Juice?”
“Tea will be fine.”
“Anything else?” he asked, handing her the menu.
“What do you suggest?” she asked, placing it aside and looking over at him.
Quasar focused his gaze on her too-luscious lips and thought he honestly didn’t want to go there. The first thing he would suggest was for them to go back to his hotel room. He could visualize her naked and stretched across his bed while he kissed her all over. He would see if all that creamy cocoa-colored skin was as sweet as it looked. Deciding not to let erotic thoughts get the best of him, he said, “They have delicious pancakes here.”
“Then that’s what I’ll have with my tea.”
“Okay.” He motioned for the waitress, who, unlike all those other instances, seemed to take her time coming to his table. He gave her their order and was glad when she finally left. He liked being alone with Randi. Although there were people sitting at other tables, it seemed as if she was the only one in his little corner of the world.
He knew how dangerous getting this caught up in a woman was, but he brushed the concern aside. He was a man and she was a woman, and the strong attraction between them was nothing more than a normal aspect of human sexuality, right? Even she’d alluded to that. However, he couldn’t shake the idea that the chemistry between them was way too explosive, and there had to be more to it. Randi Fuller was too deeply embedded in his system, and for the life of him, he didn’t know how she got there.
Or how long she would stay.
Other than dealing with an annoying ache in certain places, though, he had nothing to worry about thanks to Lilly Alpine, the woman he’d planned to marry. She’d known the reason he’d gone to prison and had promised to wait for him. She hadn’t. Instead she’d married the person he’d gone to prison to protect. His brother, Doyle. Because of Lilly’s betrayal, Quasar would never share his heart with another woman. So whatever this thing was with Randi, he was fine with it since he wasn’t doing anything foolish like putting his heart on the line again.
He felt his stomach clench when she nervously licked her lips. “Thanks for agreeing to join me for breakfast, Randi. Did you enjoy the gala last night?”
“I did. There was a large crowd.”
“Yes, there was,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
“What about you? I know you were working, but I hope you managed to enjoy some of it.”
“Yes, I did.”
Their gazes held, and he felt a tightening in his chest. He wished at some point he could be unaffected by her but had a feeling that wasn’t possible. Especially when his fingers were itching to run through all that hair on her head. He couldn’t help but be drawn to how it cascaded around her face.
“You did an outstanding job assisting law enforcement with the Erickson case,” he said. “I don’t want to think of what would have happened to Striker and Margo Connelly had we not gotten to the cabin when we did.”
“I’m glad I was able to assist. I got a call from Ms. Connelly thanking me personally, and I enjoyed our conversation. I understand she and Striker Jennings are seeing quite a lot of each other these days.”
Quasar chuckled. “Yes, they are.” There was no need to mention that he had a feeling a wedding would be in the works before the year was out.
“I could tell that night that you, Striker Jennings and Stonewall Courson are close friends. I watched you and Mr. Courson race into that burning house to help get Mr. Jennings and Ms. Connelly to safety.”
Quasar thought about the night and the fear racing down his spine that he and Stonewall would not be able to get Striker and Margo out alive. “The three of us are more than that. I consider them as close to me as brothers.” Then, deciding to be up front with her in case she didn’t know his history, he said, “We served time together in prison.”
He watched her features for some kind of shock. When that didn’t happen, he waited for the questions. They didn’t come, either. He could only assume that she’d known. Evidently her psychic powers were at work.
“Not sure if you’ve heard the federal government has completely taken over the Erickson case,” he said. “They’re determined to find out how he died while locked up at that federal prison. It’s still all a mystery.”
She nodded. “Yes, I heard that.”
“It seems the murderer covered his tracks well. So far there aren’t any leads.”
“Well, I’m sure justice will prevail and the killer will eventually be caught,” she said, tilting her head in that sexy way of hers.
The shrill ring of his mobile phone disturbed the comfortable conversation between them. He tried to hold his anger at bay when he recognized the ringtone. The call was from his father.
“Do you need to get that?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “No. I have the rest of the weekend off,” he said, although he knew the call was personal and not business.
“I like this place,” she broke into his thoughts to say. “It reminds me of a restaurant back home.”
“And where is home for you?” he asked, knowing already but wanting her to tell him anyway.
“Richmond. But I love coming to DC. I attended college here at Howard for my BS, and then Georgetown for my master’s and PhD. Georgetown is my favorite part of DC.”
He nodded. “You come to the nation’s capital often?”
“Often enough. I have family here, and I like visiting them as often as I can. Sometimes my work can take me away a lot.”
“You have a big family?”
She smiled, and he could feel his stomach tighten even more when that smile produced beautiful dimples. “Depends on what you mean by big. Compared to most, I don’t consider it big, but when my parents have family get-togethers, inviting both my mom’s side of the family—the Haywoods, and my father’s side—the Fullers, there are a lot of us. We’re a close-knit group.”
“Is it a coincidence your sister’s name is Haywood, after your mom’s family?”
Her smile widened. “No coincidence. Mom says she’d always been proud of being a Haywood and wanted to pass the name on to her first child, whether it was a son or daughter.”
She’d angled her head to look at him, making a mass of hair cascade even more over her shoulder. “What about you, Quasar? Do you have a large family?”
He could feel his jaw tighten at the question. “No,” he said and decided not to add they were definitely not close-knit.
“Any siblings?”
He immediately thought of his brother. His one and only brother...at least biologically. “Yes, I have a brother. An older brother by four years.”
“And where did you grow up?”
Quasar
