pushing her hair off her forehead.
“You can let me pick you up for lunch,” a deep voice said over the phone lines.
She stood absolutely still as her mind reeled with recognition. “You!” she growled. “Why are you calling me?”
He laughed softly. “I thought I made that clear a moment ago. Are you always this feisty in the morning? I think I like it.”
She could just see the man leaning back in his big, black, leather chair and smiling maliciously at her discomfort. “I’m never feisty except when you are around. And no, I won’t go to lunch with you. I have to hang up now. I have a deadline.”
“Don’t hang up, Eva,” he warned, his tone filled with authority.
Damn him! And damn her for reacting to the authority in his voice. “Why not?”
“Because if you do, I’ll think you’re scared of me.” He paused to let that sink in before he said, “And that might imply that you find me attractive which would then give me a great deal of satisfaction.”
She gasped and glared at the tree across the parking lot from her apartment, wishing it was his head and she could just chop it off! “I’m not afraid of you,” she snapped at him, furious that he would think that, even if it were true. She’d have to do a much better job of concealing her emotions if this man could get to her so easily.
“Then meet me for lunch and convince me that I’m wrong. Otherwise, I’m going to pursue you, assuming that you’re attracted to me but too intimidated to act on your feelings and just need reassurance that I’m very attracted to you as well.”
“Isn’t that a bit trite?”
He chuckled, a sexy sound that made her stomach clench with anticipation. “Not at all, if it’s incorrect.” His voice was very soft as he said, “Is it true, Eva?”
Her breath was shaky but she thought she was able to hide it well through the phone. “Absolutely not!”
“Great. Lunch in two hours at Il Bodega. I’ll either meet you there or I’ll have the answer to my question with your absence,” he said and hung up the phone.
Eva couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. She actually laughed at how he’d impressively trapped her into having lunch with him, giving him points for his creative mind. She was still chuckling as she stood up a half hour later to get ready to meet him, but promising herself that she wouldn’t take anything he said too seriously.
Two hours later, she wasn’t amused any longer. She’d arrived at the restaurant and saw him across the room, already seated at a table and talking on his cell phone. He saw her enter and stood up, but the hostess was already guiding her across the room so he remained at the table, watching her approach.
There was a significant difference between talking to the man over the phone and being amused by his manipulations, and walking towards him in the bright light of day, his dark eyes watching her with that look that made her stomach quiver with something she refused to believe was excitement or eagerness.
She was no longer amused, she was back to being irritated. Which, in her own mind, she accepted was because the man scared her silly but she’d never admit that to him. Anger was a much easier emotion to explain, and it wouldn’t give him as much power over her.
Good grief he was tall and scary looking, and just downright intimidating the closer she got to him. Couldn’t he please sit down so he didn’t tower over her like this?
Damon watched with fascination as Eva walked across the room. She really was a stunningly beautiful woman with a lush figure that drew other men’s attention, which actually irritated him, he realized. When had he ever cared if other men noticed the females he escorted? If other men had looked at his previous companions, he’d not noticed, nor would he have cared.
It was because this woman was going to be his wife, he thought possessively. When other men looked, they considered the possibilities. And there would be no possibilities with his wife. Not with anyone but himself!
When she reached the table, he already had the chair pulled out for her and he enjoyed the soft scent of her as she gracefully took her seat. Her perfume wasn’t heavy or cloying, but a subtle, flowery smell that wafted around him. A barely there scent that made him think of sex