at the hips because she’s also one of the belly dancers. She has beautiful brown skin, slightly dewy with sweat from her dance. Her straight black hair hangs down her back, and she has ornate henna painted around her belly button.
“Ready to order?”
“I’ll have the lentil stew,” Blue says.
“Couscous,” Harvey puts in.
“And you?” the waitress asks Warren.
“Nothing for me.”
I interject. “Don’t listen to him.” I rip the menu from his hands and then close my eyes and let my finger land in a random spot. I open my eyes and show her the food item. “He’ll have this.”
“Tagine? Very good,” she says with a nod. “And you?”
I do the same pick-trick again. “I’ll have this one.”
“And the harissa. Excellent. I’ll put that in for you and bring you more tea.”
She turns to leave, her hips jingling all the way.
Harvey and Blue start talking about the evolution of feminism, while Warren glowers at me. “What?” I ask.
“You know I was coerced into going on this date.”
“Yeah, by Tonya. I like her.”
“I used to,” he mutters.
“Oh, don’t be such a baby,” I tell him, leaning over to start messing with his tie.
He freezes as my hand grazes his neck. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to get you to loosen up, of course. Lesson number two: Relax.”
He studies my face. “Mingle and relax. Those are your groundbreaking matchmaker tips so far?”
“Yep,” I say, still messing with his tie. “And it’s awesome advice that you’re doing a terrible job of following.”
I thought that I could handle loosening the knot since I managed to tie his shoelaces together earlier, but all I manage to do is make his tie even tighter. He finally gets frustrated and bats me away to do it himself.
“There,” he says, loosening it. “Happy?”
I lean forward again and pop open the top button of his shirt before he can stop me. I lean back and smile, pleased at my work. “That’s better.”
“So glad you approve,” he says dryly.
I arch a brow. “You’re doing it again,” I say, lifting my cup to take a sip of tea. It’s blazingly hot, making my eyes instantly water from the burn, but the refreshing taste hits my tongue, so I savor every second.
“Doing what again?” Warren asks, though I notice his eyes are trained on my mouth as I pull the cup away and lick my lips.
“Letting your asshole leak out,” I tell him honestly before taking another sip. “Shit, that’s hot,” I add with a wince.
When I raise the cup again, he shoves his hand above the cup and presses it down. “Stop drinking it if it’s burning you every time.”
“But I’ve never had it before, and it’s yummy.”
He takes the cup from me and sets it down on the table. “Just wait until it’s cooled down.”
“Oh, yeah. Smart.”
We both look over when Blue and Harvey erupt into laughter over something they’re talking about. They’re deep in conversation and have somehow moved onto the topic of hemp versus cotton production. Blue is adamantly trying to convince him why Knight Enterprises should make the switch.
“Hemp uses nearly fifty percent less water than cotton,” she tells him. “And it produces over two hundred percent more fibers than cotton. It just makes sense.”
“I’ll admit, you’ve intrigued me,” Harvey tells her, but I don’t miss the way his eyes keep dropping to her chest.
Are they sitting closer together than they were a few minutes ago, or is it my imagination?
“This shirt is hemp,” Blue says, pulling on the small tee that she’s wearing under her overalls.
“See?” I interject. “You argued with me about wearing a shirt tonight, and look how it’s paying off. You guys are nailing the mingling thing...even if you’re doing it with the wrong guy,” I add pointedly.
Blue just shrugs.
Harvey cocks a blonde brow at her. “You weren’t gonna wear a shirt?”
Blue shakes her head. “I prefer to go without. We live in a nudist colony,” she explains.
Warren starts choking on his tea, so I reach over to pat him on the back. “Okay, big guy?”
He pounds a fist against his chest. When he finally gets his choking under control, he looks over at me, his cheeks flushed.
I guess the whole nudist topic requires more advanced mingling skills. Who knew?
Chapter 14
Trix
“You’re a nudist?” Warren asks incredulously.
“That explains her office attire,” Harvey says with a grin.
“Well, I’m technically just living at a nudist colony. I’m not sure if I’m gonna be a nudist myself. Although, clothes chafing is legit, so I understand the appeal.”
His dark eyes flick