THE BENNETTS' CHRISTMAS (The Bennett Family and the Masters Family #6) - Brenda Jackson Page 0,69

left at the traffic light. The place is called Radeon’s Sweet Spot. It’s a Mom-and-Pop outfit, and Edith Radeon is the best when it comes to whipping together a cheesecake to die for.”

He chuckled and the husky sound was way too sexy for her frame of mind. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“You’ll see,” she replied.

She tried not to notice how sexy he looked while driving. The way his large, strong hands gripped the steering wheel had her wondering if he could hold a woman the same way.

He brought the car to a stop at the traffic light, then glanced over at her. Since she was already looking at him, their eyes locked and immediately her inner muscles tightened as desire warmed her to the core. “It’s getting better, I think. This friendship thing,” he said.

She wondered how he thought that when awareness of him was overwhelming her. Did that mean his desire for her was diminishing? If so, then she had a problem, and she’d just have to double-down to get her mind and body in sync.

She’d been surprised when Bob Rollins had called her today. He claimed he had been thinking about her lately. She wondered how that was possible when the only thing he ever had on his mind was making his technology company a success. More than once he had stood her up because of a business-related emergency.

She figured he’d had to dig deep in his phone contacts for her number since she hadn’t heard from him in well over a year.

He had asked her out for next weekend and since she had the time off work, she had agreed to go to dinner with him. Hopefully, this time around, things would be better. Monica used to call him “Boring Bob” because the only thing that ever excited him was his business. And he would talk about it, non-stop, to anyone who would listen. His goal in life was to become the next technological superpower, and she wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to do it.

“We’re here.”

Parker’s words grabbed her attention and she looked out the window. They were parked in front of Radeon’s.

“You were right, Sebrina. This cheesecake is delicious,” Parker said, finishing off the last piece on his plate.

She licked her lips after grabbing a crumb off them with her tongue. “Told you.”

“You weren’t exaggerating.” He glanced around as he took a sip of his coffee. Watching what she’d just done with her tongue had his entire body burning. “Nice place,” he said.

“I like it. As a kid Kennedy used to come here all the time with her dad. He would treat her to cheesecake whenever she did good in school. The day we all moved in together, we came here to celebrate. The owners remembered Kennedy, welcomed her back to St. Paul and we’ve been coming back, ever since.”

He glanced back over at Sebrina, glad she was now sipping her tea and their gazes weren’t connecting. Something always happened when their eyes met. One quick look was enough to get his blood pumping...above and below the belt. It had been harder than he’d thought, sitting beside her in the movie theater. He’d been so tempted to reach out and take her hand in his, but knew he couldn’t do such a thing. Friends didn’t hold hands during a movie.

“Did Kennedy like living in St. Paul while growing up?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation going. Maybe then, he’d be able to concentrate on what she was saying instead of how good she looked.

“Yes. She was born here and has always considered St. Paul home. I remember hearing about the temper tantrum she’d had—it was something—when Michael told her he’d decided to move them to Atlanta.” Sebrina chuckled. “But he did it for her own good. Kennedy was getting into way too much trouble.”

“How old was she?”

“Thirteen. Michael is an airline pilot, and he paid an older woman to take care of Kennedy whenever he was away. I think the last straw was when he got a call notifying him that Kennedy had sneaked out one night to go joyriding with a group of girls from school. There was an accident, but nobody was hurt, thank goodness.”

She took a sip of her tea. “The incident shook Michael up pretty bad because he’d lost his first wife, Kennedy’s mother, in a car accident a few years earlier. That’s when Michael decided to do something drastic. So he moved him and Kennedy to Atlanta to