Free Hot Secrets by Lisa Renee Jones Page B

wanted to be possessed. Her hands went to his waist, and she
tried to pull him closer, but he wouldn’t move. He nipped her
bottom lip and pressed his cheek to hers. “Dinner first,” he said
and this time, he sounded hoarse, his voice raspy with desire.
“Then… we’ll talk.”
    She jerked back and he laughed.
“You have a real thing about talking, don’t you?”
    He kissed her. “Get your purse
and let’s go eat. Wait. I meanplease go get your purse so we can
eat.” He grinned. “I did say I’d work on the bossy thing.”
    She laughed. “Yes. You did. And
good thing you added that ‘please’.” She turned on her heels, and
headed to the bedroom, thinking that she might let Royce give her
an order or twounder the right circumstances, under the most
pleasurable of circumstances. She smiled and snatched her purse,
heading back to where Royce waited, looking forward to both dinner
and what came after dinner in a way she hadn’t looked forward to
anything in a very long time.
    ***
    Thirty minutes later, with her
arm linked with Royce’s, Lauren walked into the door of “Eden” and
stopped at the hostess booth. Her gaze traveled the dimly lit
restaurant, decorated in rich green colors with plants running
around high ledges that lent to the tropical-island ambiance, that
Royce said he couldn’t wait for her to try.
    “It’s such a cool place,” she
murmured after he put their name on a list.
    “I thought you’d like it,” he
said, but before he could continue they were greeted robustly by a
friendly thirty-something couple, with a baby on the way, who not
only obviously knew all three of the Walker brothers well, they
owned the restaurant. With energetic, friendly conversation
surrounding her, and Royce frequently touching her, Lauren felt a
new kind of warmth fill her. She was realizing the
significan ce of his
actions. He’d brought her to a place that was so clearly a part of
his life, after he’d taken her to his apartment and
invit ed her to be
nosy.
    “Let me get you two a table,”
Shannon, the wife, a pretty, petite brunette, every bit of eight
months pregnant, said before she grabbed two menus and motioned for
them to follow her.
    “Don’t let Royce get out of
line, Lauren,” John, Shannon’s husbanda tall blond who looked more
lethal weapon than the lethal chef she’d been assured he was,
warned. “Bust his chops freely. You have my permission.”
    Lauren laughed and exchanged a
look with Royce who quickly explained, “I call him ‘Shannon
whooped.’ He doesn’t like it.”
    Shannon rubbed her belly. “Oh,
he likes it.”
    Lauren laughed again, pretty
sure her cheeks were going to hurt if this night continued as it
was, something that normally only Julie and a rare girls’ night
out, could do for her.
    Shannon led them down a hall to
a private dining area and circular booth, waving them forward. “Our
VIP seat.” Once they were seated, Shannon placed the menus on the
table. “Enjoy.”
    Lauren reached for her menu,
when Shannon’s gaze caught on her wrist. “What a gorgeous
watch.”
    “Oh,” Lauren said, wondering why
she’d worn the darn thing. “Thank you. A gift from my father.” And
that recognition of her father she’d just delivered, was probably
why he gave her the flashy diamond studded piece of jewelry, she
thought. The gift, the many gifts, weren’t about her at all. They
were about making himself feel, and look, like he cared, even if
his actions said otherwise. A point driven home today quite
clearly. She’d left his house obviously upset, claiming to be sick,
and he hadn’t even called to check on her.
    Royce’s hand slid to her leg
under the table, and her gaze met his. Her chest tightened at the
understanding in his expression, at the awareness that somehow,
she’d let emotion seep into her reply to Shannon in a way she
normally would not, and he’d noticed. The sincere concern she saw
in his eyes touched her, while the contrast it held to