She laughed nervously and patted her hair down. “Oh, right. Of course. Duh. I’m a huge fan, Mr. Knox.”
“It’s Christian.”
“You’re the only reason I watch football.” She covered her mouth. “Oh my God, I can’t wait to tell my boyfriend, Freddy. He’s going to freak out. You’re my hall pass!”
I glanced over to find Bella’s eyes wide. If she found this shocking, I should probably make sure she steered clear of the exit after the games. It wasn’t uncommon for a woman to ask me for an autograph, then lift her shirt to flash her tits and hand me a marker.
The waitress turned red. “Oh my God. I can’t believe I just said that.” She turned to Bella. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that as an offer. Well, unless you guys are just friends, I guess?” Francine held up her hands and took two steps backward. “I’m going to shut up now. Why don’t I go get you some waters?”
I smiled. “That would be great. Thanks.”
Bella shook her head when the waitress disappeared. “Does…that type of thing happen often?”
The cocky bastard in me wanted to say it did, but I didn’t want to give Bella another reason to be afraid. So I shrugged. “Sometimes I get recognized.”
“And offered sex...”
“She wasn’t offering. Besides, you could walk into any bar in this city and a man would offer you sex.”
Bella snort-laughed. “I’ve never walked into a bar and been offered sex.”
“A man has never offered to buy you a drink?”
“Of course. But that’s just buying a drink, not offering sex.”
I shook my head. “Buying a woman a drink is never just buying a woman a drink. If you responded, ‘Let’s skip the drink and have sex,’ the majority of men wouldn’t say no.”
“So every man who buys a woman a drink wants to get in her pants?”
“Pretty much.”
Bella motioned between us. “You bought me, Candice, and Julian dinner earlier. Does that mean you want to sleep with all three of us?”
“I paid the check because I’m a dick and didn’t want Bozo to pay for your meal, so it was less like a date.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “So you didn’t want to sleep with Julian, just me and Candice?”
Bella was smarter than me. I had no doubt she could twist anything I said into a pretzel and throw it back. But I knew how to cut a conversation off with her. I leaned in. “You’re the only one I want to fuck, Bella. Doesn’t matter who offers to spread her legs. I’m waiting to bury my face between yours.”
She opened her mouth to respond, then shut it, then opened it again.
I grinned. “You want to look at the menu now?”
She quickly hid her face behind the oversized leather menu, but I could still see her eyes. They had that glazed-over look in them, like maybe she was picturing what I’d just told her I wanted to do. When crinkles formed at the sides of her eyes, I knew she was trying to cover a smile. Bella liked my crude mouth, whether she’d ever admit it or not.
She glanced up from the menu. “What?” she asked.
I couldn’t wipe the grin from my face. “Nothing. Do you know what you want?”
Her eyes scanned the menu some more. “The tiramisu sounds good. But so does the salted caramel cheesecake. Oh, and the brownie sundae.” She paused. “What do you feel like having?”
I somehow managed to refrain from describing exactly what I wanted to eat, in detail. “Those sound good.”
The waitress came back over with two waters. This time she completely avoided eye contact with me and stared down at her notepad. “Have you decided?”
“We’ll have the tiramisu, salted caramel cheesecake, and the brownie sundae.”
“Coming right up.”
Bella laughed. “I didn’t mean we needed to order all three. I’m still full from dinner.”
“I’ll eat whatever you don’t. Food doesn’t go to waste when I’m in training. I need the calories.”
“God, I wish I could say the same thing. I really need to start exercising. But I don’t enjoy running or the elliptical.”
“There are plenty of ways to get exercise. What activity do you enjoy?”
“I have no idea.”
“What sports did you play in high school?”
Bella smiled. “Sports? I was on the debate team, president of the math club, and played the cello.”
I chuckled. “Ever try yoga?”
“I took a class once, but I couldn’t keep up. It was a beginner class, yet everyone else seemed to know all the moves already, so I never went back.”
“Swimming?”
“I hold my nose when I go in the water. I don’t like the feeling of chlorine going up my nose.”
“Rock climbing?”
She wrinkled her nose.
“Bicycling?”
“I actually used to love bike riding, but I’d be too afraid to ride in the city. The taxi and Uber drivers are madmen.”
“What about a spin class then?”
“I’ve never tried. But they play loud music, right?”