Betting on Julia (A Melville Sisters Novel) (Entangled Covet) by Nina Croft Page B

stories about being an accountant.” She gave him a big smile that showed off her dimples as she shrugged out of her jacket.
    She was wearing pink again. She really seemed to like the color. A soft pink sweater that buttoned down the front, molding her full breasts and revealing at least two inches of cleavage. She leaned across to pick up the menu, and his dick jerked in his pants.
    “There are no funny stories about being an accountant,” he said. “Maybe you should tell me about being a journalist instead.”
    They both ordered pizza—hers a vegetarian. Julia chatted about her work as she ate hers with her fingers. The whole thing. Then she eyed up the remains of his meat feast.
    “Go ahead,” he said. He had no appetite, not for food anyway.
    She grinned, licking tomato sauce off her fingers and taking a swig of red wine. “This condition. It has one good side effect—my metabolism has gone crazy.” She waved a hand down her body, reached across, and picked up a slice of his pizza. “I’ve always had to watch what I eat, but now I can eat anything and I burn it off.”
    He considered asking what exactly was wrong with her, but she seemed to have gotten over her earlier blues and he didn’t want to bring them back. He liked seeing her smile.
    Somewhere during the meal, she’d slipped open another button on her sweater, so now he was staring at three inches of very impressive cleavage, and however hard he tried to avoid the view, his gaze kept slipping downward.
    She finished his pizza and excused herself to go wash her hands. He watched her ass as she sashayed across the room.
    You are one sad case.
    He ignored the comment.
    You can’t touch her. The moment you do, she’ll realize you’re not the nice guy you’ve been pretending to be.
    He gritted his teeth.
    You can’t hide it from me. I know what you want, what you like, and it’s not nice vanilla sex with a nice girl.
    “Fuck off,” he growled and got an odd glance from the waiter.
    But Dante was right. With the demon this close to the surface, he couldn’t risk losing control.
    “Are you okay?” Julia was back. “You were frowning,” she said.
    “I’m fine.” He forced a smile.
    As she took her seat, she tugged up her skirt and crossed her legs, and he couldn’t miss the flash of pale skin. She was wearing stockings, and his dick jerked again. So much for good intentions. He was hot and hard and uncomfortable.
    “Are you really okay?” she asked, reaching across the table and resting her hand on his forearm. A tingle ran up his arm, down his body, to settle in his gut. He couldn’t believe it. Melanie in a red corset and stilettos had never had this effect on him. Maybe he needed to end the evening before he lost the ability to control himself. If that happened, his control on Dante would also slip, and that was precarious anyway tonight.
    “Yes, I’m fine. I was thinking about Melanie. She loved pizza as well. So do you want dessert?” he asked, hoping she’d say no and they could get the hell out of there and away from what was becoming slow torture.
    But she smiled and licked her lips. “I’d like ice cream. Strawberry ice cream—it’s my favorite.”
    “Let me guess—because it’s pink.”
    “Am I so obvious?” She pouted and licked her lips again, then rested her elbows on the table and her chin on her hands. The position had the effect of pushing her breasts together, increasing the amount of cleavage she was flashing his way. He glanced up from the picture and found her watching him, an almost calculating expression in her eyes.
    It occurred to him that he was being played.
    For a second, he wondered whether this whole thing was a setup and she was somehow in league with Dante. But setting him up for God knows what? He dismissed the idea. No, she was just being friendly…very friendly.
    It was a long time since he’d played this game, but if he wasn’t mistaken, she was flirting with him. He called the waiter and