“How about the truffle fries? There’s a little store in Pike Place Market that had samples out with some of their white truffle-infused salt and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. The fries sound fantastic.” Her mouth was watering just thinking about it.
“The burger does come with fries already so I imagine we could request a substitution.” He was seriously considering the menu.
This was an odd situation. Sure she’d tumbled with her share of partners. And she’d lingered with them if she could deal with their company past the pillow talk stage. But this comfortable chatter was different. The chemistry between them was still going strong like whoa but it was unhurried, simmering. As if Kyle had every intention to enjoy her over the course of many hours.
Her chest tightened and expanded at the same time, if that was possible. It was a warm, fluttering tickle. She liked it.
“Agreed. We’ll get them to substitute the truffle fries for the regular fries with the lamb burger.” She sighed. “Oh, they have poutine.”
His eyes held a twinkle of amusement as he glanced at the appetizer and back to her. “Duck confit poutine, no less. Sounds delicious. You do have quite the palette.”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” She straightened. Maybe he didn’t notice, or maybe it was habit, but his tone had taken a teasing edge. It was still warm, inviting her to smile with him, but she’d heard him add dry sarcasm to a compliment before. Sweet words could quickly turn cutting.
Gah. She just had to go looking for things to be cautious about, didn’t she?
“It’s meant to be a compliment.” That came quietly, earnest and with sincerity.
He was back to watching her again. Intense without pressure. Open desire tempered by patience.
The man definitely knew how to make a girl feel wanted.
It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate it. But while falling into bed with him was a reasonable risk, falling for him wasn’t. A breather would do her good. She could get her head right, then come back and enjoy him the way he was probably hoping to enjoy her.
Uncomplicated. No expectations. No strings attached. None of this overthinking shit. Suddenly she was caring too much about something that wouldn’t matter in a few days’ time.
If she kept this up, she’d ruin the good the deliciously sweaty exertion had done her and just be stressed again.
She shoved her feet into her boots. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Did you want to pull up something to watch on the laptop while we eat?”
He chuckled. “Do you think we’ll be paying attention to a movie if we play it?”
She grinned at him. “It could be background noise.”
“I’ll take a look.”
Chapter Sixteen
Lizzy returned to the room balancing the room service tray laden with stacked plates on one hand, her backpack slung over her back to keep one hand free. She scanned the room as she entered and closed the door behind her.
The atmosphere had changed.
Kyle sat on the bed staring at her laptop, his face twisted with anger.
No, he’d gone past that and well into cold rage. It was the kind of thing she’d seen before, when men were pushed to a point where they were willing to do anything—kill—because of whatever caused it.
“Hey.” She set the covered plates on the side table. Better to have free hands. If he was about to go out on a rampage, she’d need to stop him. Based on their light match earlier, it was doable but not as easy as stopping most people. She’d have to be careful or they could both end up seriously hurt in the process.
But Kyle’s voice when he spoke was calm, neutral, quiet. “Would you please come watch this?”
Warning bells clanged inside her head. The quiet ones were always the ones to watch.
She crossed the sitting room to the bedside cautiously, giving herself time to react if he decided to try to surprise her. “I’m guessing I’m not going to like what I see.”
His lips pressed together in a grim line. “Watch. Tell me what you perceive and I hope I am simply paranoid.”
Maybe. But paranoid wasn’t necessarily wrong. In her experience, it was about a fifty-fifty chance as to whether there was a legit reason to be. Trick was, knowing which side of the fifty you landed on in a given situation.
She stood patiently, still just outside of easy reach, while he tapped the touch pad to start the streaming video.
It was a news interview, streamed live early this morning based on the logo and time stamp displayed at the corner of the feed. “We’re here live with Jaime Douglas, Vice President of Research and Development, biochemical division, at Phoenix Biotech as he welcomes the latest sponsored family. Phoenix Biotech, and Mr. Douglas’s department in particular, has begun an initiative to support charities this year.”