by T. K. Leigh
“No, she’s not. Is something wrong?”
“Not at all. Based on the amount she drank last night, she probably won’t be in until much later.”
“Fun time at the party Brayden threw for you guys?”
“Yeah. Maybe a little too much fun.” I smiled politely. “Listen, I’m just going to go over some paperwork. If you need anything, I’m here, okay?”
“You got it, but we’ve got everything under control. We were slammed last night and it went seamlessly, thanks to all the practice runs we did.”
A sense of relief washed over me when I heard they had been busy, even on a Sunday. “I knew those would come in handy.” I winked and strode through the kitchen, a handful of line cooks preparing orders as they came in. I walked past the pantry and large refrigeration units, opening a door and climbing up a narrow staircase to the second floor where the offices were located.
After several hours of crunching numbers, trying to determine when we could foresee starting to turn a profit, I noticed Rachel pop her head in my office.
“Hey, Kenzie. Sorry to interrupt, but there’s someone here to see you.”
“Who?” I asked, lifting my head.
“He wouldn’t say. He said you’ll know and left it at that.”
An infectious grin crawled across my mouth and my cheeks began to flame. I raised myself from my chair and checked my reflection in the mirror, making sure I looked put together.
“He’s very handsome, whoever he is.”
“Is he? I haven’t really noticed,” I lied.
She laughed. “Okay. Whatever you say.”
I pushed past her, taking carefully measured steps down the stairs, and headed out the kitchen doors leading to the restaurant.
Scanning the room, my heart fluttered when I saw Tyler standing by the host stand. He was wearing a pair of jeans that fell perfectly from his hips, coupled with a pressed yellow polo shirt. His eyes became radiant, a glimmer in them, when he saw me saunter toward him. I immediately felt self-conscious. I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, praying I would make it across the restaurant without falling. His smile was breathtaking, the white of his teeth pronounced against his tanned skin. I found myself struggling once more. I knew I needed to focus on the restaurant but, staring at his tall physique, his warm arms, his strong chest… All I wanted was him.
“Mr. Burnham,” I said, approaching him, my voice professional and unwavering. “To what do I owe this visit?”
“Are you hungry?” he asked, eyeing me up and down as if he were imagining what I looked like underneath my clothing. Throwing my hair over my shoulder so he could see my chest unobstructed, I grinned when his eyes immediately lowered to my visible cleavage.
“I haven’t really thought about it. I guess that’s the good thing about owning a restaurant. I can eat whenever I want. But I do appreciate your concern regarding my appetite.”
He licked his lips and my heart rate increased. I wondered what those lips tasted like, what they felt like. I hated how his mere presence made me want to throw out everything I had worked toward.
Straightening my spine, I said, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to work.” I spun around and took several long strides toward the kitchen, coming to an abrupt stop when I ran into a familiar hard body.
“Let me rephrase,” he said, ignoring the shock etched on my face. “Would you like to join me for lunch?”
“Lunch?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “As in a date?”
“No, Miss Delano,” he answered. I couldn’t help but feel somewhat deflated by his rejection. “This most certainly is not a date. It’s just two people, two business owners on the island, going to grab a bite to eat to discuss marketing strategies.”
“Really? There won’t be any of that brooding, mystery man act you’ve been using to try to get in my pants?” I crossed my arms in front of my chest, feigning annoyance with him.
“If I wanted to get in your pants, Mackenzie, I would have already been there,” he said, his voice resolute. “Now… Lunch?”
He held his hand out to me and, as if on autopilot, I grabbed it, unable to respond to his previous statement that appeared to be more of an assurance than a threat.
We exited the restaurant and the butterflies, which had begun to make a home in my stomach over the past few days, multiplied. Our previous encounters had been brief and unplanned. Now here I was, walking hand-in-hand, about to have lunch with probably the most handsome and curious man I’d ever known…
My charming, enigmatic mystery man.
He slowed to a stop and my eyes fixed on a blue ’72 Ford Bronco, the top off, parked on the side of the road. He approached the passenger door and opened it.
“This is yours?” I asked in dismay, pulling my hand from his. I stood somewhat dumbfounded, all my preconceived notions tossed out the window in an instant.
“Yup,” he responded sheepishly, a complete change from the dominating man he was just a second ago. “Not what you were expecting?”
“I had you pegged for something ridiculously expensive, considering…”
“My family has more money than the operating budget of several small countries?” he responded with a smirk.
“Well, yeah. That about sums it up.”
“The reason we have more money than sense is because our father taught us to be smart with it and to never let it go to our head. It can be gone in a flash. I suppose it’s kept us relatively grounded.”
Eyeing him cautiously as I allowed him to help me climb into the car, I said, “From what I’ve learned so far, you’re certainly not what I expected.”
“Ditto.” He closed the door and ran around to the other side, getting in behind the wheel and cranking the engine. “Ready?”
“Yes, sir,” I said in jest.
“You don’t have to call me sir…unless you want to, or when I have you tied up.”
I snapped my head to him, my mouth open. I wanted an instant replay button in my brain so I could rewind and make sure he had really just said what I thought he did. I hoped he had really just said what I thought he did. Visions of his fit and naked body hovering over me danced in my head and my entire being warmed.
“Do you like po’ boys?” He winked, pulling onto the street, heading north.
I remained speechless at his ability to leave me in a constant state of amazement, unable to utter a single word. The way he always knew exactly what to say to catch me off guard but, at the same time, make me want to forget about why I wasn’t interested in a serious relationship intrigued me. I had been fighting the attraction, but the more time I spent with him, the harder it was becoming. Soon, I feared I would no longer be able to resist succumbing to the voice in my head screaming at me to finally take a risk.
“We’re here,” he said, breaking the awkward silence in the car. “Hope you brought your appetite.”
“I’ve been told my hunger is impossible to satisfy,” I shot back. I threw the door to Tyler’s vintage car open and proceeded across a sandy lot toward the front doors of a restaurant set on the water, the aroma of seafood filling the air.
“Is that a fact?” Tyler asked, catching up to me.
“Yes. Why? Do you like a challenge?”
“I’m always more than willing to attempt the impossible.” He grabbed the handle on the door and held it open for me. I sensed his presence behind me and, before I knew what was happening, my body was flush with his, my back to his front. He leaned down and his breath danced on my neck, causing an enticing surge of electricity to flow through me.
“I should warn you, Mackenzie,” he murmured. “When I’m through with you, you will be fully sated, unable to stand…”
“Stand what?” I whimpered, closing my eyes. I was lost in the sensation of Tyler’s body looming over mine.
“That’s it. You won’t be able to stand…or walk.”
Fuck.
He released his hold on me and proceeded to the ho
st stand, requesting a table for two overlooking the ocean.
I hastily readjusted my composure, not wanting to give Tyler any indication as to how he affected me, and accompanied him through the busy restaurant. As I followed him to the back deck, I felt dozens of eyes on me. Glancing around, I soon realized it wasn’t me they were looking at. It was my lunch companion.
“Is there a reason nearly every female here is gawking at you?” I asked under my breath.
“None that I care to find out,” he said flatly, holding the wicker chair out for me.
“Really?” I asked, giving him a coy look as he sat across from me. “You mean to tell me you’re not interested in any of them? Some of those girls are very pretty.”
His eyes remained fixed on me as he folded his hands in front of him, bringing them to his mouth. The way he appeared to choose his words carefully only heightened my nervousness around him.
“Mackenzie,” he finally said, “I have the pleasure of being in the company of the only woman I’m interested in. Now, on to more important matters. Red or white?”
“Wine?”
“What else?”
“But I’m working.”
“Not now you’re not. Maybe some wine will help you loosen up around me.”
“I can’t,” I insisted, regardless of how much having a drink to calm the tension I felt just from being in his presence appealed to me. I avoided his gaze and toyed with a piece of hair, an old nervous tick of mine.
“I’m not going to pressure you to drink, Mackenzie, but I would love it if I could have a nice relaxing lunch with a fellow business owner who also happens to be an intoxicatingly beautiful woman.”
I faced him and his expression turned soft, almost pleading. The flirtatious, cocky, and somewhat dominating man had disappeared. His green eyes were wide and, at that instant, I saw a side of Tyler I had never seen before. It was a sweet, tender gaze, and it completely melted my heart. I knew that whenever he looked upon me with that glimmer and benevolence, I would never be able to deprive him of what he wanted.
“Red, please.”
A wide grin crossed his face and he signaled a server to our table.
“We’ll have a bottle of your Adelsheim Pinot Noir.”
“Sir,” the server nodded and stepped away.
“What if I don’t like Pinot?” I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
“If you’d like me to, I’ll order something else, but I have a feeling you like Pinot and the only reason you’re giving me a hard time is because you don’t want to think you’ve given up even an ounce of control to me. I assure that you haven’t. I’ve simply become enamored with you, Mackenzie, and have picked up on the little things about you most men who have had the pleasure of knowing you never caught on to.”
“Well then,” I said, my voice still firm. “Please enlighten me as to what could have possibly led you to believe I wanted to drink a Pinot today.”
“You ordered the Tempranillo reserve at the restaurant the other night,” he answered quickly.
“What does that have to do with it?”
“There were several less expensive Tempranillos on the menu that, in my opinion, are just as good as the reserve, but the one you ordered was significantly more expensive than the others. See, Tempranillo is a bit of a bland grape and it’s usually blended with another varietal, such as a Cabernet or a Merlot. But the one you ordered was blended with a Willamette Valley Pinot. You knew which one you wanted without even looking at the menu, which leads me to believe you get that bottle a lot. I’d say every week. Am I right?”
Uncrossing my arms, I looked down at my lap. I was too stubborn to say the words.
“Or should I call our waiter back so you can request a different bottle of wine?”
I glanced up and met his eyes. “No. Pinot is acceptable. Thank you.”
“You’re not going to admit I was right, are you?”
“No,” I replied lightly. “You could very well be wrong, but I wouldn’t want to destroy your male ego, so I’ll politely abstain from answering.”
“Well, thank you for your consideration, Mackenzie. I appreciate knowing I will be able to walk out of his place with my male ego intact.” He winked and I tried to fight back a smile, but it was useless.
Our server finally returned with the bottle and I was grateful I had caved and agreed to the wine. I needed it to calm my racing heart, every last inch of me a bundle of nerves.
After Tyler tasted the wine and gave his approval, our server poured two glasses, then took our lunch orders.
“To new friends,” Tyler began, raising his wine glass once we were alone.
“Is that what we are?” I asked. “Friends?”
He slowly nodded. “Yes…for now.”
I lifted the glass to my lips and turned my gaze from his, peering out at the sand and ocean just below where we sat. Taking small breaths, I felt a burning sensation on my skin, and I knew it came from Tyler’s brilliant eyes.
“So,” I said, cutting through the stiff silence at the table. “What did you want to discuss with a fellow business owner on the island?”
“Do you like dogs?” he asked, surprising me.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
He shrugged. “Nothing really, except I have a dog. A French bulldog. His name is Griffin.”
“I’m not so sure I see how that’s relevant.” My tone remained business-like.
“You will.”
“Tyler,” I said, placing my glass on the table in front of me. As attracted as I was to him, I couldn’t help but think getting involved with him was a bad idea. Giving him the iciest stare I could, hoping to counter the boyish smirk on his face, I continued, “Can we please stop with all the sexual innuendos. I know I’ve been as much to blame with the flirting, but I…” I paused, trying to formulate my thoughts. I had no idea how I was going to convince him I wasn’t interested when it was obvious I was.
“You…?”
“I can’t be interested in you.”
“But you are,” he stated quickly, raising his eyebrows in a teasing manner.
“Can we just enjoy our lunch and neither one of us act on this attraction, which isn’t going to go anywhere? Please?”
He kept his vision glued to mine, several long moments passing as we sat there. I tuned out the bustling sounds of the restaurant surrounding us and waited for his response. Finally, he sighed, his shoulders dropping just slightly.
“Okay. We’ll table the discussion for the sake of you not walking out on me. My heart couldn’t take the rejection just yet.”
“How do you do it?” I asked, my voice low. I should have been aggravated with his unwavering determination, but I wasn’t.
“Do what?”
“How do you piss me off one minute, and the next, make me…” I trailed off.
“Make you…?” He looked at me with eagerness, prodding me to finish my thought.
“Make me feel…”
“Feel what?”
A warm smile spread across my mouth and I met his eyes. “That’s it. You make me feel, Tyler. I’ve yet to meet another man in my entire life who… I don’t even know if there’s a word to describe it, and it scares the shit out of me, considering I don’t even really know you.”
He leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head. My eyes went to his biceps that were stretching the fabric of his shirt, the bottom of his tattoo visible.
“Ask me anything you want to know. I’m an open book.”
I pursed my lips. “Something tells me that’s not entirely true.”
“Try me.”
“Okay,” I started, leaning back in my own chair and surveying him. “What’s your middle name?” There were hundreds of things I wanted to know about him, but I was on the spot and clammed up completely.
“Joseph. That was a lame question. My turn.”
“Your turn?”
“That’s how Truth or Dare works
, is it not?” He grinned slyly.
“I didn’t realize we were playing that,” I said in jest. I brought the wine glass to my lips and muttered, “If that’s the case, I would have dared you to pin me against that wall and kiss me already.” The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
Tyler must have noticed the alcohol had relaxed me a bit because he grabbed the bottle, refilling my nearly empty glass.
“Do you want me to kiss you?” He poured some wine into his glass and placed the bottle back on the table. “Oh, I apologize. I’m jumping the gun. Truth or dare?”
I hesitated, tapping my fingernails on the table. Keeping my eyes trained on Tyler, the intensity with which he regarded me growing more heated the longer I took to answer, I leaned back in my chair, giving him my best coy look. I could sense he was becoming increasingly impatient with my delay the more I stalled.
“Hmmm... Truth or dare… What shall I choose? Gosh, this is such a hard decision. I think I’ll go with…” I smiled wickedly. “Truth.”
“Okay, mi cariño.” He brought his fingers to those lips of his…those full, beautiful, kissable lips that I wanted to taste. “Do you want me to kiss you? Remember, the name of this game is Truth or Dare, so I expect the truth from you.”
Taking another hearty sip of my wine, I focused my eyes on him. “Yes,” I whispered. “I do.”
“Me, too.”
“Well, you’re certainly taking your time now, aren’t you?” I huffed.
“No. Just trying to figure you out, Mackenzie. One second you’re telling me you just want to remain friends; the next you’re telling me I make you feel things you’ve never felt before.” He reached across the table and grabbed my hand in his, the gesture comforting and soothing the confusion that clouded me whenever I was around him. “I just want to make sure we’re on the same page, that’s all.”
“And what page would that be?”
He studied me, his eyes roaming my face. I was on edge, waiting for a verdict that could mean life or death.
“I’d like to think it’s a page found in the chapter where the beautiful heroine lowers her defenses for longer than a second, realizing there may just be someone out there who can help her heal and move on from the reason she needs to control everything about her life. Maybe she’ll realize that person is worth the chance because that person might finally teach her how to live, and perhaps love, for the first time in years. Because on a page in that same exact chapter, the hero realizes the woman sitting across from him at a seafood restaurant overlooking the Gulf of Mexico is, more than likely, so fucking scared to put her heart out there and that’s why she appears to be on this crazy seesaw of emotional instability. He’s scared, too, no doubt about that. But on that page is also the part where the hero unequivocally concludes that she will be worth whatever heartache follows because just getting to know her over the past few days has made him feel more alive than he has in years.”