oui, of course.’ He held the exit door for her. ‘Shame you don’t, because some of the subtleties were lost in translation, I thought it was a very interesting film.’
‘Really?’
‘No, it was rubbish.’ He let the door slam behind them. ‘But that was the point, right?’
So he knew. Of course he knew. No normal person would really want to sit through that film. They’d have to be bribed with a lot of money. Still, it had served him right—right?
‘Let’s get something to eat,’ he said. ‘I’m well aware you’re as hungry as I am.’
She’d intended to go home as soon as the movie ended. And frankly she had a headache from tension and hunger. She hesitated.
‘You’ve already cut off your nose to spite your face once tonight,’ Ethan said blandly. ‘Don’t do it again.’
In truth she was so hungry she was beyond able to make a decision now anyway. ‘Okay.’
‘Great.’ He hailed a cab. ‘My choice this time. I insist.’
It was a French restaurant. No, it was heaven on earth. Because along one wall stood a gleaming glass case filled with the most amazing pastries—cream cakes, custard and fruit tarts and chocolates. Nadia’s functionality reduced even more—she couldn’t think or speak, only stare while her mouth watered so much she very nearly drooled. She glanced round the rest of the room and despair hit—the place was packed.
‘We won’t get a table,’ she almost wailed.
Ethan looked down at her, the picture of smug calm in the face of her collapse. ‘We already have.’
NADIA nearly fainted with relief. Ethan put his hand on her lower back, pressing her forward to follow the maitre d’. She jumped—he had to have one of those trick buzzers in his hand, because he’d just about electrocuted her. The shock made her gulp, and she was hit by a single rational thought. Should she really have agreed to this when her pulse pounded an extra thirty beats per minute the closer the guy got?
Low blood sugar meant she had no choice, right? Those pastries looked too damn good. She glanced back at the display case once more before taking her seat. The sight made her giddy and her thoughts turned crazy again. Maybe she could claim some ground in her quest to intrigue him. Didn’t guys like girls who displayed healthy appetites? Wasn’t there something seductive if you licked off all the cream or something? If she could raise his want level, drop-kicking him later would have more impact. Hell, yes.
‘What do you feel like?’ he asked.
She hesitated, toying with some really inappropriate replies—but she figured she should stay subtle at this point to get him over the world’s worst movie trick. ‘I’m going to skip a main and go straight to dessert. Two desserts, actually, if that’s okay?’
His face lit up. ‘Sure.’
‘What about you?’ She mirrored his smile.
He rubbed his flat stomach, ‘You don’t mind if I do savoury while you do sweet?’
‘Not at all.’
Total truce. Or so she’d let it appear. At that point she spent some time studying the menu—purely to have a break from looking at him. Too much of that made her go vacant, and she wanted to stay on track.
‘They have an excellent wine selection,’ he said blandly. ‘Would you like some?’
‘Not just at the moment, but you go ahead.’ Her smaller physique meant she didn’t handle wine that well. She generally had it by the thimble, so she wasn’t going to be daft enough to have any now. She waited until the sommelier had left to get the bottle Ethan had selected without even consulting the list. ‘So how did you get us this table?’
‘I sent a message from the cinema—found out what time the film finished when you were in the little girls’ room beforehand.’
She sat back as the waiter poured Ethan’s wine, bristling at the phrase “little girl”. So he’d known he was in for bum-numbing time at the flicks. She flushed—hating being thwarted, hating feeling this hot. She needed to regain her equilibrium and act more grownup. She looked at the burgundy liquid. ‘Maybe I will have some of that too—thanks.’ One glass wouldn’t make her legless. And, frankly, she was overheated after that marathon movie and hearing Ethan mutter in French and then spinning her mind by bringing her to gastronomic paradise.
He waited while she sipped. ‘Is it okay?’
It was fabulous—smooth, incredibly drinkable and soothing. She sat back after ordering, her happiness skyrocketing at knowing divine food was coming soon.
‘Feeling better now?’ He looked sly.
‘Much, thanks.’ She sighed. He smiled, and inside so did she—no doubt he thought that if he added sugar and chocolate he’d have her as gooey as he wanted. He was so getting a surprise.
‘Did you have a nice night last night?’ he asked.
Last night? Oh—that’s right. She’d told him she was busy. ‘I was catching up with some friends.’
‘Yeah, you posted a lot of comments last night.’ His smile went evil. ‘You live more than half your life online.’
She took another sip of wine to bring her internal thermostat back down. ‘You’ve been snooping.’
‘It’s not snooping when you put it all out there for anyone to read.’
‘And you’ve been a bit active online yourself,’ she said, finally broaching it.
‘Ah.’ He settled more comfortably in his chair. ‘You’re mad at me for blogging about our dates?’
‘Not mad. Surprised. I didn’t think you liked the whole public angle. I thought you wanted to protect your privacy and all that.’
‘I’m not the one with contrary privacy issues,’ he said pointedly. ‘This whole thing isn’t actually about you and me, Nadia. Did you think we were going to keep it just between us? What would the point of that be?’
‘I’m still not sure what the point of any of this is.’
He chuckled. ‘Well, right now, the point is some damn good food.’
With perfect timing the waiter set the dishes down—both her desserts at once, as she’d requested. She pounced, spooning in the sweet. Her nerves scrunched with sensation. Oh, there had to be so much butter in this, so much fine sugar, and put together with so much skill in the kitchen. Edible ecstasy.
He hadn’t touched his meal, was just watching her reaction. ‘I take it it’s nice?’
‘Nice?’ she mini-screeched. ‘What kind of a word is nice?
