Free Flavor Of The Month (Kiss & Tell Book 2) by Tori Carrington Page B

then.”
    The suggestion was so simple, so straightforward, that Ben didn’t immediately know how to react. Of course. All along he’d wanted his father to come on his busiest night, perhaps needing to show him how successful the business was. He’d never thought that the crowded environment might be the very reason his father stayed away.
    Reilly was looking around again. “I can’t see him not liking the place, Ben. I mean, it’s so…comfortable. The hideaway thing really works. I imagine that if you’re sitting in one of those booths you feel buffeted from the world for a short, precious time.”
    He dropped his gaze to her full, unpainted mouth. Took in the natural honey glow of her skin. She was such a breath of fresh air. She appealed to him on so many levels that he would probably be more than a bit…concerned had it been anyone else. But for some reason he couldn’t define, he felt he could trust her. And it had been so long since he’d let go of the reins, he had a hard time keeping from reaching for them again.
    Then he’d looked into her eyes and felt a response that was so rare, so unusual that he couldn’t help but give himself over to it. And he’d kissed her and wanted her with a potency that made him forget not only about those damn reins, but everything else along with it.
    He wanted this woman. With an intensity that far surpassed anything a physical meeting would provide.
    He also suspected that if she knew what he was thinking, she’d run full-out in the opposite direction.
    “You’re coming to dinner Wednesday night?” he asked, not wanting to push her. Not wanting to scare her off, but still needing on some deep level to get her to commit, even if it was only to a dinner date.
    She stared down into her coffee, avoiding his attempts at eye contact. He caught the tightening of her fingers against the white cup. The stiffening of her shoulders. And he knew that she wanted to refuse his invitation. Wanted to keep the distance between them that he felt lessening each moment they spent together.
    Then he watched everything relax as she sat back and smiled at him. “I’d love to.”

7
     
     
    I F SHE WAS supposed to be going to dinner at Benardo’s in two day’s time, what was Ben doing knocking at her door at ten o’clock that same night?
    Reilly jerked away from where she could see his handsome face through the peephole of her apartment door then flattened her back against the wood. No doubt about it. Ben was standing on the iron landing waiting for her to answer. And since she’d yelled out, “Coming,” thinking it might be Layla—who was known to stop by every now and again on her way home from the clinic—or Mallory, who occasionally came by to raid her kitchen—or even one of her nieces, she had little choice but to confront him.
    She looked around her apartment. Shabby chic didn’t come close to describing her surroundings. Especially with pastry cookbooks open all over the coffee table and notepads with ideas on recipe variations on top of them, and a rerun of Friends on TV.
    What was he doing here?
    She looked down at her T-shirt and panties, then turned to open the door a crack. “Ben! What are you doing here?”
    He held up a bag. “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d give you a preview of what will be on the menu Wednesday night.”
    Reilly felt stupidly pleased that he’d thought of her. “Um, give me a minute. I need to put something on.”
    “Oh, no need to do so on my account.”
    She slammed the door in his face then ran for the bedroom. Now the dilemma lay in what she should wear.
    She settled on a simple pair of jean shorts. After a quick check of herself in the mirror, wiping at a smudge here, fluffing her hair there, she crossed back to the door. Only when she had it open did she realize she didn’t have a bra on under her T-shirt. And that Ben not only noticed the oversight, but had his gaze glued right there, where her nipples were hard and