Read Online Scream My Name by Kimberly Kaye Terry - Free Book Online
Authors: Kimberly Kaye Terry
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please him, shouldn’t matter one way or another, it did.
“And you didn’t answer my question. Are you enjoying your dinner date?” he murmured, his eyes trained on her lips. She wore no color on them, none that he could detect this close, nothing but a shimmering of gloss, but they were a soft light pink color. His gaze followed her tongue as it snaked out and made a quick swipe across the fuller bottom rim.
Just then a large woman walked past them, brushing against him before issuing an apology. Brandan used it as an excuse to push her gently against the wall while he boxed her in.
When she simply looked at him, not saying more, he pressed closer, both physically and mentally. “Why did you go out with him? Why not me? I was the one you came to see, the one you want…to talk to about your business.”
“Like I said, you had other plans. And I don’t want you, I just want you to leave my business alone. Nothing more, nothing less,” she insisted, her tone cool. But her body was telling him something else.
Without touching her, he felt her body heat reach out and sear him as her chest sharply rose up and down as she took short shallow breaths.
Yeah, she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.
“Keep telling yourself that, maybe you’ll start to believe it.”
He raised a hand to touch her cheek, wondering if it was as soft as it appeared, before he could stop himself. He never pressed a woman like this. He wanted a reaction from her. And damn if he had any intention of stopping.
She placed her hand on top of his before he could make the connection and stared at him with an intensity that stole his breath. She shook her head as though to clear her thoughts and shoved his hand away.
“I don’t need to remind myself of anything, Mr. Walters. Our only connection is Aunt Sadie’s Café. Now, it’s time for me to go back to my dinner date. If you’ll excuse me…”
Leila brushed past him, making sure she put as much swagger into her stride as she could as she strolled away, plastering what she hoped was a confident half smile on her face as she approached Mateo.
She felt Brandan’s eyes burning a hole in the back of her head, but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of turning around.
She finished the dinner with Mateo, but feigned a headache when he suggested they have a nightcap. She agreed instead to call him about setting up a meeting to further discuss their situation, and the current stalemate that she, he, and his partners were facing.
8
“G od, what a night!” Leila said, and plopped down on one of the bar stools surrounding the counter.
It was nearly ten o’clock, and the café was nearly deserted. With only a smattering of diners left, she was finally able to sit down for the first time in hours.
“Business is booming. We keep this up, and we’ll have to buy both of our neighbors’ shops.”
Leila glanced over at her best friend, lawyer, and accountant, and sometimes busboy when she needed him, with a tired smile.
“Always the optimist, that’s what I love about you, Hawk,” she said and eased off her heels. She accepted the cup of tea he placed in front of her with a murmur of thanks.
“It’s a start,” he said casually.
Leila looked at him, and although the remark was offhand, she bit her bottom lip, something she did whenever she was uncomfortable. Something she rarely did in Hawk’s company.
She was uncertain if he meant it was a start regarding the business, or their relationship going to the next level. And of late, that was the cause of her discomfort around him. And it saddened her that she couldn’t return his feelings.
She and Hawk had been friends for most of her life. In fact, she couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t around.
Her great-aunt had taken him in when Leila was a child and he was a teenager. He’d moved to Texas from a Cherokee Indian reservation in Phoenix, having followed a woman there who was five years his senior. When the woman
“And you didn’t answer my question. Are you enjoying your dinner date?” he murmured, his eyes trained on her lips. She wore no color on them, none that he could detect this close, nothing but a shimmering of gloss, but they were a soft light pink color. His gaze followed her tongue as it snaked out and made a quick swipe across the fuller bottom rim.
Just then a large woman walked past them, brushing against him before issuing an apology. Brandan used it as an excuse to push her gently against the wall while he boxed her in.
When she simply looked at him, not saying more, he pressed closer, both physically and mentally. “Why did you go out with him? Why not me? I was the one you came to see, the one you want…to talk to about your business.”
“Like I said, you had other plans. And I don’t want you, I just want you to leave my business alone. Nothing more, nothing less,” she insisted, her tone cool. But her body was telling him something else.
Without touching her, he felt her body heat reach out and sear him as her chest sharply rose up and down as she took short shallow breaths.
Yeah, she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.
“Keep telling yourself that, maybe you’ll start to believe it.”
He raised a hand to touch her cheek, wondering if it was as soft as it appeared, before he could stop himself. He never pressed a woman like this. He wanted a reaction from her. And damn if he had any intention of stopping.
She placed her hand on top of his before he could make the connection and stared at him with an intensity that stole his breath. She shook her head as though to clear her thoughts and shoved his hand away.
“I don’t need to remind myself of anything, Mr. Walters. Our only connection is Aunt Sadie’s Café. Now, it’s time for me to go back to my dinner date. If you’ll excuse me…”
Leila brushed past him, making sure she put as much swagger into her stride as she could as she strolled away, plastering what she hoped was a confident half smile on her face as she approached Mateo.
She felt Brandan’s eyes burning a hole in the back of her head, but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of turning around.
She finished the dinner with Mateo, but feigned a headache when he suggested they have a nightcap. She agreed instead to call him about setting up a meeting to further discuss their situation, and the current stalemate that she, he, and his partners were facing.
8
“G od, what a night!” Leila said, and plopped down on one of the bar stools surrounding the counter.
It was nearly ten o’clock, and the café was nearly deserted. With only a smattering of diners left, she was finally able to sit down for the first time in hours.
“Business is booming. We keep this up, and we’ll have to buy both of our neighbors’ shops.”
Leila glanced over at her best friend, lawyer, and accountant, and sometimes busboy when she needed him, with a tired smile.
“Always the optimist, that’s what I love about you, Hawk,” she said and eased off her heels. She accepted the cup of tea he placed in front of her with a murmur of thanks.
“It’s a start,” he said casually.
Leila looked at him, and although the remark was offhand, she bit her bottom lip, something she did whenever she was uncomfortable. Something she rarely did in Hawk’s company.
She was uncertain if he meant it was a start regarding the business, or their relationship going to the next level. And of late, that was the cause of her discomfort around him. And it saddened her that she couldn’t return his feelings.
She and Hawk had been friends for most of her life. In fact, she couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t around.
Her great-aunt had taken him in when Leila was a child and he was a teenager. He’d moved to Texas from a Cherokee Indian reservation in Phoenix, having followed a woman there who was five years his senior. When the woman
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