Seduced by the Sheik (The Raminar Family #1)- Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,62

He was shocked at his undisciplined reaction to her, wanting to roar at her to stop. And yet, logically, he knew that the beautiful woman hadn’t actually done anything. She’d merely asked what he’d like to drink. The woman was simply doing her job and he was ready to yell at her for it? Ridiculous.

Obviously, he’d paused too long, because when his eyes moved back to hers, he realized that she was nervous, those brown eyes wary now.

“I apologize,” he told her, wanting to ease her tension so that she would smile again. “What would you recommend?”

Instantly, her wariness evaporated and her mouth curved upwards. Gaelen caught the mischievous glint to her eyes as she said, “The bartender has several delicious cocktails available. Would you…?”

“Just bring me your favorite,” he replied, thinking to further ease her nervousness with a friendly gesture.

Her suddenly bright smile should have warned him, but he was just too relieved that she was clearly relaxed. “Absolutely,” she replied as she quickly turned, obviously eager to get away from him.

Gaelen watched as the lovely woman headed for the bar. She was too thin, he thought critically, wondering why women wanted to starve themselves. Didn’t they know that men wanted a woman he could hold onto? Her butt was pretty damn nice, but if she gained a bit of weight, it could be magnificent! Her waist was small…too small. His eyes narrowed as he watched her twist her way through the crowd.

If Gaelen hadn’t been watching so intently, he might have missed the man’s lascivious glance at that same butt he’d been watching. But while he’d only been looking, another man at his table reached out and squeezed that pert derriere as the beautiful waitress passed by.

Gaelen stood up, ready to tear the man’s hand off for daring such an inappropriate gesture. But the waitress must have anticipated the assault because she grabbed the man’s fingers and twisted. Hard! It happened so quickly, he almost missed it. In fact, even the man’s companions missed her maneuver, although they didn’t miss the man’s expression of pain.

The woman continued on her path towards the bar while the man shook his fingers out, glaring daggers at the waitress. The others in the group obviously asked the guy what had happened, but the man just shook his head. Gaelen surmised that the guy probably wouldn’t continue his pathetic attempts to assault the pretty waitress, but he’d keep an eye on him, just in case.

Sitting back, he watched the crowd, irritated that the pretentious group was blocking his view of the waitress. He should be appreciative of the success of the bar since it had been a risky move, building a bar in this area of the city and so high up. Most bars were located at street level in order to catch people who were casually walking by.

Instead, he just wished everyone would go away. Go someplace else so he could be alone with the waitress with the gorgeous eyes and enticing mouth.

“I apologize for my lateness,” a shorter man blurted as he approached the table, interrupting Gaelen’s watchful gaze. Irritated, Gaelen focused on the man he’d come here to meet, although he kept an eye on the woman with his peripheral vision. The man moved forward, extending his hand in greeting. “It’s an honor to meet you, Prince Raminar.”

Gaelen stood and shook the offered hand, assessing and calculating. “You’re not late,” Gaelen replied. “My previous meeting let out early.”

“Oh! Well, that’s good,” the shorter man replied, obviously feeling a bit awkward. “I’m Scott Benson. And I understand that you need…” The man stopped in mid-sentence when Gaelen’s eyes moved to something behind him. Turning, the shorter man watched in horror as the waitress approached their table.

“Here you go,” she announced with a challenging grin as she set the garish orangish-pink drink complete with a matching umbrella on the table in front of Gaelen. She turned to his companion. “And what can I get for you?” she asked.

Gaelen stared at the drink for a long moment, then threw back his head, laughing with delight at her outrageousness. He laughed so hard that even his very well disciplined security team turned to glance in his direction instead of looking outwards for danger.

She rocked back on her heels as he tried to control his laughter and he knew that she was as delighted with herself as he was. Damn, he hadn’t laughed like that in a long time. There hadn’t been any reason to