Her medium-well Oscar style ribeye looked as delicious as she knew it would be. Her mouth watered when her rice pilaf and braised Brussel sprouts were placed in front of her. This food would cure this fantastically boring date. Cayla’s stomach growled since she hadn’t eaten since lunch.
She was three bites into her steak when she realized that Darrin only ordered a chicken Caesar salad. It was delicious – she’d tried most of the menu at this point – but seemed awfully light for dinner. Cayla raised her eyebrow and chose to believe the reason he ordered a salad was because he wanted to eat light and not because it was the least expensive thing on the menu.
“Did I tell you about that time I vacationed in Saint-Tropez?” Cayla chose to focus on her meal and smile and nod when it was appropriate. He was having a conversation with himself about himself. It was obvious how a guy as attractive as Darrin was still single. Not once had he asked her anything personal beyond how she was related to Dex.
As if on cue, his soft sexy chuckle reached her ears. All the desire she had crammed down reappeared in full force. He was smiling at one of his customers, truly engaged in what the couple at the table was telling him. His ever-elusive dimple was present, and he looked carefree. His brother, Nick, had a big dimple in each cheek and they were visible anytime he made an expression, but you had to work to see Dex’s dimple.
It took Cayla a few seconds to realize that Dex was speaking Spanish to the couple. Darrin’s voice faded into the background as she watched Dex. He threw his head back and laughed; she fought the desire to kiss his neck and Adam’s apple. She shivered at the memory of his lips being wrapped around her nipples; his scent was still on her hands, and she ached to finish what they’d started.
Their eyes met for a moment and his expression said, “I told you.” She immediately began to imagine how different her night would have gone had she listened to Dex and her sister. She knew when he’d asked her out that they would have been somewhere n
aked, and her trip to his office confirmed her suspicion. It was too hot too fast, and she needed to keep a distance.
She looked at Darrin. The poor guy didn’t even notice that she wasn’t paying attention. Cayla wasn’t conceding that Dex and Kalilah were completely right, but they were right on target in Darrin’s case. He was boring; she wondered if he knew that all he talked about was making and spending money. She asked Janice for the check; her date had been the longest hour of her life.
Janice packed up her leftovers and placed the bill on the table. Darrin’s chocolate brown eyes slid from her and back to the black bill jacket then back to her. Once he realized she wasn’t taking the bill, he reluctantly dragged the bill closer with a well-manicured finger. He slid his credit card in without reading the total.
Cayla’s directness kicked in; she couldn’t take it anymore. “Darrin, it was lovely getting to know you over dinner, but I don’t think the date should continue; we do not have anything in common. I don’t want to waste your time.” Her voice was sincere because she meant it. He wasn’t a bad guy just not for her.
“Typical,” he scoffed, eyes full of judgment. “So, you come here with me and order the most expensive thing on the menu and an appetizer…”
“An appetizer that you ate…” He made a face but continued his tirade.
“You wait until the bill is paid to say the date isn’t working.” Cayla felt her anger rising. She didn’t want to make a scene, but his voice got louder with every syllable.
“I don’t need your money. I’ve ordered and paid for the same two items every time I’ve come here. It’s my standard order. If you felt it was too expensive, Mr. Moneybags, you should have spoken up in the beginning.”
He frowned at her. “I was hoping for a return on my investment. I want a refund. I’m tired of women accepting dates for free meals. It ends here.”
Cayla worked too hard to pay her own way for this boring ass man to accuse her of being too cheap to buy her own meal. She was fuming; the only reason she didn’t pick up the tab is because he invited her out for Valentine’s Day only to talk about himself the entire time and looked like he expected her to pay for his salad. She reached in her clutch and pulled out a one-hundred dollar bill.
“I should have just paid the bill, so your petty ass could be gone by now.”
“There’s no need,” Janice interjected. “Dex waived everything you ordered, ma’am.” She turned to Darrin. “Sir, the only thing on the bill I gave you was your salad.” She opened the bill and showed him the itemized receipt where everything Cayla ordered was subtracted. His total was about fifteen dollars.
“Okay.” He grumbled and signed the bill, only leaving Janice a two-dollar tip. “Let your bro take you home.” He was three steps out when he pivoted and returned to the table. “I’m taking my flowers.” He snatched the crusty ass grocery store carnation bouquet off the table and stormed out just as Dex was nearing her table.
This is soooo fucking embarrassing. Cayla fought the desire to cover her face. She suddenly wished she was a Tanooki Mario. She would either fly out of there or turn into a damn statue. Cayla passed Janice the one-hundred dollars and insisted that she earned it. Her perfectly highlighted blonde and light pink head saved her several times from the worst date ever.
Dex placed a plate and to-go box in front of her. “What’s this?” she asked when he slid in the chair across from her.
He shrugged. “Lemon crème cake with fresh raspberries and a white chocolate glaze. Dessert for two was on us tonight, but I gave you the extra slice to-go since your date bailed.”
Cayla’s glare went unnoticed as Dex plucked a white-chocolate covered raspberry from her plate and popped it in his mouth. Even the way he chewed was sexy. He licked at errant drop of chocolate off his lip and Cayla almost died instantly. She needed a hobby, a very time-consuming hobby that would put her desire for Dex to bed. She inwardly rolled her eyes. Why did I have to think of a bed? She couldn’t focus, and Dex looking at her like she was an offering on his dessert menu was not helping.
“Come on, eat up so your bro…” He used air quotes to mock Darrin. “Can take you home.”
Chapter 8
Cayla sunk down in her cubicle wishing it would turn in to an actual office. She would love to drown out her co-workers. She only liked about three people in her office – it used to be four until the Darrin debacle. She couldn’t help but notice the same flowers he’d confiscated were displayed on Cheryl’s desk the very next morning. She’d first wondered if there was a sale on the dastardly things, but seeing Darrin whispering in her ear in the breakroom was confirmation that he’d recycled the cheap flowers.
Cheryl’s curvy body - that was always squeezed into too-tight clothing - leaned seductively into Darrin making a lot of inappropriate promises to anyone that bothered to pay attention. Cayla tried not to sneer; it had nothing to do with the display itself, it was the people involved. Cayla and Cheryl had never been able to get along.
Cheryl was the first person she’d met on her first day working at Tech’s Tec. Since Cheryl is the office manager and executive administrative assistant to the CEO, she’d assumed that Cayla was one of the new administrative assistants and immediately started bossing her around as if she were beneath her. Cayla quickly pointed out that she was, in fact, the new analyst and not under her control or authority. Cheryl’s dislike for Cayla grew.
Cayla wondered if it was because she was younger and appeared inexperienced, but Kalilah had other theories. Kalilah believed that Cheryl was jealous because Cayla was younger and made twice as much as she did.
“Pretty and smart.” Kalilah had said. “Most men can’t handle it, and some women can’t stand it.”