Dream Date With the Millionaire by Melissa McClone

to her feet, her chair crashed to the floor.
    The restaurant was dead quiet. Customers stared. The wait-staff, too.
    She didn’t care. “What are you doing?”
    “Giving you what you want,” he said.
    “What I want?” Dani’s blood pressure soared. His words took her straight back to high school, where the boys had elbowed each other and propositioned her when she’d walkedby. She’d ignored their taunts even though it hurt because she’d wanted to be part of the popular crowd. She was older, wiser now. No need to try and fit in with people she’d never liked in the first place. “What I want is for you to crawl back into the hole you slithered out of.”
    “You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?” He raised his eyebrows up and down, as if performing a bizarre mating call. “Women who play hard to get are usually good in bed.”
    “You’ll never know.” She picked up her glass of water and tossed the contents on his lap. “That should cool you off.”
    Gregg jumped up, grabbed a napkin and patted himself. “Why, you little—”
    “Is there a problem?”
    The male voice came from behind. She turned.
    Bryce.
    Surprise skittered through Dani, along with a flash of joy. Her mouth went dry. She’d been thinking about Bryce all evening and wanting to see him. Now he was here, looking all gorgeous in a brown suit, and concerned about her, as if she’d summoned him from those same thoughts.
    Dani gloried in the moment, a wide grin on her face.
    And then she remembered.
    She wasn’t alone. Her cheeks burned.
    Dani glanced at a red-faced Gregg, frantically drying the front of his pants and muttering to himself.
    “Are you okay?” Bryce asked.
    The tenderness of his voice alleviated some of her humiliation. She stared up at him. So handsome. So strong.
    He had a looking-for-a-fight gleam in his eyes. His wanting to protect pleased her. Feminine power surged. And then she remembered the brawl scene from Bridget Jones’s Diary .
    Oh, no. All she needed was two yuppies who didn’t know how to fight duking it out over her in a nice restaurant to top off the night. No way could she allow that to happen.
    Sure, she appreciated Bryce wanting to come to her assistance, except this wasn’t a dark alley or the backseat of some guy’s car. She had this situation under control. “I’m fine.”
    “Well, I’m not.” Gregg frowned. The water stain on his pants made him look as if he’d wet himself. “I should have known a chick with such a nice rack would be nothing but a tease.”
    A vein throbbed at Bryce’s jaw. “Why don’t we step outside?”
    Okay, she might not need rescuing and she sure didn’t want anyone fighting over her, but the way he’d challenged Gregg was totally romantic. Totally Austen hero-worthy, too.
    Dani bit back a sigh.
    Gregg must have agreed because he seemed to shrink before her eyes. He took two steps backward. “You want to fight me?”
    “No,” Bryce said. “I want her to have more room when she kicks your scrawny wet ass.”
    Her heart melted.
    Gregg’s startled gaze darted between Bryce and her. A second later, he bolted from the restaurant.
    She laughed. “I never realized I was that terrifying.”
    “You have no idea.”
     
    Outside the restaurant, streetlamps illuminated the crowded sidewalk. A breeze carried the salty scent of the bay. Dani stood next to Bryce.
    A foghorn sounded. The cyclical blares reminded her she was no longer the dirt-poor girl she’d once been, the housekeeper’s daughter with boobs too big and hips too round. The girl no boy respected, but every boy wanted.
    The memory sent a shiver down her spine. Dani crossed her arms over her.
    Bryce shrugged off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. “This will keep you warm.”
    He was doing a good enough job heating her up himself.Standing there with shadows cast on his face, he looked dangerous and sexy, but acted more like a knight than a rake.
    Smiling, she buttoned his coat. Not only