She laughed. “That’s pretty much the definition of lazy.”
“So it is.” He offered his hand. “Care to join me?”
“Can we walk to where we’re eating?”
Abel lowered his hand. “You don’t trust me.”
She took a deep breath. “Do you have a sister?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. How would you feel if a guy not only grabbed her ass on the first meeting, but then proceeded to concern her by constantly staring, and freaking her out? Then, out of the blue send her flowers to an address she didn’t give him. Finally, turn up at her workplace, offering to take her to dinner?”
Harper saw he was struggling to contain his anger at the very thought.
“I’d tell her she was clearly lucky to have a guy so devoted to her.”
“Oh, my God, you are a liar, Abel Denton.” She laughed, watching as he gave in as well.
“You’re right. I do see it from your point. So we’ll walk to the restaurant. It’s only a few minutes’ walk from here.”
“I can take my bag. I’ll catch a cab after we eat.”
“No, not at all. If walking makes you feel safe, then walking is what we will do.”
She tilted her head to
the side, looking at him. “I have to say I do think there is certainly more to you than meets the eye, Mr. Denton.”
“Damn, that has me so hard right now.”
Heat filled her cheeks. Being a virgin, it wasn’t often, in fact, ever that she heard that phrase.
“Shit, I’m not a sex maniac or a rapist or anything.”
“This isn’t helping. Don’t worry about it. You were making progress.”
He reached out to take her hand, and this time, she took it. Harper liked how big and comforting his hand was. Glancing down, she felt small, fragile almost. In that second, they were the only two people on the planet, and neither of them could get away, not that she even wanted to.
It was like a connection had struck between them, and no matter what, neither of them was going to leave.
She loved it.
Chapter Four
In the Italian restaurant that they owned, Abel eased out the chair, making sure the maître d’ couldn’t touch his woman. No one was touching Harper but him. Listening to her back at her office, he’d felt this flowing connection with her, and knew that he was going to spend the rest of his life loving her. He just knew it. He wasn’t being cocky; this was his woman. Plain and simple.
“Thank you,” Harper said.
He placed her bag beneath the table and took a seat opposite her. She had removed her jacket, showing off the white crop top shirt she wore beneath. No wonder she wore the jacket at work. The lawyer she worked for would have shit a brick if he saw what she was wearing. James Summers was a damn good lawyer, and the irony was, he represented several of the Dentons’ projects.
“This is a really nice place. I think I should do a search on your name or something.”
“Don’t. Don’t do that.” She didn’t have a clue what the Denton name was, or what they did. He wasn’t ready for her to find out the truth and for it to ruin the progress he’d already made with her.
He wanted her in a way he never wanted any other woman. When he got home last night, he’d climbed in the shower and scrubbed every single inch of his body to wipe the memory of Deidre from his skin.
“Why not?”