Page 37 of The Scarab's Game
“Being complimented.” The words slipped out before I could stop them. It wasn’t entirely true—men said nice things to me all the time, but they never seemed so… “Or at least, complimented honestly?”
“This is truly a sin.” He let go of me and pressed a hand against his heart. “On behalf of all men, I apologize.”
I laughed quietly and finally looked at him again. “I suppose I can find it in me to accept your apology.”
There was such sincerity in his eyes. Behind it, a smoldering intensity. It was like a touch, an energy pulsing off him. So why was I still thinking about Emmett?
“This is excellent news. Because I must confess…” He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “My intention for this evening was to invite you to my apartment when we were done.”
His apartment?
“I can think of little more I would enjoy tonight than an evening of pleasure with you.”
Holy shit—that was unexpected. “Pleasure?” Or was it completely expected?
“Whether that pleasure turned out to be thoughtful conversation, a glass of wine, or hours of passionate lovemaking would have been up to you.”
“Would have been?”
“I am a man who takes what he wants.” He paused for a moment, scanning my face as if searching for permission to go on. He must have found it, because he did. “But the one thing I will not take is another man’s woman.”
“I’m not…”
He leaned an elbow on the table and ran his thumb over his lips. “We would have had a lot of fun, you and I.”
“I… I didn’t say no.” Why did I say that? Because I shouldn’t have been saying no. I should have been throwing down my napkin and saying,Yes, please!
“Perhaps not with your words, but with every other part of your body.” His gaze skimmed down my face and neck, slowly crawling along what the table didn’t hide from him. “When we first met in Nice, I felt an immediate attraction to you. It was obvious in your eyes and your smile you felt the same, but still, there was hesitation.”
“I just came off a nasty breakup.” Why did I tell him? I hadn’t even told my friends yet.
The intensity in his eyes softened, then they narrowed. “I saw the same spark when we first came to Monte Carlo. But it changed when we went for dinner with my father.”
Changed?
He nodded slowly and picked up his glass, watching the deep liquid, rather than drinking. “Emmett.”
A nervous flutter spread through my stomach at his name.
Damn it!
“There’s nothing going on between us.”
“I’ve seen that. However, my father is a shrewd businessman who’s taught me a great deal. One of those lessons is to know which battles are worth fighting and which aren’t.” Dante looked out at the water and took a sip of his wine. His eyes fluttered closed as he held the wine on his tongue for a moment beforeswallowing. “Winning you over would have been an entertaining battle for both of us, but you belong to someone else.”
How was I not saying no, and yet somehow saying no? “I told you, I just broke up with my boyfriend.”
Dante placed his wineglass on the table. “I’m not referring to titles like boyfriend or legal entanglements like marriage. I’m talking about your heart.”
My heart? It had no idea what was going on. “Emmett and I aren’t a thing.”
He whispered, “Then why is he at a table with three other people, but he can’t take his eyes off you?”
My spine snapped straight. “What?”
No way. He wasn’t here. He wasn’t spying on me because I’d told him where we were going for dinner.
I turned to the side, but my back still faced most of the restaurant. Even if Emmett was watching, it didn’t matter, because I didn’t care. Honestly, I didn’t care. That overprotective, self-absorbed jerk did not drag his whole team to Le Ciel because he didn’t trust me.