“I’m saying that this is a bad idea. Lines will be blurred.”
“I need to hear the word, Donna. Yes or no. Do you still want to go out with me tonight?” He held his breath.
It took a decade for her to answer. “If we go out, it’s going to change everything.”
He sure as hell hoped so! But the most important thing was that she hadn’t said no. A surge of adrenalin rushed through his veins, washing away his earlier doubts. Donna might be having second thoughts, just as he had, but she still wanted to spend the evening with him. This could be salvaged. If he got over himself long enough to make it happen.
“We can forget one kiss,” she said in a rush. “If we go out tonight, that will be harder to excuse.”
What? He’d obviously tuned out and missed something important. “Forget the kiss? Why the hell would we do that? That kiss was mind-blowing.”
He heard her suck in a breath. “Going out with you is confusing things.”
“Donna.” He lowered his voice, aware from their time in his office earlier that it had an effect on her, and he wasn’t above using everything in his arsenal to get what he wanted. What they both wanted. “Why is this confusing? We’re two people who know each other well, who live in the same house, and we’re going out for a pleasant evening together. We’ll eat some food. Talk.” He let that sink in, and then he went in for the kill. “Maybe we’ll hold hands, touch, kiss. I liked our kiss, Donna. Didn’t you?”
The answer was a frustrated groan that had him smiling.
“Have you dressed
for our date already?” He poured seduction into his voice. “What are you wearing?” He leaned into the intercom.
She cleared her throat. “My mint green sundress.”
He knew the one she meant. It matched her eyes perfectly. “I’ve often wondered if that dress was as soft as it looked.”
She groaned. “You are driving me nuts. You’re deliberately trying to talk me around.”
“Is it working?”
“Yes. Damn you.”
“I’m coming up to your rooms. I’ll walk you downstairs. If you still want to call this off, tell me to my face.” He hit the Off button.
With a grin, he grabbed his car keys and wallet and jogged out of his room to get Donna.
Chapter 16
The date wasn’t going well. Donna was too nervous to relax, and Duncan seemed uncomfortable in the restaurant, probably because the other diners were all staring at him as though they’d spotted a Yeti.
“Is everything okay?” Marcus, the owner, asked them for the third time. From the smile he was trying to hide, he wasn’t interested in their comfort, but in the discomfort Duncan was experiencing. “Can I get you anything else?”
“Some privacy?” Duncan snapped.
Marcus was third-generation Italian-Scottish and had grown up in Glasgow. He was used to dealing with rude people.
“If you showed your face around town a bit more, people wouldn’t stare. A smile would help as well, and you could try calling a halt to firing everyone who works for you over the least wee thing.” Marcus shook his head at Duncan. “I can’t do anything about the audience, but I can get Rob to up the garlic in your fettuccine, the smell might deter them.”
Donna leaned forwards to place a restraining hand on Duncan’s arm before he could get up and punch Marcus. There were a limited number of places in Campbeltown where she enjoyed eating, and she wasn’t going to let him get her banned from one of them.
“Marcus,” she said. “Is there anything you could do for us? Please.”
The gleeful gleam in his eye from prodding Duncan faded as he smiled softly at her. “For you, bella, I’ll see what I can do.” With that, he swaggered off to the kitchen.
She turned back to Duncan, to find him frowning at her. “What?” she said as she reached for a breadstick.
“Is there something going on with you and the owner?”
She almost choked on the bite she’d taken. Although, the comment was kind of flattering. Marcus was in his early thirties, muscled from MMA fighting in his free time, and his gorgeous smile was famous in Kintyre. Women queued up for a date with the man. That Duncan thought he’d choose her over the smorgasbord he had on offer was a boost to her ego.