The Seduction Game Read Free Page B

damage he’d caused. Instead, he kept his gaze fastened on hers, his jaw tight. “I almost ran you down and you’re worried about your dress?”
    “You’re the one who wasn’t watching where you were driving. In fact, you were driving like a madman.” She caught an odd look on his face, a look she couldn’t define, but it disappeared too quickly for her to analyze it.
    “And what about the jaywalking law you broke? Are you immune to such laws or were you really trying to kill yourself?” He slipped his hand beneath his navy blazer and pulled out a wallet.
    “Here.” He offered her a few bills. “Take this. It will pay for the cleaner.”
    She eyed the money with distaste. “And how will that solve my problem?” she asked with disdain. “Do you know of any cleaner in the vicinity who can have my dress cleaned and pressed in two minutes? Not to mention have a robe handy since I’ll have nothing else to wear in the process?” She drew in a steady breath. “I don’t need anything from you,” she said, more calmly. “You’ve done quite enough.” And with that, she skirted around him and made her way across the street to Ricardo’s.
    Flustered, she stepped beneath the restaurant’s red and gold awning, her dress heavy and damp around her legs. She reached for the brass handle of the door, but a large hand beat her to it and a deep voice offered a curt, “Allow me” above her head. Kate stiffened.
    It was him.
    He stood behind her, slightly brushing her back as he went for the door. She felt a heat of awareness and stiffened.
    “Thank you,” she said stiffly and slipped into the restaurant.
    She headed for the ladies room, but a tingling in her back made her stop and turn around. The handsome stranger stood at the entrance, his flint-like gaze regarding her with an intensity that brought an involuntary flush to her cheeks. She promptly turned away.
    In the bathroom, she snatched a huge wad of paper towels and, as best as she could, dried the hem of her dress. Nervous about her impending date with Adam Tyler, and flustered from her encounter with the handsome stranger, she inhaled shakily and inspected her face in the mirror. She looked flushed and bright-eyed.
    She left the bathroom in a hurry.
    The maitre d’ informed her that her table wasn’t ready and she bit back her disappointment.
    “It will be at least a fifteen minute wait, Ma’am. You may wait in this line or you may take advantage of the cocktail lounge through those doors.”
    She offered him a polite smile and opted for the cocktail lounge. At least she would be able to calm her fluttering nerves with a Cosmopolitan before she met Adam. Kate checked her watch. It was five to seven.
    She sat at a vacant booth and surveyed the room.
    Dana hadn’t given Kate a description of her brother, but if sibling similarities had any part in it, Kate figured Adam had Dana’s striking red hair.
    Three men in the lounge had red hair, but the first one was with a woman, the second one was the bartender, and the third one, she noted wryly, was holding another man’s hand.
    She tensed her mouth as she took her journal from her purse and wrote: Male specimen late for date with nice girl persona. She underlined the words “nice girl” twice.
    She looked at the entrance and her breath caught as she saw the handsome stranger stride to the bar. He moved with grace and ease, his confidence unmistakable. She couldn’t help but feel curious about him. Whom was he dining with? In her mind’s eye, she conjured up a picture of a voluptuous blonde with pouty lips and sky blue eyes.
    This man radiated a male energy that filled the room and tainted her cheeks pink. And judging from the other women’s reactions, she wasn’t the only one who felt it.
    He swung around with a drink in his hand, slowly raising it to his lips, when his dark gaze collided with hers and his hand stilled in midair.
    Their gazes locked.
    She drew back sharply and jostled her