Free The Tycoon's Defiant Southern Belle by Elizabeth Lennox Page B

want to sit anywhere else.  And you don’t want me to either,” he said, winking
     at her before digging into his food. 
    She debated long and hard mentally about arguing with him because she just knew he
     would say something irritating back at her, but she couldn’t contain the effort. 
     Turning slightly so she was facing him, she asked, “Who says I don’t want you sitting
     somewhere else?” she countered, thinking he could just move over slightly so that
     his thigh wasn’t plastered against hers.  She shifted her legs slightly, trying to
     put some space between them but he just shifted again, touching her in more places
     than simply her legs. 
    He reached over and scooped up a bite of her grits.  “I saw the way you looked at
     me when your friend started flirting.  You didn’t like it.  So I won’t go near her
     again, even though I can promise you that I’m not interested in her in any way.”
    Jade started to say something, but Molly was just turning around from the food table,
     obviously looking for Angelo.  When she realized that there weren’t any other seats
     near him, her face looked crestfallen but she moseyed over to another area where there
     were some empty chairs and found some other people to chat with. 
    Jade absolutely hated the relief she felt when the blond woman was foiled in her plans
     to continue to flirt with Angelo.  She had no right to feel proprietary around him. 
     She couldn’t have him, why shouldn’t he find other female companionship? 
    “I don’t care what you do,” Jade said, secretly relieved that he wasn’t sitting next
     to the artificially bodacious Molly. 
    Angelo only chuckled at her response.  “Want me to finish eating your grits?” he asked
     as he leaned close to her ear so only she could hear his question.  He didn’t wait
     for her answer but scooped up another bite. 
    Jade looked up at him, startled when she realized that he’d already eaten half of
     the amount she’d put on her plate.  “Why would I want you to eat my grits?” she asked,
     but didn’t try and stop him when he took yet another bite.
    Angelo’s eyebrows went up.  “Because you obviously don’t like them.”
    “Every self-respecting southerner loves grits.  Of course I love grits,” she argued,
     but she needed to brace herself to take a bite of the chewy, butter-sodden concoction
     and at that moment, she just couldn’t do it.  She actually hated grits.  She disliked
     the texture and the bland taste and she really hated grits when they were swimming
     in butter like this. 
    But Jade also knew that not liking grits was a heinous crime in the south.  Everyone
     loved grits and only true southerners preferred butter on their grits.  Some people
     put cream and sugar on them, others even put maple syrup or cheese.  In Jade’s opinion,
     there really was no way to make grits taste good.  In her mind, they had a taste similar
     to glue, or at least what glue would taste like if she ever deigned to eat glue, which
     she wouldn’t.  But then, she ate grits whenever she was at one of these events, so
     maybe she should try glue….what was she thinking?  Her mind was going off in very
     odd directions and she put the blame all on the huge man sitting next to her and taking
     up too much space on the bench. 
    Angelo chuckled softly, refusing to let her get away with such an obvious fib.  “You
     hate grits.  And I suspect that you also dislike collard greens as well.”  He stated
     the accusation so softly that only she could hear him.  Suddenly, her plate was taken
     out of her hands and replaced with a practically clean plate.  She glanced down, astonished,
     and then looked around at the others around them, wondering if anyone had seen what
     Angelo had just done. 
    Thankfully, no one was really paying much attention to them.  Too many people were
     milling about on the deck so she breathed a bit easier, relieved that they had gotten