Driven to Date by Susan Hatler Read Free Book Online

reached for the saké, and poured the rice wine into my small porcelain cup. “Guess I’ll have to settle for getting you not to scowl at me.”
    I shrugged. “That might take less.”
    The server appeared, and set a large wooden boat on the table—colorful sushi rolls lined up in neat rows on the top deck.
    I poured a generous amount of soy sauce into my dish and mixed in a dab of hot wasabi.
    “You going to do mine, schnookie?” he said, with a playful grin.
    “Absolutely, dumpling.” I poured soy sauce into his dish, then shoveled an enormous amount of the hot green paste on top. Mixing it together with my chopsticks, I smiled. “Hope you like it hot.”
    His eyes leveled mine. “I like everything hot.”
    My stomach flipped from his sultry words, and the sexy smirk he was giving me. Ignoring my body’s traitorous reaction, I glanced away, then maneuvered a California Roll with my chopsticks and dipped it into my soy sauce. I bit down and softly groaned with delight as my teeth sank into the sweet rice roll, filled with crab, avocado, and cucumber.
    Ryan studied me, his eyes fixed on me as I chewed. He hadn’t even picked up his chopsticks.
    “Aren’t you going to eat?” I dipped another roll in my sauce, stared at him while I chewed, and tried not to groan this time.
    “Of course.” He tugged at his white polo shirt collar, then dipped a roll into his sauce, and popped it into his mouth. Unfortunately, he showed no sign that the massive amount of wasabi was burning his mouth like I’d hoped. He just continued chewing slowly.
    My mouth felt like it was burning watching him. “Water?”
    He shook his head, then swallowed. “What for?”
    “Never mind.” Ugh. Clearly, there was nothing I could do to drive this guy nuts. He seemed torture-proof with that permanent bad boy grin that I was starting to adore. “What made you move to Sacramento?”
    “I practiced law in San Francisco for a number of years, then moved to San Diego for . . . personal reasons.” His eyes clouded and two lines formed between his brows. Then he cleared his throat and continued. “I rented a furnished apartment for now. When I buy a place, I’ll have my furniture shipped here.”
    He set his chopsticks down and refilled each of our tiny cups with saké. Then he eyed the various sushi choices before choosing a shrimp tempura roll. He dipped it briefly in his dish, which apparently didn’t have enough wasabi to make it unbearable. Darn.
    Next time, I’d put way more wasabi in the dish. Then I frowned, reminding myself I didn’t want there to be a next time.
    ****
    On Saturday night, I drove downtown and valet-parked at the Geoffries hotel. Madison had called my cell Friday night to schedule a meeting with me for the following Thursday. When she’d asked me what exciting plans I had for the weekend I’d fabricated a girls’ night out. Since I had to follow through, I’d invited Sarah and Ginger to meet me for drinks.
    Remembering Madison’s outlook on life about finding balance, I felt a little guilty going out instead of working, but the outing didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. I strode into the lounge and found my friends seated on an elegant sofa, perusing a cocktail menu.
    “Hey, Jill.” Ginger stood, and pulled me into a hug that felt like we’d been lifelong friends.
    “Hi.” I hugged Sarah next, then ordered a Mojito from the server.
    Ginger sat at one end of the couch, then faced me at the other end, wiggling her brows. “Do anything fun last night?”
    I turned to Sarah who was in the middle. “You told her?”
    Sarah burst out laughing. “You had a date with your hot boss. Don’t act like you didn’t love him treating you to sushi.”
    “It was not a date,” I said, pointedly. “But thanks to you, I had to endure an entire meal with the man who took my promotion.”
    “How’d the rest of the week go?” Ginger twirled her long, dark hair around her finger. “I hear he’s a slave