Page 179 of The Grand Duel
His hand smooths down my forearm. “Does touching my attractive neck make it better?”
I purse my lips and chuckle. “A little,” I reluctantly admit.
He smiles wide, and I push him away by the neck, not wanting him to see what he does to me.
THIRTY-TWO
Lissie
The food at King Blu is divine, if not a little intense—the company just as much so. If there’s anything I’ve learnt over the last couple of days, it’s that it is almost impossible to stay mad at Charles Aldridge.
The waitress removes our empty plates from the table at a snail’s pace, and I force a smile, thanking her. When I look back across at him, Charles is staring at me with a look that’s not meant for the dinner table.
In fact, I’m not sure he’s taken his eyes off me since we stepped from the car.
“Are you going to give me that look all night, Mr Aldridge? I thought you brought me here to talk, not fuck me with your eyes.”
A woman at the table beside ours turns and looks at me in disgust. Regardless of the fact the tables are spread out enough to not feel on top of one another, it hasn’t escaped my notice that her companion’s not spoken to her all night.
I lift my wineglass to my lips and take a sip.
Bitch has been eyeing Charles all evening.
I catch him turn to look across at her and then back to me. He smirks. “I did bring you here to talk, for your information, but then you opened your front door and started being overtly nice, looking savagely beautiful.” He shakes his head as his eyes roam, as if they have a mind of their own. “And I’ve not found a good enough excuse to ruin that yet.”
I tilt my head and sit forward in the seat. “Am I that awful you think I’d cause a scene that would ruin our night?” My eyes drop to his lips.
“No,” he promises, his tone soft. “I’m just enjoying this a little bit too much. It’smewho could ruin it.”
I shrug. “Well, I’m fed.” I reach for my wine. “Wined.” I smile. “You have my full attention, Charles.”
His lips quirk, and then he signals for the waitress again. She’s with us within an instant. “Could we get the bill, please.”
“Of course, Mr Aldridge.” She blushes.
I chuckle and lean over the table, not caring what anyone thinks as I work to fasten the two buttons on Charles’s shirt that I opened earlier in the car. “Whatever’s wrong with me is catching. You’ve got the entire restaurant blushing.”
He sits with his head inched back, allowing me the room as he watches me down the length of his nose. He narrows his eyes on me once I’m done. “Happy?”
I sigh. I can’t help but want him to take me home. “Much.”
Charles pays and then walks me to the door, holding it open for me. “Why are we leaving?” I ask, leaning into him.
Our hands brush, and I catch his fingers, finding the receipt and another smaller piece of paper. “Because I don’t want to have the conversation we’re about to have here,” he says, looking down at me. “And you don’t seem to like it here very much.”
“I don’t dislike it. I just don’t get it.” I take the small piece of paper, and he doesn’t stop me. When I look down at it, my nose winkles in confusion before I realise what it is. “No!”
His lips twitch. “Don’t make it obvious.”
My mouth drops open. “That little hussy!”
“Lis,” he warns.
I laugh in disbelief, handing him back the number scrawled on the back of the business card. “She’s here with someone.”
He takes the number and screws it up in his hand before pocketing it.
“Would you go there?” I ask, walking out the door and into the blistering cold.