His face broke out in a huge grin and my stomach did somersaults. I’d never seen Havoc smile. Not once. In fact, until that moment, I’d never heard him laugh or even chuckle. I liked it, a lot. He turned me around and smacked me on the ass before placing his hands on my shoulders and whispering in my ear, “Go and sit this gorgeous ass down and I will bring you cake that doesn’t contain any fuckin’ fruit. Trust me, sweetheart, the last thing I want to do is incur your wrath.”
Warmth spread through me. This was a side of Havoc that I really liked. I did what he said, and checked out the café while I waited patiently for him. It was a country-style café with lots of wood, and a potbelly fire burning in the corner. No wonder it was so warm inside. Nearly every table was occupied and people were laughing and enjoying themselves. The staff seemed chirpy too. I bet they had a brilliant boss.
Just as I was about to wallow in self-pity about the turn my life had taken this week, Havoc pulled up a seat and sat with me. I looked at him, and enjoyed the thrill that ran through me at the sight. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” I said, the words spilling out of me before I could censor them. Censoring and me didn’t really go hand–in-hand so I was used to saying shit I shouldn’t, and rarely got embarrassed because of it.
He laid a sexy grin on me. “You just say what you’re thinking, don’t you?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, one of my many good traits,” I said with a wink.
His grin turned into a laugh. “I’d have to agree with you there, babe. Nothing sexier than a woman who knows what she believes and isn’t afraid to say it.”
I leant forward and asked, “What cake did you get me?”
“Well, it sure as shit wasn’t fruitcake, but I think I’ll make you wait until they bring it out.”
“You’re playing with me now, aren’t you?”
“Maybe,” he agreed. He then leant forward too, and added, “Playing with you is fast becoming one of my favourite activities.”
Fuck.
Talk about desire hitting all points in my body at once. This man had it going on, and I was sure I might burst into flames from the heat surrounding us.
I gathered my wits and said, “You’re a smooth talker, Havoc. I bet you have no trouble scoring wherever you go.”
He shifted back in his chair, his gaze stuck on mine. The depth in his eyes got to me. Havoc was not a shallow man—of this I was sure. He nodded slowly, contemplating what I’d said. “You’re right. I have no trouble in that department. But, babe, I don’t say yes very often.”
I wasn’t able to hide my surprise. “What? You knock back sex?”
“Yeah.”
I settled into my chair, enjoying this conversation because it was giving me a small glimpse at who he was. “Okay, so how often do you have sex?”
“I don’t fuckin’ count it, Carla. My point is that it takes a lot for a woman to interest me. I don’t just fuck someone because they’ve got a good set of tits or a hot ass. There has to be something more for me. Something to the woman.”
I let his words settle over me and soaked them in. Because what he’d just given me was a huge compliment. It made me feel good about myself, and I desperately needed that after this week.
While I processed that, he changed the subject. “Tell me why you’re so down.”
I expelled a long breath. “Do we have to talk about me? I’d rather talk about you. That’s so much more interesting.”
The waitress brought our coffee and cake at that moment, and I smiled at him when I saw what he’d ordered. “Wow, and you project such a badass image, Havoc. Who would have thought?” He’d ordered me a small piece of every type of cake they had except for fruitcake. There must have been six different mini cakes sitting in front of me.
“Shut up and eat, woman,” he muttered, clearly uncomfortable with my backhanded compliment.
I laughed, but did as he said. My mind spun in a million different directions. He’d managed to confuse me all over again. I’d kind of been relieved when his ex had turned up. I’d thought it was a woman he had something going on with and that thought helped me at the time to make a decision to cut and run. It was the decision I’d been trying to make where he was concerned, but I’d been having trouble following through. Since knowing who she was, and after he’d treated me to this other side of him, I was back to being confused.
We ate and drank in silence for a few moments. The cakes were so damn delicious, and I devoured them quickly. He smirked at that, and said, “I take it they were good?”
As I finished the last piece, I looked up at him, and answered, “They were divine. This café needs to be added to my 'favourite places to visit' list. Thank you.”
“Now you owe me.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I can only imagine how you plan to exact payment.”
Pinning me with his stare, he said, “As payment, I want to hear what’s causing you grief.”
I took a deep breath. “Fine. If you must know, I failed my semester at college, so when you add that to the fact I lost my job, it’s been a shit week.”
“The teacher you refused to sleep with actually failed you?”
“Yes.”