swallowed hard, sitting back in his chair and blinking rapidly.
I rushed on. “Up until now, I’ve been ignoring it because I didn’t think you liked me all that much. But, now that you’re being nice to me, I can’t exactly use that excuse, can I?”
“Are you always this blunt?”
“Like you said, I’m a terrible liar. I thought maybe honesty would work better.” My heart hopped around in my chest like a deranged bunny. “When we first met, I pegged you as a class-A asshole.”
“Maybe you should work on becoming a better liar.”
“And maybe you should let me finish my sentences before you jump down my throat. I was gonna say, I thought you were an asshole…but I was wrong.”
“You weren’t wrong. I’m definitely an asshole.”
“What kind of asshole would make a surprise dinner for someone?”
“The kind of asshole who finds that someone very beautiful. And smart. And funny.”
I lifted a hand to brush my hair out of my eyes and Joe flinched.
“And dangerous,” he added. “You have a hell of a right hook, Penny.”
My jaw dropped and a surprising amount of disappointment soured my stomach. While I thought something was growing between us, Joe thought I was someone else. “My name’s Kennedy.”
A red-hot blush raced up his neck and flared across his face. “I started calling you Penny Dreadful the day we met. Penny because of the color of your hair.”
“And Dreadful because I’ve been terrible to you.”
“Hey, it takes two to tango. I lived up to my reputation.” His knife dropped through the meat and he chomped it from the fork. “Bonus points if you know what penny dreadful actually means.”
I quirked my head. “No points for me, then.”
“They were books popular in the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom about famous criminals and detectives in the seedier parts of London. Adventure stories. Supernatural beings. Murder. All that stuff. They only cost a penny and the hoity toity types thought the books were beneath them and started calling them penny dreadfuls.”
“Look at you, with the random knowledge. Maybe I should I call you Wiki.”
He tapped his temple. “Strange facts lodge themselves up there and don’t let go.” His blues seared mine.
Desperate for somewhere else to look, I picked up my fork and cut into my steak. “So what now?”
He leaned back, arm thrown over the back of his chair, legs spread, chin lifted as his gaze skated my face. My libido twirled to life and I took a mental snapshot of the moment. “First, we finish dinner.”
“Okay. That’ll be easy because it’s delicious.” I sipped at the Wicked Ale. “Then what?”
Joe cut into his steak. “Then you come out for drinks with me.”
Knowing full well I’d just told Ramsey I wasn’t interested in dating or drinks, I hesitated, but only for a second. I’d be a hypocrite to accept Joe’s offer, but I really didn’t care. I wanted to get drinks with him. I wanted to give in to the chemistry between us. To see where things could go if we gave it a chance.
Joe gave me his best smile. And my God, was it a good one. “Don’t turn me down, Kennedy.”
I met his gaze. “I’m not going to.”
“Good.” His smile was like honey, rich and slow. “I’m going to take you to meet my brother.”
Chapter Nineteen
Joe
“Your brother?” The confusion on Kennedy’s face was adorable.
I crammed a bite of steak into my mouth, grinning as I chewed. “Yep. You never solved the mystery of who he is, so I decided to show you mercy. When you meet him, you’ll understand why you can’t make out his face in my pictures.”
“Wow. Our first date will consist of you taking me to meet your family?” She arched an eyebrow and moved in for the kill. “Moving quickly, aren’t we?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa now.” I held up my hands. “Who said this is a date?”
“Looks like I did.” Her smile dripped with promise.
Color me intrigued.
“Why don’t we call it ‘Kennedy and Joe figuring out if they actually like each other or if they should ignore the chemistry between them?’”
“Call it whatever you want to make yourself feel better. But I think you just described a first date, Wiki.” She dropped me a wink and I flipped her the bird and all felt right with the world.
We finished dinner. Kennedy showered while I cleaned up the mess in the kitchen. Afterwards, I stepped outside to call Collin and inform him of our plans for the evening.
“Hey, stranger. How goes things?” He sounded happy.