Page 11 of Enticement
Evie continued to stare at him in the dark a minute or two longer. Something told her there was more to Kit’s job in Japan than him simply serving drinks. In her experience, barmen—and she’d dated a few—didn’t look nearly so knockout gorgeous. Sure, some of them looked good, but not in the expensive clothes and haircut way that Kit did. If he’d worked in a bar, and not the highflying business sector, it had been an uber high-class cocktail lounge.
“What was the place called?” she asked.
“Evie!” Ross groaned. “For godsakes, go to sleep. Ask him yourself in the morning. I can’t remember. Cloud One, or something like that.”
“Okay, I’m asleep.”
“Good.”
“Good night, Ross.”
“Night…”
Chapter Three
When Evie came down the following morning, Ross had already left the house to make his Saturday morning calls. Kit slopped into the kitchen a few minutes later, wearing a loosely tied kimono and a pair of tiny red shorts.
Red for danger, she reminded herself as a high-voltage charge of lust sat her bolt upright. The man was torment incarnate. He had something Ross didn’t, no matter how wonderful a boyfriend he was. Kit had the X factor, more than just sex appeal, more than good looks—and to be honest, he didn’t look especially good at the moment. Shorts aside, he appeared rather dishevelled and a bit green, but he still oozed dangerous, bad boy vibes in the same way one or two of her exes had oozed slime. He managed a feeble smile, and suddenly the shiver-inducing winter morning seemed a whole lot brighter. Evie uncurled her fingers from the side of her porridge bowl as a hot flush tracked across her skin.
“You’re not subtle, are you?” she remarked, her gaze hopping between the shorts and his expression.
“Huh?”
Still, just because he was dangerous and she was attached, didn’t mean she couldn’t look if he insisted of flaunting his hot, semi-naked self. Coaxingly, she waggled the cereal box at him, hoping he’d come closer. Kit stared blankly at her before taking a hesitant step forward. He ignored the cereal box and squinted longingly at the kettle instead.
“You’re not a naturally early riser, are you?”
Kit shoved his fingers through his long fringe and scratched, making his hair appear even more mussed up and adorable. “I’m used to working nights. This is the first time I’ve seen this side of midday in months.” He blinked a bit more, as if trying to clear his vision. “Got any green tea?”
“Just Yorkshire.”
“Should have guessed that.” He pottered over to the sink, filled the kettle and threw teabags into two mugs. “You want one?”
Evie abandoned her porridge and rose to pass him the milk from the fridge, intensely bemused by the changes morning had wrought. Out went her original assessment, the self-possessed, glitzy bad boy of the previous evening having been replaced by something more like a teddy bear with a hangover. She almost wanted to pet him and tuck him back into bed. Except with fear-inducing certainty, she knew physical contact was a bad idea just from the zing that zipped through her midriff at the very idea.
“Ross said you worked in a bar,” she said, venturing into the territory of her unsatisfying conversation with Ross the previous night. Neutral territory, that’s what she needed in order to deal with Kit. Jobs were generally a safe topic, far less volatile than religion or politics. Besides it was far too early in the day to be mourning the state of the economy.
“Did he?” Kit took the milk and poured.
“An expensive one, right?”
Kit remained poised over the teacups, his head bowed and his teeth pressed into his lower lip. When he finally looked up his expression remained curiously guarded.
“I just meant that it was obviously a step up from the White Boar over the road.” She gave an awkward laugh. “You only have to look at the landlord and yourself to realize the bars were clearly worlds apart.”
Kit glance down at his attire, and so did Evie. The belt of the kimono had come undone and now tickled the floor tiles, and his shorts seemed even more microscopic. “Oh, I see,” he said. He fastened the belt again and rested his bum against the sink while he sipped his tea. “It was a place in Kabukicho. It’s a kind of entertainment district in Tokyo. Lots of clubs, bars and pachinko parlours, that sort of thing.”
“Pachinko whats?” Her mind conjured numerous semi-legal possibilities. “What are they, some sort of massage parlour?”
Kit smiled through a yawn. “High tech slot machines.”
“Is that a euphemism for something?”
A second smile stretched his lips, this one lighting up his whole face and crinkling the corners of his eyes. “No, Evie, although there are certainly places that do have those. Both robots and dolls are very popular in Japan, particularly with middle-aged men.”
“No way.” She reached out, intending to poke him, but changed her mind and swiped ineffectually at the air instead. They were still barely acquainted, and that zing only got stronger the nearer she got to him. Doing her best to seem busy, she started tidying away the breakfast things. Kit showed no signs of eating. “So, what are your plans for the day?”
Having finished his first cup of tea, Kit set about pouring another. “I thought I’d head over and survey my new domain, since I keep hearing it’s such a wreck. See what needs doing and whether I need to call in the builders.”
