“You’re surprised?” he asked.
She briefly struggled with something before she nodded.
“Why are you surprised?” he went on. “Because I eat or because I wish to eat with you?”
“Because you eat.” Her voice was still short, clipped, hostile.
Even so his body relaxed, pressing closer to hers, settling in. Hers tensed.
“I eat, I drink, I sleep, I bathe. I do everything you do,” Lucien told her.
She made no comment to this although her face was filled with curiosity.
She hid the curiosity and decided to change the subject, demanding, “Are we going to talk?”
“We are talking.”
She lifted her hand and waved it around. “No, not talking-talking. Talking about whatever it was you wanted to talk about this morning.”
“We’ll get to that.”
“Can we do it now so you can go?”
“That has a two part answer,” he explained and her brows knitted.
“It’s a yes or no question,” she informed him.
“Then no, to both parts.”
He watched her jaw clench again and he heard her teeth grind together. It took another enormous effort not to laugh.
“Why can’t we get this over with?” she insisted.
“Because I’d like a moment to relax and get a drink.”
She made to move and he allowed more of his weight to settle on her until she stilled.
“If you let me up, I’ll get you a drink,” she offered with false courtesy.
He ignored her attempt to get away from him and his gaze moved to her glass. “What are you drinking?”
She didn’t answer as he took his hand from her neck and reached for the glass. He brought it to his nose and inhaled its scent. It was diet cola and rum.
His eyes moved to hers. “You shouldn’t be drinking spirits,” he admonished.
Her head tilted to the side and her blue eyes grew darker. “Is that an order?”
“For tonight, while you’re still recovering, yes. Any other time you can drink what you wish.”
“I just don’t believe you,” she whispered angrily under her breath.
This was something else he ignored while he took a drink from her glass. For some reason, this caused her to protest, her hand shooting out, fingers wrapping around his wrist and jerking to no avail.
“Hey! Don’t drink from my drink!”
He replaced the glass on the table and looked at her. “Why?”
“It’s my drink!”