His expression sobered. “Only if I can meet Kevin.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “And give him a heart attack? He’d fangirl so hard he’d probably pass out.”
“Which is why you’d be there to take pictures, just in case we need to blackmail him for something else.”
I lifted my wine glass and held it toward him. “I like the way you think.”
“I’m devious like that.” He clinked his glass against mine then sipped.
We didn’t break eye contact as we drank.
Before I realized what was happening, we were on our second bottle and looking through the dessert menu.
It was easy with him.
So freaking easy.
But the spark was different.
He was a total flirt, but part of me really just assumed he was like that with all females. Solia smiled at him the most out of everyone—including the dude she was kissing, Kai!
I was probably overthinking things like I always did.
“Tiramisu?” he asked after looking over the menu.
“Poor Sookie… Promise we’ll at least bring some home for him; he’s done so well…”
Rae rolled his eyes. “I’ll order him his own.”
“Agh!” I reached for his hand and squeezed it. “You’re the best!”
His fingers caught my hand, holding it for a few beats. “All this just because I gave our maknae something other than chicken?”
“Imagine if you gave him Oreos,” I said, awkwardly pulling my hand away.
“Mmm…” He nodded. “I’ll think about it.”
I gulped and stood. “Bathroom?”
“Down the hall behind us, take a right, you can’t miss it, just be careful.”
I frowned. “Okay, I will.” Was he referring to my inability to walk in heels or the fact that a few people had seen us?
Older people, not young people.
I shrugged it off and found the bathroom in minutes. It was just as fancy as the restaurant—I’d drunk way too much wine and water, my bladder felt like it was going to explode. When I was getting ready to leave the stall, I heard laughter as some women stumbled in.
“She’s fat,” one said in English.
The other fired something off in Korean that I didn’t understand.
I did hear, “Order more dessert.”
Figured they were talking about a friend of theirs or some girl they hated and opened the stall to see each of them stare me down with venom in their eyes like I was the target.
I smoothed my dress down and washed my hands, dried them, and held my head high as I made my way back to the table.
Rae stood, and then we both sat.
“What does…” I cleared my throat and then searched my head, trying to remember what they said in Korean. “Geunyeoui geom-eun deuleseuneun neomu taiteuhae, geunyeoneun kkeumjjighae, mean? I’m sure I butchered it, but—”
“Who said that to you?” He was already standing.
“No, no.” I grabbed his wrist. “Sit down.”
He tried to get up again and then scowled. “I already paid. We’ll take the tiramisu back with us.” A bag arrived. And then he was motioning for the waiter, who then motioned for a large man behind him.
“Search phones,” he ordered. It wasn’t like it was crowded. It was late, and there were maybe eight couples total in our section, and that was being generous. “And get signed NDAs. Nothing leaves this restaurant.”
The waiter nodded. “Right away, sir.”
“What are you doing?” I hissed, jerking away from him.
Rae looked over at the women who’d gossiped about me; they were all back at their table. “Is that them?”
“Oh my gosh, I couldn’t even understand them. It’s fine!” I reached for him again.
“It’s not fine.” His expression soured, and then we were somehow walking, bags in hand, toward the table.
All three of the women gawked as we made our way over.
One pulled out her phone only to be stopped by the same security guard who’d just been given instructions regarding phones. She smiled sheepishly.
Rae flashed one of his devastating grins. “Just as I thought…” He lowered his voice. “Beautiful…” The women looked ready to pass out. “If you like the Gangnam look,” he finished.
I had no idea what that meant, but each of them paled like he’d just stabbed them in the heart.
His hand found my waist rubbing his thumb up and down. “I prefer natural…”
Before I could protest, he was walking me out, and I was trying not to have a heart attack.
“Shit,” I said once we were in the elevator. “That’s going to cause a huge scandal. You can’t say things like that to random people, and they’re going to say something, and oh my gosh, I’m going to get fired.”
His mouth was on mine before I could push him away.
It was a quick kiss.
Warm.
Nice.
It wasn’t Lucas.
I felt like I was cheating when I hadn’t even seen his sneak attack coming.
“You’re beautiful. I basically called them plastic. They won’t say a word; they’d be too embarrassed to tell the real story, and security is back there making sure that their dinner is paid for. I even wrote an apology. They’ll be fine. They’ll tell their friends they met me and make up something about how I complimented them and bought them dinner—women like that are fake. Trust me.”