Page 41 of He Has Charm (Boston Brawlers Hockey)
Thirteen
Harper
“Change of plans,” she says. “To make you feel at home, Maddox, I thought it would be nice to go to a New Orleans-inspired restaurant, my new favorite place, Buttermilk & Bourbon. I’m sure you’ll love it. They have Southern fried chicken to die for and biscuits…” Chelsea gets a dreamy look. “I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.”
“Sounds perfect. But honestly, I’ll eat anything after a game I’m so hungry,” Maddox says. He winks at me with that suggestive glint that makes me imagine him ravenous and satisfying his appetite with his mouth between my—no, stop it. Chelsea snorts and O’Rourke agrees wholeheartedly with Maddox about being starved.
The restaurant is on Comm Ave in Boston which is busy even this late because it’s Saturday night and O’Rourke pulls up front and center for valet parking. The evening air is cold and my breath clouds up as I dash from the car toward the stylish restaurant. Managing not to jerk away when Maddox puts a hand on my back to escort me inside, mimicking the O’Rourkes as if we’re a couple, I tense and hope no one recognizes us. When the host greets Ryan and Chelsea as if he knows them. I interrupt and ask the host if they have a private room.
“Nothing available tonight, I’m afraid.”
“How about a table in the back?” I ask, ignoring the O’Rourke’s questioning looks.
“The only table we have for the next hour is the O’Rourke’s preferred table, the one we reserve for them after games.” I nod and gage whether I can get away with making two hungry hockey players wait for dinner. They don’t look enthusiastic. The host adds, “You can wait in the bar—”
“No, that’s alright.” The bar would be the worst place to go. I’d suggest another restaurant but I’m afraid we’d have the same trouble with crowds anywhere we go in Boston tonight. “We’ll take the table you have ready now.” I glance at the others and Chelsea gives me a look of understanding, O’Rourke looks relieved and Maddox wears his signature smirk.
We’re seated in the plush red velvet banquette table for six as soon as Rafe and Zoey arrive. It’s a gorgeous and comfortable table so everyone is thrilled with it. The only problem is that it’s front and center in the main dining room right in front of a large bay window with a view of the street and everyone who enters the place walks by us.
“I love this view of the city lit up at night,” Zoey says. “Don’t you?” She turns to me and I barely nod.
“It’s pretty.” Too bad I feel all kinds of exposed and I wouldn’t normally care who sees me since I’m no one special, but this night I’m sitting with a bunch of celebrities and paired with the last man on earth I can afford to be seen paired with as if we’re… dating. Shit. If I saw Godfrey Collins right now I’d strangle him for bagging out of this assignment. I bet he’s not really on a cruise. I bet he’s sitting happy and all by himself in his Manhattan studio eating popcorn and watching sports news while I try to handle the most difficult man I’ve ever met.
I give Maddox a nudge with my knee and try to communicate my discomfort. He lifts his eyebrows as if he’s clueless, but I know he’s smarter than that. I slide away from him a smidge, but that only brings me closer to the movie-star-handsome Raphael Lemaire. But at least there’s no mistaking that he’s with Zoey, since they’re newlyweds and plastered to each other.
I take the opportunity to hide behind my menu as people walk by and their glances are inevitably drawn to our table and whispers follow. I pray that no one takes out their cell phones for photos, but I don’t lower my menu to check. The traffic of people back and forth eases and I
take surreptitious glances around at the crowd as everyone discusses the menu choices.
That’s when I notice Nora Olak, the damn pesky reporter. She must have followed us here and now she’s watching from a nearby table. If she’s waiting for juicy tidbits then she doesn’t have long because Maddox is in his element and in full flirtation mode.
“So Harper,” he says after handing over his menu. “What are you having tonight? Any desert?” My eyes flick to the server’s and one corner of his mouth scrunches as he returns my glance. My inward groan is so loud I imagine the whole table hears the flirtatious drawl when they all look at me expectantly. But then I realize it’s because they’re expecting some kind of rebuke from me and I gladly comply.
“No desert for me.”
“I had a feeling you would say that. Too bad.” He gives me a wistful smile and my face heats up and I’m not sure if it’s lust-inspired because of the crinkles at the corners of those baby blues telling me he’s sincere or if it’s his flirtatious behavior getting to me and making me mad as hell at myself.
Either way, he interrupts me like he has a right, like I’m the one who’s being unreasonable and crazy, putting his hand on mine.
The warmth of his hand instantly electrifies my nerves and I flinch, but I resist pulling it away to avoid added attention, trying to breathe normally. Shit I wish he didn’t affect me this way.Liar, you love it.Shit, I hate when my conscience is right.
“We’re among friends, Harper. You can relax.” His voice is like low velvet, placating and reasonable and instantly puts everyone at ease. Everyone at the table except me. I try nodding toward where I spotted Nora, but either he doesn’t notice or he thinks I’m having muscle spasms in my neck.
My nerves escalate to high alert, so I try slipping my hand from under his, slowly so no one—namely Nora—will notice. But he clamps down and that true smile of pleasure returns.
The beautiful jerk is enjoying making me squirm. I yank my hand free and nudge him with my knee under the table. Hard. He raises his brow at me while the others talk about their meal choices, then leans in to whisper for my ears only in that low sexy growly voice that reminds me of porn videos, of his porn video.Do not think of his video now. Do not recall those images… Fuck.
“You seem uptight, Harper. Anything I can do to help ease your—?”
“No. Nothing at all.” I slide my eyes to Nora’s table and nod my head again. Luckily she’s talking to her server and not looking our way. “In fact the less you do the better. Pretend I’m not here. Pretend you’re sitting next to an empty space, like I’m invisible, like—”
He chuckles and the deep resonance of the sound so close to my ear makes me shiver.Shit. I should know better than to ramble because it always seems to set him off. I bite my tongue.
“You are a bundle of nerves, aren’t you? Too bad my magical cure for nerves is off-limits.” I meet his eyes and open my mouth to spout all the reasons why he’s off-limits, but stop myself. I shut my mouth and shut down my almost-ramble. His smile has a hint of pride in it.
“Your self-control is admirable.” He picks up his glass of ice water, takes a sip and I’m mesmerized by his Adam’s apple bobbing in his manly muscled throat, the tendons tight and his skin lightly stubbled. I want to lick him, run my tongue from his lips down over his perfect chin and down his throat and… shit, shit, shit. He puts his water down and turns back to me, lowering his head. “I only hope my self-control holds out if you’re going to look at me that way.”
My heart thuds and his words shock me into panicked poise, the extreme kind of officious behavior, and I back away from him, clamp my mouth shut without a hint of a smile and clamp my thighs tight together as if that’s going to stop anything. I dart a glance at Nora. She’s still not paying any attention to us. Maybe I’m being paranoid about her being here. This is a happening restaurant. Maybe she’s here for the food, to meet a date.
