The Man Ban - Nicola Marsh Page 0,46

food is styled to look that good.”

“Rubbish. The cooks present the food.”

“No, the chefs prepare the food; the stylists make it look good.”

He had no intention of telling her he knew this firsthand. Izzy would flip if she discovered he’d been Harper’s assistant during his much-needed downtime.

“It sounds like a made-up job,” she muttered, tut-tutting under her breath. “What do you mean you’re serious about her?”

Damned if he knew.

He had limited time to invest in a relationship, which is why he hadn’t done it before. Long hours at the hospital left him exhausted and with little time and energy to devote to anyone else. But Harper didn’t strike him as the demanding type. In fact, if her runaway act after the few times they’d had sex was any indication, she wasn’t likely to linger and loll around, wanting more than he could give.

Maybe they could make this work?

And maybe he’d be bungee jumping off the Sky Tower in Auckland tomorrow.

Not going to happen.

“Izzy, you know I date extensively but I don’t do relationships, yet with Harper I’m willing to try.”

She shook her head, disapproval surrounding her like an aura. “This is not what I want for you, Manish. She’s all wrong for you. It will end badly.”

“Shouldn’t I be the judge of that?” He pressed a hand to his heart. “As you so consistently point out, I’m forty. Isn’t it time I took a risk on love?”

“You love her?” Izzy screeched, her eyes bulging as her nose almost touched the screen. “You can’t be serious.”

“Settle, Izzy, I don’t love her.”

But the moment he verbalized the rebuttal, he hated the gut-deep twist that signaled he may be lying.

“We’ll talk about this when you get home.” Izzy waggled her finger at him. “I think you’ll feel differently when you’re back in Melbourne. Vacation romances never last.”

Manny agreed, but in this case he had every intention of convincing Harper otherwise.

35

Harper had wondered if Manny was too good to be true, and now she had proof.

He should’ve been pissed about how she’d bolted from his room last night. He should’ve taken it out on her in some form today during the four-hour drive back to Auckland.

Instead, he’d traded banter with her like nothing had happened. Not that he’d talked the whole way. Oh no, even his silences were companionable and not fraught with tension.

It made her like him all the more.

With Colin, any disagreements had meant he’d sulk for a day at least, sometimes two, and he never apologized. She’d eventually tire of his childish behavior and end up backing down or cooking his favorite meal. She’d hated it.

She should’ve known Manny would be more mature than that. Was it an age thing? She’d never dated a guy ten years older, and while his laid-back attitude and charming flirting made him seem years younger, she liked that with age came maturity. It gave her hope they could get through dinner tonight unscathed.

Wayne Storr had set it up as a thank-you for the great work she’d done; along with depositing her fee with a healthy bonus into her bank account.

For the first time since she’d started food styling, she had hope she could actually make a living from it. A recommendation from a mogul like him would go a long way to cementing her business, and updating her website was her first priority when she got home.

“We have a few hours to kill before dinner. Anything in particular you’d like to do?” He gestured at his body, his smirk making her laugh.

“You really meant it when you said let’s go with the flow, huh?”

“Absolutely.” He winked and pointed to the elevator that would take them up to their rooms. “As long as that involves the two of us naked again.”

“Pervert.” She swatted his chest, remembering exploring every inch of it with her tongue, knowing her telltale blush would alert him to her risqué thoughts.

“Takes one to know one.”

“What are you, five?”

“You know exactly how mature I am,” he said, capturing her hand and pressing a kiss to her palm before curling her fingers over it, the simple action sending a jolt of heat shooting straight to her core. “Perhaps you’d like to check out certain parts of me again to vouch for it?”

“Crude as well as a pervert,” she said, grinning as she pressed the palm he’d just kissed to his chest. “Lucky for you, I don’t mind a bit of rude banter.”

“What about the rest?”

He covered her hand with his, and she could feel