things.â
Daisy finished the glass of water, hoping to hide her smile. His observation wasnât necessarily that flattering and yet...the way heâd looked at her when he said it, well, it made her feel...hot. And the ice in her drink didnât do a damn thing about the heat creeping up the inside of her tummy, through her chest and up her throat. She had to do something about her bodyâs involuntary reaction to Colin.
No!
Jamie.
She could not forget about that little setup. Sitting straight in her chair and holding a hand to her tummy in hopes of quelling the heat, Daisy said, âSo, you pose as Colin often, do you?â
âNo.â
He slid his chair closer so that their thighs were touching.
She nudged her chair in the opposite direction. âBut you did last week.â
âYes.â
Every time she moved away he pressed closer and, wow. The guy was solid granite. She cleared her throat. âIsnât that, oh... I donât know.â She tapped her lips. âSort of juvenile?â
âProbably.â He reached into her lap, picked up her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles in a move similar to the one heâd pulled in the shop. She let him.
âDo you want to tell me why you did it?â The question came out in a weird, breathy voice.
âNo.â
Daisy considered Jamieâs one-word answers, or tried to, which was hard because he was still holding her hand, caressing her knuckles, and it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Plus his leg was moving, up and down, up and down, and it felt so damn good.
God. It had been too long. That was her problem: she hadnât had sex in far too long, which was why she was responding to Jamie in this uncharacteristically flirty way. The question was why was Jamie being so forward? Why was he coming on to her? Was he really trying to seduce her? Or was he just feeding her more lies to cover up what he and his brother had done?
Suddenly a thought dawned. âIs it the bakery?â
He blinked. âIs what the bakery?â
âDid your brother think it was beneath him to review some stupid bakery?â That would certainly explain Colinâs disdainful attitude toward her in the restaurant.
As Daisy stared into Jamieâs face, she tried to conjure up the hurt and rejection sheâd felt while sitting across from Colin at Le Beau Monde. The problem was the candlelight accentuated the hollows of Jamieâs cheeks, drawing attention to the fullness of his sensual lips and giving his eyes such an unholy and sinful glow that she could no longer picture Colin.
Only Jamie.
Staring directly into her eyes, he said, âI swear to you this had nothing to do with you or the bakery. I only did it because my brother needed me. For personal reasons.â He squeezed her hand. âThatâs the truth.â
Or so he claimed. It was hard to believe someone who probably hadnât said one word of truth to her from the moment theyâd met and who was currently distracting her with soft caresses on the inside of her wrist. Yet, when she was able to focus, there was something in his faceâthe seriousness of his expression and the way his eyes had lost their sparkleâthat told her he wasnât lying. âAnd for the record, every word I wrote about your bakery was the truth. Itâs a gem and you should be proud.â
She chewed on her lip as quotes from his review played over in her mind. Daisy Sinclair, who is as sinfully delicious as the bakery itself...
Yeah, okay. Maybe sheâd memorized the article. So what? The bakery was a gem and she was proud.
âLook, Daisy, Iâm really sorry about everything. This is not how I planned for tonight to go.â
âNo? So, what was your plan?â Daisy tried to maintain the snark in her voice but failed miserably.
âI was going to pick you up, tell you who I really was and then take you out on the best date of
Celia Aaron, Sloane Howell