Free Concealed by Victoria Michaels Page B

she had to. The silence was preferred to her pity.
    There was no denying the chemistry between them, but she turned skittish whenever she found him looking at her, which was often. Fortunately, Wade was a patient man and he was willing to wait and see what happened between them. He had a feeling when Sydney made up her mind to do something, she did it all the way.
    While he finished off his sandwich, he studied Sydney. Her every movement was enticing to him. Somehow the woman managed to make something as simple as slicing pie sexy. He was enjoying the view as she bent over to fill the lower shelf when Melissa appeared at his table with a smirk.
    The girl didn’t miss a thing.
    “Got your eye on anything else? You still look kinda hungry, Wade. Maybe something sweet now that Sydney’s here?”
    “I’ll have some pie.” He saw her eyes light up as she scurried back to the counter. She bent her head to Sydney’s and whispered in her ear. Sydney’s head swung around his direction then quickly turned away, but not before he caught the pink flush of her cheeks. Whatever Melissa had been running her mouth about earned her a playful smack on the shoulder.
    From across the diner, Melissa flashed Wade a big thumbs up. “Sydney will be right over with your pie, Wade. I’m going on break.” She disappeared into the kitchen just as Sydney made a lunge at her.
    He watched Sydney take her time finishing up with the pies before steeling herself and heading his way. She was easy to read, and for some reason he found her vulnerability where he was concerned, cute. There was no point hiding his interest anymore, the auction had taken care of that and the opportunity to watch the sway of her hips as she walked his way was far too tempting.
    “Hi, Wade. Melissa, in her own subtle way, hinted you might like a piece of pie.” She gently placed a plate on the table with a nervous smile.
    “Peach?” he asked as his fork pierced the crust, spearing one of the ripe fruit slices.
    Sydney shrugged, but didn’t step away. He could tell she was waiting for his reaction to the pie and that brought him more satisfaction than it should have.
    “I thought I’d try something new. I also figured you might be sick of blackberry pie, since the auction.”
    The sweet flavors of peach exploded in his mouth with each bite. The woman had a gift for baking, anyone with taste buds would notice that, but there was something about the idea of eating something she had made herself that Wade found incredibly sexy.
    Maybe it was simply because he kept remembering that her lips tasted as sweet as her pies.
    “It’s delicious.”
    “Thanks,” she said tugging at her ponytail that had fallen over her shoulder trying not to smile at his praise. If only she knew the improper thoughts her fingers put in his head as they glided through her hair.
    “You haven’t called.” It was hard to keep from smiling when her hands went still, her eyes filling with an insecurity that, on her, was charming.
    “It’s late whenever I think to call you, or I’m in bed. I mean, I-I didn’t…” she stammered for a second, like he knew she would when he tossed the questions out to her. He could see her thinking, then with a resigned sigh she blurted out, “The thing is, Wade, I don’t know how to ask a man out on a date.” He could see how much it cost her to admit it. She was young and lively, but apparently old fashioned on some things.
    That made him smile.
    He knew she was seconds away from taking off for the kitchen, but he couldn’t resist teasing her just a little more to see if he could get that spark of fire to flash in her eyes. “If you’d have called, I’d have done the asking.” Right on cue, her arms folded and her temper flared. And all he could think about was kissing her again.
    “You’ve been playing me.” Her hip settled against the table right in his line of sight. He took a long, slow appraisal of her curves before meeting her