Free Hunt (The Grizzly Brothers Chronicles Book 1) by Alyssa Rose Ivy Page A

again, and I wanted to sink into the floor.
    Ian sat down, and I dared to look around. No one was looking at us anymore.
    “They aren’t staring. You can eat.” He gestured to my plate.
    “I can’t believe you did that,” I whispered.
    “Sure you can. And it worked.”
    “Did you have to add that unavailable part?”
    “You don’t like attention. That will get you less attention.”
    “But that’s not why you said it.” Motivations mattered.
    “No, I said it for my own reasons, but it helped you.”
    “Do girls usually find you charming, or is it just the sex appeal?” I watched him. He was even more handsome than I’d originally thought. Either that or my attraction to him was growing, and I really hoped that wasn’t the case.
    “Now who’s the one talking about sex?”
    “I’m just asking. Is it just that?” I gestured to him.
    “That?” He raised an eyebrow.
    “Your face and body.” They were hard to ignore.
    He grinned, and I regretted my words. “You tell me.”
    “How can I tell you? I don’t know how you are around other women.”
    “What makes you think I’m around a lot of other woman?” He leaned forward again.
    “I’m not going to repeat my whole face and body comment.”
    “Only you did.” He grinned.
    I groaned. “Ok, finish eating so we can get out of here.”
    “I am finished.” He pointed to his empty plate.
    “Ok, then we can go.”
    “You haven’t eaten more than two bites.”
    “I’m not hungry.”
    “No one is staring, you can eat.” He pointed to my plate.
    “I’d rather leave.”
    “But then you’ll be hungry, and I can’t allow that. Mrs. Peterson would eat me alive.”
    “I think you’ll manage.”
    “Come on, eat something. Then we can move on to our next stop of the evening.” He picked up my fork and tried to hand it to me.
    “There are no other stops.”
    “There’s a great one. Afterwards I’ll get you home by sometime.”
    I laughed despite myself. “Fine.” I waited until he set the fork down. Then I picked it up and took a few bites of the steak. I could at least enjoy the meal.
    A different waitress from the one who’d been serving us walked over. “Hey, Ian.”
    “Hi, Amy.” He smiled tersely.
    “I thought you were away.”
    “I was, but now I’m back.”
    “Have you seen Jonovan yet?” She stepped closer to Ian’s chair.
    “No.” Ian shook his head. “But I just got back.”
    “He stood me up two nights ago, and I called to tell him it was okay but he didn’t pick up.”
    “Call him again.” Ian fidgeted in his seat.
    “I called like fifty times. And with the things I promised, there’s no way he’d have ignored all those calls.”
    I looked down at my plate, but I had completely lost my appetite. The things she was promising?
    “Listen, Amy.” Ian eyed me warily before turning back to the waitress. “I don’t think this is the best time to be talking about this.”
    “Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your date, but could you tell him to call me if you see him? I’m not mad. I just need to see him.” The young woman’s voice was full of such hope.
    “You can do better than him.” Ian’s expression darkened.
    “I don’t want to do better than him.” She stalked off.
    “Who’s Jonovan?” I repeated the unfamiliar name.
    “My brother.”
    “Oh.” He’d mentioned having lots of brothers. I wondered if this one was like Tyler.
    “Before you start getting any ideas, we’re different people. And no I’ve never slept with that waitress.”
    “I didn’t ask you any of those questions.” I’d thought some of them.
    “But you were thinking them. All of them.” He read me. He knew where my thoughts would have gone.
    “Maybe.” Especially when he told her she could do better.
    “And by doing better I didn’t mean me.”
    I froze. Had he read my mind?
    “I could tell you were heading down that line of thinking. She’s not my type.”
    “Then what is your type?” The waitress had been