But he did hope, as foolish as it might have been, that he could change her opinion of him.
After another couple of miles, Kaz finally caught sight of a hole-in-the-wall diner that looked like it was one step above being closed down, but while the outside wasn’t much to look at, the interior was little better on the eyes, and the food was fucking amazing.
The only question was whether or not Violet would be okay in a place like this.
“I know the outside doesn’t give the best impression,” Kaz said as he parked the Range Rover.
Violet gave him a look. “Understatement.”
“Don’t go all spoiled princess on me right now.” He smirked when she scowled. “I promise the food is worth it, if you turn cheek to the appearance. Sometimes the best things come in the most unlikely of packages.”
Violet pursed her lips in an attempt to hide her smile. “Fine. But only for you.”
“I’ll take that.”
Before she could say another thing, he had turned the truck off and was getting out. She barely had time to unbuckle her seatbelt before he was opening her door.
Like any good gentleman would do, she mused.
Kaz offered her a smooth smile and his hand. She took it, but that familiar heat siphoned from his palm straight into hers as he helped her out of the large vehicle.
“When you’re not driving the car, I see you feel the need to drive something that’s big enough to mow trees over,” she said.
“Cheap shots about my vehicles will get you nowhere.”
She doubted that.
It would probably get her something like that kiss from earlier if she irked him enough.
Violet wasn’t looking to do that, however. As it were, she had taken a lot of risks just to give this man a few hours of her time—and it was precious time, considering how much trouble she would find herself in if they were caught. She wasn’t about to ruin it by seeing if she could provoke him into another moment.
But as she stared at him from the side while he locked the Range Rover, she knew somehow that she probably wouldn’t have to try at all if she wanted him to kiss her again. She probably just needed to grab him and pull him closer …
Kaz cleared his throat, making Violet’s attention snap from his mouth to his eyes in a flash. “Food, right?”
She rapped her fingernails against her thigh. Why did it sound like he was offering something else? Like all she had to do was ask, and he would follow through.
“Food,” she agreed.
The inside of the diner was slightly better than the outside. It almost seemed like a throwback to the fifties diners in design with booths lining the walls, a main bar across the front crowded by stools, and the white and black checkered floor and walls.
An older couple ate at the far corner booth in the right, while a younger couple chatted animatedly on a pair of stools. Only a woman wearing a white-and-yellow ensemble stood behind the cash register, counting money. She didn’t even look up as Kaz and Violet approached.
“Food or coffee?” the woman asked.
“Food,” Kaz said.
“Find a place to sit. I’ll be with you in a second.”
Violet turned to find which booth she wanted to sit in—one that wouldn’t put them directly in the view of the windows—but she stilled in place when Kaz’s hand slid into hers. She hadn’t been expecting the gesture, and he didn’t give her much time to think on it before he was pulling her along at his side.
“I like to sit back here,” he said, directing her to the exact opposite booth from where the older couple were sitting.
It was tucked away in the corner where the lights were a bit dimmer and they had more privacy from the few diners. Kaz let Violet slide in so that her back was to the wall. She expected him to sit across from her, but he surprised her by tipping his chin as if to ask her to move over.
Violet did, laughing when he slid in beside her.
“Always sit here, huh?” she asked.
Kaz shrugged, pulling off his suit jacket and tossing it into the booth seat across from them. “People don’t usually like to sit in the darker spot of a restaurant unless they’re going for that kind of mood.”
“And you like your privacy.”
“You don’t?”
Violet wet her lips, nodding. “I do. I’m just not given very much.”
“Ah, point taken.”
Kaz quieted as the woman dressed in yellow and white approached with a smile on her face like she recognized him. Violet wondered how often he actually came here to eat.
The woman held no menus in her hands. “The usual, Kaz?”
He flashed a smile.
Violet ignored the pinch of jealousy flaring up in her middle. It wasn’t the time, and the waitress wasn’t exactly anything to be concerned about, considering she was a good fifteen years older than Kaz at least. Maybe it was the fact that the woman seemed friendly with him, as if she knew him.
And Violet didn’t.
“Usual for me,” he said. “Same for her.”
“About twenty minutes, okay? Daniel is just getting off his break.”