Stay With Me by Sharla Lovelace Read Free Book Online Page A

her funny, that being an odd thing for her to do. McMasters Meats wasn’t a restaurant, they just happened to have a few prepared things. They didn’t wait tables, there just happened to be four tables in the room on the off chance someone wanted to sit. Most days, that was just me.

    “Everything’s fine,” I said with a smile that was beginning to feel tight.

    “Truly?” she asked, her eyebrows knitting.

    Ah. She was worried about me. Well, that would have to wait a bit.

    “All good,” I said. “Had a coffee mishap, but—”

    “I’ll pay for another one,” Duncan said.

    “No, I told you,” I began, still mortified that I’d soiled his shirt. Think about him taking it off, Savi. Look at him, look at him. God, I needed a kick in the butt.

    “I insist,” he said, covering my protesting hand with his. My skin tingled a little at the contact, and I celebrated inside my head. Maybe there was hope for me.

    Duncan pulled out a five and handed it to Lily, who took it like she was selling her soul as she headed back.

    I resisted the urge to turn around when Ian and Jim started laughing about something, but my distraction was cut short. Duncan took my hand again across the table, starting a slow warmth that flowed over me. The smile in his eyes kept it going. God, he was hot. Could he still be this nice? Could he be real? Oh, yes, I thought, concentrating on the warmth from his hand. Let this be a shield to block out all demon spawn.

    “I am so sorry,” I said, closing my eyes for a second. When I opened them, he was still there. Yep, he was real, all right. “I have not been myself this morning, and that is so unfair to you.”

    Duncan squeezed my hand. “No big deal.”

    “Well, it should be,” I said, attempting a chuckle. “I asked you here, and I’ve been horrible company.”

    “So let’s try it again,” he said.

    Seriously? He wanted to repeat this fiasco? I hadn’t completely repulsed him?

    I smiled. “Really?”

    “Let me take you to dinner—better yet, let me make you dinner,” he said. “I’ll give you the address, you’ll have your car and can bolt at any time.”

    Heat shot up from my neck and I laughed to cover my embarrassment. “So, you cook, huh?”

    He shrugged, a move so endearing it was swoon-worthy. “I don’t starve. So is that a yes?”

    You think? “Yes, of course,” I said. “What can I bring?”

    He narrowed his eyes for a second. “Do you like steak?”

    I cocked my head in amusement. “My brother-in-law is a butcher.”

    Duncan laughed. “Good point. What’s your favorite cut?”

    “Filet.”

    He nodded. “I’ll pick out two of their best before I leave,” he said. “Any vegetables on the no-fly list?”

    I had to chuckle. Men had cooked for me before, but none of them had asked me my preferences first. One had even made a whole Chinese feast, never knowing that I despised Chinese food.

    “It’s all good,” I said, then held up a finger. “Wait. Asparagus.” I wrinkled my nose.

    “No asparagus,” he recited, curling his lip a little as well. “I don’t care for it either.”

    One point in his favor.

    “Do you like chocolate ice cream?” I asked, hopeful. It kind of mattered. Not the flavor so much, but ice cream in general. People who didn’t do ice cream were not to be trusted.

    “My favorite,” he said.

    Oh, score. “Then I’ll bring some,” I said.

    Duncan smiled. “It’s a date.”

    And he asked me. I wanted to shout it out to Lily. To the caveman asshole back there. To open the door and yell it down the street. Duncan Spoon asked me! To dinner. At his house.

    Oh, holy hell.

     

    • • •

     

    “Well, that’s good!” Lily exclaimed when I told her. She’d walked over to the barn on her break, antsy to hear how things went with Duncan. Which really meant she was checking to see if I was in self-destruct mode after encountering Ian, but that was okay. I wasn’t. “Wow, cooking for you,