Devilishly Wicked by Kathy Love

slight smile that hinted at the dimples framing her pretty lips.
    “Maybe it did,” he said, smiling back.
    She made a face. “Well, you clearly don’t remember a thing about it, so that sort of kills that notion, doesn’t it?”
    “Well, one thing is for certain,” he said slowly, straightening his silverware, “you are definitely my favorite personal assistant. And like I said, I hired many.”
    Georgia didn’t say anything, and he looked back up at her.
    She had blushed again. He loved her easy reaction to him. And even though he knew she thought it was just one of his lines, he was being honest. She was by far his favorite. He hadn’t even mustered up a mild attraction to most of them.
    Hmm, now that he thought about it, he wondered why. What made her different?
    “Hi, there.” A waitress appeared at the edge of their booth, smiling at Georgia first. But as soon as her attention turned to Tristan, Georgia might as well have been invisible.
    “Would you like to hear the specials?” she said, her voice low. This one was definitely more seasoned than the hostess, and she wasn’t going to have any trouble going for what she wanted.
    Normally, Tristan would have gone along with the waitress’s interest. It was easy, and he was, after all, a demon of lust. But today, her attention just irritated him. He wanted to focus on the woman he was sitting with. He wanted to have Georgia to himself.
    “No need,” Tristan said, his tone unusually curt. Again, not how he usually treated a woman who was openly attracted to him.
    The young blonde’s face fell.
    “Want to try my favorite?” he asked Georgia, all that curtness leaving as he spoke to her. He didn’t wait for her to answer.
    “We’re going to have two of The Works with the onion rings. Plus a side of fries. And two of your Willie’s pale ales. Tall.”
    Again, the blonde looked thoroughly disappointed that he was so concise. Then out of sheer jealousy, the waitress raised an eyebrow in Georgia’s direction. “That’s a lot of food. Far more than I could ever eat.”
    Tristan didn’t miss the pointed jab, and from Georgia’s deflated look, neither did she.
    “Well, the lady here,” he said in an acerbic tone, “is humoring me, since this is my favorite place. Although, I’m beginning to wonder why. The service isn’t what I remember.”
    The blond waitress had the good grace to look worried.
    “I’ll be right back with your beers.” She hurried away from the table and straight to the bar.
    Georgia watched the waitress’s departure with a mixture of relief and sympathy.
    Peaches was too kindhearted. The waitress had been blatantly rude to her, yet his sweet assistant felt bad for her.
    The idea that Georgia might possibly be used to comments like the waitress’s bothered him. He couldn’t say why. That comment wouldn’t affect his mission to have this woman. So why did he really care about Georgia’s potentially wounded ego?
    He didn’t want to contemplate that, so instead he said, “You popped.”
    “I—popped.” She immediately turned her attention away from the unimportant waitress and down at herself. She touched the lacing on her corseted top, as if she expected it to have popped open.
    Which would be nice. He’d love to see more of those luscious breasts of hers.
    “As soon as I saw you— you definitely popped.”
    It took her a moment to understand he was referring back to her comment about her resumé. Then as expected, she blushed.
    Now she busied herself with straightening her silverware. “Well, I’m sure I definitely wasn’t the usual applicant. Multicolored hair, funky glasses, vintage wear.”
    “No, you weren’t. Frankly, you were more interesting and quite refreshing.”
    She stopped spacing her knife and spoon the perfect few centimeters apart.
    “Interesting and refreshing.” She smiled wryly. “That’s a nice way to put it.”
    Tristan sighed. “Do you ever just take a compliment?”
    Honestly, it was