CEO Daddy (Crescent Cove 6.50)

“A cup of coffee for me, please.” His smile was easy and self-assured, and he never looked away from me as he took the seat opposite me at the table.

Sage left us alone with a waggle of her brows.

“Friend of yours?” I set the bouquet of tulips in my lap and drew a nail through the powdered sugar beneath the lemon bars on my plate. I rued not redoing my nail polish for tonight. The silver was chipped at the edges. Surely, a man like him would notice.

“Oh, Sage? No, not exactly, although we’ve met a few times. I make it a point to eat here when I’m in town. Something I’ll be doing a lot more soon.”

He paused as Sage brought over the bottle of champagne and two glasses. She popped the cork and poured for us both, then left us alone again. A moment later, she brought Asher’s coffee, which he largely ignored.

I picked up my glass, clinked with my new dinner guest, and sipped. The bubbly went straight to my head as it always did, so I set the glass down.

He was still watching me, his lips curved ever so slightly. He hadn’t taken a drink yet.

“I’m Asher,” he said as the silence extended uncomfortably. Somehow our personal silence was much more noticeable because of all the excited chatter around us.

“Hannah.”

“Nice to meet you. What brings you here tonight of all nights?”

“I didn’t want to sit alone at home.” Nice one, Hannah. Can you sound any more pathetic? “It’s a night for parties and fun.” I saluted him with my champagne and drank.

Heat flowed out from my belly through my limbs. I couldn’t decide if I liked the sensation or not. Or maybe the heat was from Asher’s gaze. His eyes weren’t as dark as I’d originally believed. With the candle flickering between us, I’d guess now they were a warm hazel, perhaps varying depending on his clothing.

Apparently, his black pinstriped suit didn’t offer any appreciable change to them. But whoa nelly, that suit was working wonders on me.

Maybe three-piece suits really were the equivalent to lingerie for a woman. His was definitely revving my motor.

Revving everything.

“So, do you have plans after this? A party perhaps, or some other kind of fun?” He ran his fingertip along the rim of his glass.

“How old are you?” I blurted.

His dark brows drew together. “Thirty-two in March.”

“Hmm.”

“Is that a good hmm or a bad hmm?”

“I’m twenty-three. I’ve never…” I took a deep breath. Try not to embarrass yourself again. “Well, this is just sharing some lemon bars and champagne, right?”

“That’s up to you. Why don’t we start with some conversation and go from there?” His slow smile only served to stir me up even more.

Relax in this gorgeous, commanding man’s presence? Not likely.

“Sure. Let’s begin with why you came over to my table.” I picked up my dessert fork and cut off the corner of one of my lemon bars, belatedly remembering he didn’t have one. Sage hadn’t brought over another plate.

By accident or design? Even without knowing her well, I could easily see her as the matchmaking type.

“Sorry, it’s rude of me to eat when you don’t have anything. Here.” I set down the fork and lifted the plate toward him, swallowing deeply as he pushed aside the vase and the flickering candle to make room for the plate between us.

“We can share.” His fingers brushed mine as he broke off a corner and lifted it to his mouth.

His perfect mouth. His lips were neither too full or too sparse. Just right.

As everything he possessed seemed to be. And I hadn’t even gotten a look at him beneath the waist.

Probably good. I didn’t need to be any more intimidated, especially by pinstriped thirty-two-year-old cocks. I was already freaked out enough.