“It looks like you watch your weight too.”
“No. I eat thousands of calories every day. I’m just selective.” After a few more bites, his dinner was completely gone. With his arms resting on the table, he watched me finish my food.
“So, do you have a name?”
His eyes watched my movements, focusing on the way the food entered my mouth. Then he watched my mouth, as if he was fascinated by the way I moved my lips.
I grew uncomfortable by his stare. “You’ve never seen someone eat before?”
“Not like you.”
“Tell me your name. Because I’m not gonna call you the Skull King. People really call you that?” I couldn’t imagine someone taking the time to say three words every single time they addressed him. Instead of it being a sign of respect, it just seemed stupid.
“If you visited my world, you would understand why people call me that. And yes, everyone calls me that.” He spoke with a quiet and stern tone, his voice low so no one else would hear his words. He possessed deep confidence, immune to the way I mocked his title. “But my real name is Heath.”
“Really?” I asked in surprise. “Like Heathcliff?”
He seemed irritated by the comparison to old romantic literature. “As in Heath.”
“You just don’t look like a Heath.”
“Then what do I look like?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know…never met anyone like you.”
“And you never will.”
I could feel the power that radiated from his presence. The longer I was around him, the more potent he became. If I’d known his strength before he captured me, I probably would’ve been much more afraid. “I’m glad I don’t have to call you by that other name now.”
“You’re one of the few.”
I knew I shouldn’t eat everything on my plate, but the food was too good and I was starving. I ate every single ravioli then dunked the extra bread into the sauce before I devoured that too.
He seemed to be entertained watching me.
“Don’t judge me.”
He smiled slightly. “I’m not the judgmental type.”
When dinner was finished, the waiter brought the tab.
Heath grabbed it right away and threw some cash on top.
I grabbed my wallet and unzipped it.
“What are you doing?” The anger in his voice showed his disapproval of my actions.
I pulled out a bill. “Paying for my half. This isn’t a date, you know.”
Without turning around, he raised the bill so the waiter would run over and take it. “Whatever it is, you aren’t buying.” The waiter took it out of his hand and walked away.
I rolled my eyes. “I hate that macho bullshit.”
“It’s not macho. And it’s not bullshit.”
“If you’re trying to get me to sleep with you by paying for my meal, that’s not gonna work either. Takes a lot more to impress me.”
He returned his arms to the table and leaned forward slightly. “From what I can see, it doesn’t take much.”
My eyes narrowed on his face, and the adrenaline spiked in my blood. If steam could’ve erupted out of my ears, it would. “That better not mean what I think it means.” I liked to enjoy my youth by spending time with handsome men. I wasn’t afraid to put myself out there, enjoy myself until it was time to find something real. “How are we any different? You can sleep around with whoever you want, and it doesn’t matter. But when I live my life that way, it’s degrading.”
“That’s not what I said at all.”
“You’ve implied it three times now.”
He was quiet for a while, his hands coming together on the table now that the food was gone. The bill had been paid so we could leave whenever we wanted, but we continued to sit there. “I’m implying that you barely learn a guy’s name before you bring him home, but you won’t even give me a chance and I’m a million times better than any other guy you’ve been with.”
I shook my head because I was frustrated. “None of those guys have ever put me in a cage.”
“None of those guys would have freed you if they had.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Do you think you can spin that and make it sound good? You’re delusional. You say people call you the Skull King because you’re in a gang or something, and you admitted that my brother is your enemy. You have no chance.”
“But you willingly had dinner with me. I haven’t kept you here. You chose to be here. You drove me here.”
This man was infuriating. He’d manipulated me to this point, and he knew it. “Then I guess walking out will make my feelings perfectly clear.” I grabbed my purse and rose from the chair. “Thanks for dinner, asshole.” I left and walked outside. He didn’t seem to follow me, so I slowed down as I headed out to my car at the curb. Hopefully that was the last time I would see him, that he would accept my rejection and move on.