“I thought we’d try Mark’s American Cuisine.”
Knowing their destination was a public place didn’t settle her nerves the way it should have. She’d been convinced he was taking her to his condo to ply her with red wine and sex appeal until her resistance dissolved. To her immense shock, she was disappointed that he had no such nefarious plans.
“I haven’t been there,” she admitted. “But the food is supposed to be wonderful.”
“I hadn’t heard about the food,” he said, casting a wry grin her way. “I was taking you there for the ambiance.”
Mark’s had been voted Houston’s most romantic restaurant. “Is that so?” she quizzed, her tension unraveling beneath his flirtatious smile. “That’s so.”
At the restaurant she waited while he came around the car and opened her door. As he pulled her to her feet, her heel caught in a hole. Unbalanced, she stumbled against his long frame. He caught her by the shoulders. Her heart stopped as the heat of his body enveloped her.
He hummed. “You know, we could grab some takeout and head back to my place.”
Now, that was the Nathan she knew and…
“You were bringing me here for the ambiance,” she reminded him, her eyes half closing as his warm breath stroked her cheek.
“My place has a great ambiance. Perfect for just the two of us.”
And she wanted to go. So much. Despite the warnings from her rational side. Giving in now would signal Nathan that he’d won. He’d become even more relentless.
Her earrings tickled her neck as she shook her head. “Now that we’re here, nothing could persuade me to leave without tasting Chef Mark’s food.”
“What about a chance to taste me?” The dare in his quicksilver-gray eyes touched her like a caress. She trembled.
What madness had led her to believe she could master her attraction to Nathan? It throbbed in her body like a drumbeat, insistent, steady, increasing to a heady climax.
“You can be dessert,” she whispered.
His eyes widened at her response. “After dinner we’ll stop and buy some whipped cream.”
Gulping, she grasped at something to defuse the sudden influx of sexual tension. Teasing him seemed to be the best way. “You don’t think you’re sweet enough for me?”
His grin blindsided her.
“Not by a long shot.”
Emma gave him a shaky smile in return and lifted onto the balls of her feet to kiss him on the chin. “Then bring on the whipped cream.”
“Dammit, woman,” he muttered, guiding her inside the restaurant. “How the hell am I supposed to enjoy dinner when all I can think about is dessert?”
He sounded as disturbed as she felt. Emma’s head spun at the notion that she had some power over him. He wasn’t completely in control. Knowing that leveled the playing field a bit and relaxed her.
“You’ll just have to manage,” she said, squeezing his arm. “This is beautiful.”
Located in a renovated church, the restaurant lived up to its reputation for romantic dining. The soaring cathedral ceiling, awash in golden light, arched over candlelit tables with white tablecloths and elegant place settings. A graceful staircase curved upward to what had once been the choir loft, now open to the tables below and edged with simple wrought-iron railing. The ceiling’s line was echoed in the detailing above the doorways, drawing the eye upward.
The dining experience was everything she expected it to be. Won over by the
candlelight, her charismatic dinner companion and way too much food, Emma set down her fork and spread her fingers over her stomach.
“That was delicious,” she said, feeling sleepy despite turning down the wine Nathan had ordered. Although the evening had taken on an enchanted glow, she needed to return to her loft and get back to work. Alcohol would have made that task impossible. “I can’t recall the last time I ate so much.”
“I have to admit, I do enjoy watching you eat. There’s something so very sexy about it.”
She made a face at him.
“Did you save room for dessert?” their waiter asked.