Page 7 of Burn for the Dragon
Everly searched his face, but she found none of that in his expression, and she sensed nothing different in the way he regarded her. Curling her fingers into a fist to try to disperse the tingling his touch had left, she wondered for a moment if he was right. His presence was making her lose her appetite. Not because he was abhorrent in any way. Quite the opposite. Just the touch of his fingers pushed all thoughts of food out of her head and made her hungry for something else altogether.
But the moment was brief as the aroma of the restaurant’s famous sauce reached her nose and her mouth began to water. She shrugged and picked up a chicken thigh, sinking her teeth into the perfectly cooked meat. This place really had the best food around. It was a shame they didn’t get more business, but then again, Everly wouldn’t come here as often if they did. She didn’t normally like crowds. They tended to disorient her, especially if she was by herself.
Hawke sipped his beer as she ate, the expression on his face one of mild amusement as she plowed through each and every plate, but Everly wasn’t about to play the wilting female just because there was a big, strong, male around.
When she was finished, he ordered her another soda and himself another beer, then waited until the empty dishes were cleared before he finally spoke again. “I have to admit, I kind of thought you were ordering so much food just to drain me of cash, but I see I was wrong.”
Everly leaned back in her seat and licked her fingers. “I wouldn’t be so petty. I’m a mature woman, not some silly teenager.”
“I’m beginning to see that about you.” He made a show of glancing around the table, and even looked underneath before he cocked one eyebrow in disbelief. “What? No notebook?”
At this point, Everly saw no reason to skirt around the issue. “Not for this conversation, no. This one is completely off the record.”
Lacing his fingers together on the table, he rested his weight on his forearms. “So, again, what is it you want from me, Everly?”
She took a deep breath. When she’d gone to the club the night before, she wasn’t sure she’d find what she needed. But after Hawke’s little display in the office, she now knew her instincts had been right. Still, knowing that didn’t calm her nerves. If anything, it made her more nervous to have to ask this of someone like him. “I need your help to break into Parasupe.”
If he was surprised by her request, he didn’t show it. “So, I was right when I said your little local business article was a ruse.”
“Yes.”
“Do you really work for the paper?”
“Yes.”
“Does your boss know it’s a ruse?”
“No.”
“What makes you think I’d be willing, or able, to help you with something like that? Breaking into a place of business is illegal. Besides, what could they possibly have done to warrant such behavior? Parasupe is an environmental protection agency.”
“I don’t think people like you worry about such trivial things as laws.”
He eyed her warily. “What do you mean, ‘people like me’?”
She refused to squirm under his stare. “People who aren’t really…” She looked around to make sure no one was within hearing range. Or lip-reading range, for that matter. “People.”
His head tilted slightly to the side, a smile teasing the corners of his lips. “I’m not a people?”
Mimicking his posture, she put her arms on the table and leaned into them. His smell came to her, dark spice and fresh rain, and she inhaled it deep into her lungs. That alone was enough to bring heat to her abdomen and make her thighs clench and her breasts swell, aching to be touched. She wondered what it would be like to be wanted by a male such as him. Would he be as domineering in bed as he liked to be in life? Or would it be the one place he liked to give up control? She swallowed hard at the thought. “I think you know what I mean.”
But he wasn’t going to make it easy for her. “No, Everly. I’m afraid that I don’t.” He made a point to look at his watch. “And unless you’ve got something better to discuss than whether or not I’m actually a person, I really ought to be getting back.”
His sudden coolness toward her had her second-guessing herself. Had she imagined the heat between them last night? The way he’d looked? The way he’d smelled her? Was it all in her head that his order for her to leave and forget about him was anything more than just that? An order?
Not him trying to alter her memories?
As she sat in perplexed silence, he slid out of the booth and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. He threw some cash on the table. “Good luck with your article. I’m sorry I can’t help you.” His eyes slid over her face and hair, then he gave her a smile and turned to walk away.
It was strangely wistful, and Everly had the most dreadful feeling she’d never see him again.
She scrambled for a way to keep him there. “But, how will you get back to the club?” That may have come out louder than she’d meant it to, as the entire restaurant, and not just Hawke, stopped what they were doing and stared at her.
She lowered her voice. “How will you get back? I drove you here.”
Again, with the amused twinkle in his eyes. “I’ll manage.” He started to leave again, but turned back to say, “Perhaps I’ll see you at The Caves sometime. Good luck with…whatever it is you’re after, Everly.” Then he strode out the door and left her sitting there alone like she’d just been walked out on by the best blind date ever.
Everly sat back with a huff and tried to ignore the sympathetic looks she was getting from the wait staff and one other occupied table toward the front—with three younger women sitting at it. Finally, she told them all, “It’s okay. It wasn’t a date. Just trying to get some info for an article I’m writing.” With relieved smiles and nods, they went back to their business.
