Scandalous by Victoria Christopher Murray Page A

even though I was disturbed by it a little, and loving it a lot. “ So, ” I said, “ what's good here? ”
    “ Don't tell me this is your first time … . ” I looked up and he finished, “ here. ”
    His bottom lip trembled again, and I had such a hard time breaking my eyes away. I forced my gaze upward, but staring into his eyes was no better. Those green eyes were piercing and he stared as if he was trying to get me to look away first.
    But he didn't know that he'd met his match.
    I said, “ Yeah, this is my first time … here. I'm a virgin, I guess you could say. ”
    “ A virgin, really? ”
    “ Yeah, ” I nodded. “ Ever had one of those? ”
    The shock of my words pushed him back against his chair.
    I laughed. “ I'm talking about … . ” I paused and picked up the drink menu that had been stuffed between the salt and pepper shakers. “ I'm talking about one of these. A virgin Pina Colada. ”
    He blinked. “ That's not what you were talking about. ”
    “ Yes, it was. I was talking about a drink. ” I placed the menu back in its place. “ I can't help it if your mind went somewhere else. ”
    “ And I can't help it either, since you were the one who took me there. ”
    “ Did I? ” I tilted my head, but I leaned away from him. This flirtation was helping to quash my rising stress. But still I needed to pull this conversation back to safer ground. This was fun, but it was dangerous … especially since I found this green-eye chocolate bar so delicious.
    A sun-kissed waiter (who looked like the type who told everyone who asked that he was an actor) jotted down our orders. O nce he left us alone, I said, “ So tell me about Roman. ” I took a sip of my water. I needed something to cool me off, to cool me down.
    “ I'd rather talk about Jasmine. ”
    “ What do you want to know about me? ”
    “ Everything. ”
    “ That could take a lot of time. ”
    He shrugged. “ We got all day … and all night. ”
    That was an invitation that I so wished that I could accept. Just by looking at him, I knew what it would be like to be with him. I could already feel Roman on me, over me, in me.
    I squeezed my knees together, sipped more water and said the right thing: “ Did you forget I'm getting married in the morning? ”
    “ Nope, ” he said. “ You keep telling me that over and over, so how could I forget? ”
    “ I just want to make sure that you remember. ”
    “ I remember, but that has nothing to do with me. ”
    My surprise had to be all over my face.
    He said, “ All I'm trying to do is get to know you better. ”
    “ For what purpose? ”
    “ For friendly purposes. ”
    I laughed. “ That was funny. ” I raised my glass in a toast to him. “ But you know that's not possible. We can't be friends. ”
    “ Because you're getting married. ”
    “ Right. ”
    “ And because you would never cheat on your husband. ”
    “ Right again. ”
    “ Okay, I got it, I get it, but can you do me a favor? ” The question was rhetorical because he didn't even take a breath. “ There are a lot of hours between now and tomorrow. So can we just forget about what's gonna happen in the morning? ”
    Before the question was completely out of his mouth, his hand was over mine, and the spark that surged through me gave me such a jolt that I jerked my hand away, though he didn't seem to notice.
    He said, “ Now that we're forgetting about tomorrow, we can have a good time today. So, can you please tell me all about Jasmine? ”
    I was hardly forgetting about tomorrow, but I went along with his question. Over my salad and his protein burger, I gave him the vital statistics only -- that I'd been born and raised in L.A., that I'd gone to school in Inglewood, that I worked at Carnation, and that I hoped to one day leave the Golden State. Then, before it got too personal, I turned the tables, and he told me all about his dreams to open up a string of fitness clubs. That's why he danced: because it was good