Crazy About Love: An All About Love Novel by Cassie Mae Read Free Book Online

couldn’t get any facial features. Then more people started walking down the street and she became distracted, and so did I.
    I step up next to Rian and tilt my head to the side. It does look better.
    “It’s fantastic,” I say, amping up to flatter her. “You’re really talented.” I say that because it’s the truth.
    “All right,” she says, plopping the empty spray can into the trash. “You hungry?”
    “Lead the way.”
    She gives me a cute little wink, lifting her shoulder enough to touch her chin. Then she tucks her arm in mine and leads us out of the alley and into the street. As we walk she occasionally asks me a question or two. I try to fill the silence with drawn-out answers to make myself seem more interesting. My attempts to create chemistry with a girl I’ve just met are coming out a bit rusty. I don’t want her four grand to be a bust, but I also have my own agenda here. So during the sporadic silences, I try to brainstorm ways to build sexual tension. Though the constant buzzing of my phone isn’t helping anything. Whoever’s calling is going to have to wait a bit.
    “This good?” she asks, stopping in front of a place. I can see through the window that it’s jam-packed inside, with people waiting, so we’d have to eat on the outside patio. I’m not a fan of eating outdoors, especially since the wind is currently blowing so hard it whips her short hair into a tall bouffant. I know this February has been exceptionally warm for New York, but by no means is it comfortable. I’d have to leave my jacket on, and I don’t like eating in anything long-sleeved, let alone the $500 jacket Jace lent me.
    But she’s in charge, so I go with it.
    We get seated by a railing and a bunch of hedges. We’re close to the sidewalk but the shrubbery makes it easy to have a private conversation. Not that we’re talking anyway.
    The waiter brings us our menus and glasses of water, takes our drink orders (we order the same brand of beer, so maybe this’ll turn out better than it started), then leaves us alone. I pick up the menu and glance over the choices.
    “Wait,” Rian says, putting her hand over my menu. “You up for a game?”
    Finally, an opening. I breathe out a sigh of relief. Here’s my chance to be witty, charismatic, maybe romantic, and get something happening between us.
    I set the menu down. “I believe you’re calling the shots tonight.”
    “How about I order you my favorite dish, and you order me yours?” Her eyes smile. “You allergic to anything?”
    “Tomatoes,” I lie. But there’s no way I’m eating anything made with them or on them or around them or touching them.
    “That’s total bullshit,” she says with an accusatory point of her finger. “That is a bullshit face.” She smiles down at her menu. “But I’ll avoid tomatoes if you want. Is tomato
sauce
okay?”
    “Does your favorite dish have tomato sauce in it?”
    Her eyes flick up to the night sky, and she plays with her bottom lip thoughtfully. “No…”
    “Then it doesn’t matter, huh?” I laugh. “What about you?” I ask, looking back at the menu. “Allergic to anything?”
    “Nope. And I like to try everything at least once.”
    “Everything?”
    She pauses while I glance over the entrées. I sense her leaning in closer.
    “
Any
thing,” she says.
    The sexy twist her tone gives the word causes my gaze to lift from my menu to make sure I wasn’t imagining it. Her hooded, mischievous eyes tell me I’m definitely not in the realm of my imagination.
    The reality that I’m about to embark on an evening with a woman who may spark the first step of moving on hits me hard in the guilt-ridden gut. She’s taken us from the friendly pleasantries into the flirty agendas with one word, and it’s been so long since I’ve played that role I find my mind reverting back to the tactics I used when I was a novice to the dating scene.
    “You like games?” I ask, and she raises an eyebrow. “ ’Cause I