“Must be harder for you. You only had your brother and he doesn’t strike me as reliable,” Knox said.
“Can I help with anything?” She wanted to change the topic. Larry’s betrayal still felt like a knife between her ribs.
“No, you’re my guest. Do you cook?”
“I do, but I can’t make anything fancy. I’ve been working at the same diner since high school. When we’re busy, I sometimes help the cook flip burgers.”
“Carbonara is the simplest pasta dish out there. I only use five ingredients.”
“Maybe you can teach me sometime.” She closed her mouth, suddenly realizing she was actually flirting with Knox.
“It’ll be my pleasure, kitten.”
She shivered at the nickname he’d given her. Knox plated their dinner. He also took out two bottles of wine and asked her, “Red or white?”
“White, please.”
“I like it when you say please.” Knox uncorked the bottle and poured it into two glasses. He handed her one. Noticing her hesitation, he said, “Don’t worry, it doesn’t contain poison. I don’t want you dead.”
Knox took a sip of his wine. Leah reluctantly followed him. The wine tasted … expensive. At that moment, she didn’t have any other word for it. A little sweet. Nothing she was used to. Knox finished his glass and grabbed another bottle from the sink. Whiskey.
“Now that’s my kind of drink.” Leah blushed.
Good girls didn’t admit they liked hard liquor. Sometimes after a long shift, she would have a glass or two. It was her guilty pleasure.
He smirked and poured her some after she finished her wine. Leah took a gulp. The effect was instantaneous. The amber liquid seared her throat and warmed her insides.
“My kind of girl,” Knox said. “More?”
Leah set the glass down and decided that was enough for the night. “No, thank you.”
“Let’s eat before the food grows cold,” he suggested.
“Can we eat outside? I’d like to see the pool.” Leah was astonished at her own boldness. Maybe it was the shot of whiskey that made her stupidly brave.
The rare times Leah managed to get a date, she always hung back. She let the guy take the lead. She was an old-fashioned girl in that sense.
With Knox, she felt a little wild and desperate. Desperate, because she understood the stakes. Leah was supposed to hate Knox, but it was getting harder to resent him. She couldn’t be attracted to a dangerous man like him and yet she let him wrap her around his little finger.
“It’ll get a little cold, but you can have my jacket,” he offered.
Leah grabbed their plates. Knox took off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders. Thoughtful man.
They headed out to the poolside. Knox was right. The night was chilly, but the effort was worth it. Leah raised her head and looked skyward. The stars were all out tonight and they reminded her of a brilliant silver net stretched out across the heavens.
They ate dinner by the pool table. They talked a little more. Light conversation. Nonsensical stuff.
Leah slipped her arms into Knox’s jacket. It felt incredibly warm. Smelled like him, too. She caught a whiff of cigarettes, cologne, and whiskey.
Knox was nothing like she’d imagined him to be. Leah knew what he did for a living. That no one in their right mind wanted to get on his bad side. Knox was made of hard edges. If Leah looked hard enough, he had a different side as well, one she suspected he seldom revealed to just anyone.
Don’t be naïve, Leah. He could be playing you.
That might be true but Knox could’ve done whatever he wanted with her but he hadn’t. Leah was confused as hell. She didn’t know what he wanted with her, what he had planned. Her desire for him warred with her unease.
“Knox,” she began. “Why did you do all this for me? Why dinner? I thought you’d use me and be done with me.”
Those last few words weren’t easy to say but she had to be practical. Leah needed to know her role in all this. She swallowed.
In the last half hour, Knox had laughed. He’d smiled. He’d opened up to her but now, he retreated to the cold and icy mask he wore when she first met him. Leah didn’t regret opening her mouth. All good things had to come to an end somehow.