Page 37 of Savage Seduction

“You won’t be sorry,” Yamato says, tucking the menus under his arm. “I’ll check back with you in a few minutes.”

“Thank you,” I say and watch him walk away.

“Without sounding too forward, you look very handsome this evening.”

I blush. “Ben, you’re very kind. Thank you.”I can’t believe I’m getting misty-eyed.“If I’m being honest, I wasn’t sure what you’d think of my appearance today.”

“Why?” A look of surprise on Ben’s face.

I look down at myself for the briefest of moments. “I’ve looked better and the last few days have been… weird for me.”

There’s a momentary pause as Ben’s shock seems to fade and the kindest expression I’ve seen on a man settles over him. “You are such a beautiful soul, Max. Worrying about what I would think of you.” He shakes his head slightly. “It’s me who is constantly fretting over being the one you’ll find acceptable. You could never look… weird to me.”

My face flushes hot and my tummy flutters with desire. His words hit me just right and are exactly what I need.Say something, I internally beg myself not to ruin the moment. “You’re beautiful too.”

What the fuck, Max? Stop it right now.

Ben smiles and takes a sip of the red wine he’d ordered before I arrived. After letting silence fill the space between us for what seems like forever, but is probably no longer than what is perfectly normal, he says, “How are things for the new exhibit at work going?”

“Slow.” I sigh. “There is always so much to prepare for with a new exhibit. Each of the pieces has to be reexamined and authenticated. Once that is done, we have to make sure there wasn’t any damage incurred during transport.”

“Sounds tedious,” he says. “Although, I bet it’s kind of exciting too. Handling such antiquities must be surreal.”

“You’re absolutely right and I am going to remember your words when my back starts to hurt from leaning over the examination table too long.” I chuckle. “I never got to ask you about the day you subbed at the university. How’d it go being a professor for a day? I hope the students weren’t too big of a pain in the ass for you.”

“It was fun. Glad it’s not my full-time job, but it was nice. I’d say nearly half the students stayed awake, and maybe a third of those students actually participated.”

I laugh. “Morning classes can be rough sometimes.”

He nods. “I gathered that when I heard the first of three students snoring in the back of the room.”

“Brutal.” I take a sip of my vodka tonic. “What did you do when you heard it?”

He laughs. “What could I do? The guy looked so comfortable. Hood up, face buried in his arms on the desk… drool.”

“No,” I say. “Drool?”

Ben nods and laughs. “I swear it.”

“You’re a saint, Dr. Cooper.”

“No, please. Saints have too much to live up to and they don’t have any fun. At least not that kind of fun.” He waggles his eyebrows.

Before I can say something flirtatious back to him, Yamato shows up to the table and places a red colored drink in front of me.

“Mr. Salgado,” he says, his voice trembling as if unsure of himself. “A gentleman at the bar has sent over a Negroni.” He clears his throat as the tension grows at the table. He looks at Ben and then back to me. “Would you like me to take it away?”

“No,” Ben says. “It’s fine.”

“Yes, sir,” Yamato says. “Thank you, sir.”

“Which gentleman at the bar sent it?” I ask, craning my neck past the waiter.

Yamato looks back toward the bar and then at me. “The man sitting on the far side with the white hat.”

I strain to see from my seated position. Something doesn’t feel right, but I can’t make sense of my own feelings. “I don’t see him.”

“He’s right there, sir… with the hat. Looks like an old butcher-type cap.” He smiles and walks away.

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