a wonderful day.”
His wicked smile was breathtaking under the light of the moon. “Well then in that case, Miss Lucie Miller, I’m going to make sure you have a whole slew of wonderful days.”
Lucie laughed and climbed into the car, but her amusement screeched to a halt before he even made it around the car. If that wasn’t her most recent lesson in high-def, she didn’t know what was. Yep, she’d just witnessed a master flirt at work. And totally fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
Now she knew what it felt like for those women who Stephen turned his charm on for. She couldn’t wait to be on the receiving end of his dimpled smile. The one that said he couldn’t wait to devour his latest catch instead of the buddy version she’d always gotten. Yes, sir, the doctor wasn’t going to know what hit him the next time he saw her. She could hardly wait.
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