Seduce Me

“Recently?”

“No.”

His gentle smile made it possible for her to take a deep breath without bursting into flames. “Something tells me you also aren’t looking to get married.”

“Not at the moment, no. But I was looking for a nice time with a fascinating woman, and I got that. What I don’t understand is why it needs to end so quickly.”

Natalie couldn’t speak for a second. She hadn’t been prepared for this, and she wasn’t sure if his being great about the mistake wasn’t the best reason of all for her to walk away and not look back. “We both know I’m not your kind of woman, but thank you for being so nice about it.”

“I’m not sure I have a type,” he said, and despite his smile, she didn’t believe that. “If I wasn’t enjoying myself, I would have made an excuse to take off like a shot. Now, why don’t we go back inside? I’d still like to hear the rest of your answers. And find out what you found so appealing about this Max Zimm.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Natalie saw a white shirt, a white chef’s hat and a very large, angry man walking with purpose. Behind him, half the staff followed.

“Oh, crap. I probably should have mentioned that Hanna is my aunt.” She spoke quickly, intending to head off the disaster. “In fact, everyone who works here is related to me in some way.”

“Why, ‘oh, crap’?” he asked, turning to look. His body stiffened and for a second she thought he was going to bolt.

“Uncle Victor,” she said, stepping out in front of Max. “Stop, please.” Holding out her hands slowed the oncoming horde. “He hasn’t done anything wrong. Max has been a complete gentleman. We’ve just had a misunderstanding.”

The army stopped advancing, although Uncle Victor didn’t look very mollified. “What kind misunderstanding?”

“There was a mix-up. I thought he was someone else and I was embarrassed. So if you could all go back inside, that would be good.”

Five pairs of eyes, not including Natalie’s, stared at Max as if they wanted him to swear a blood oath that every word she’d said was true. To his credit, his smile almost seemed real.

“Go on,” she said, herding them back. “Someone’s probably stealing all the spoons. I’ll report in later.”

“You come back in,” Hanna said. “Victor will cook something special, okay?”

“No, thank you, Titka. I don’t want to go back now. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Vī pevnі?” Hanna asked.

Natalie widened her smile. “Yes, I’m sure.”

Her aunt leaned closer, and in a whisper that could have been heard in Times Square, said, “He’s very handsome.”

“I know he is, but someone’s waiting to pay for their meal,” Natalie said, then watched until the whole lot of them were inside.

Max cleared his throat. “I suggest we get the hell out of here before they change their minds.”

“Excellent idea.”

Halfway up the stairs, he touched her arm again. It was sweet. He was being sweet. It made her nervous and a little more excited than was wise.

Once on the street, he tugged her near the store behind them. “I don’t know about you,” he said, “but I’m hungry enough to eat my shoe. Let’s try this again. Start fresh. Eat. Have a drink. Talk?”

She should say no. It was utterly unlike her to even consider doing otherwise.

“Come on. We’ve already been through maximum discomfort, right?”

She didn’t argue, although she could think of half a dozen ways things could get worse. However, Max being such a mensch had her renewing her vow to never, ever go back to Oliver. Which meant getting back on the horse. No more running away like a child. “All right. But only under two conditions.”

His eyes narrowed and, damn, suspicion looked good on him. “What would those be?”

“You pick the restaurant. And when we talk, we don’t mention the cards at all.”

“Deal,” he said, his grin crooked and fine. “I know just the place.” Taking her hand in his, he walked her to the curb and hailed a taxi. He held the door for her, then gave the cabbie an address in the West Village.

* * *

THE LAST PIECE of pizza margherita was tempting, but Max let it go. He didn’t want to be too full, not for the night he had planned. Coming to Trattoria Spaghetto had been just the thing. It was an old-school restaurant—good food and decent house wine that had been served quickly.

“I still don’t know what kind of law you practice,” she said. “All we’ve talked about is movies.” She dotted her lips with her napkin and sipped her Chianti.

She’d been right to ban the mention of the cards. Not that he didn’t want to know things about her, aside from what she looked like out of that dress. The conversation had been easy once they’d settled in, and Natalie really was interesting. She could write a book about old films and restoration, a topic he’d never considered worth his time, but he’d read it cover to cover. Now that it was his turn to talk about work, he didn’t want to. Surprising, since he’d been basking in the praise from his victorious precedent-setting case.

“I’ve liked discussing movies,” he said. “It’s a lot more interesting than tort law.”

“I don’t know much about that. I mean, I know that tort is civil law, like personal injury or class-action suits, but I have no idea what you actually do.”

“Infrequently, I’m in court, which can be interesting and tense, although compared to trials in films, real court is long and plodding. It’s a great remedy for insomnia.”

“More frequently?”

“It’s a lot like having homework every day of your life. Looking up precedents, and not just recent ones. One time I actually used something from the ancient Greeks to help hone a point.”

“Huh,” she said. “That’s what librarians do.”

“Yeah, but they don’t get to bill for the hours.”

“And more’s the pity.” She pushed her hair back over her shoulder, turning her head to look at the neighboring table.

He took the opportunity to look down at the soft roundness of her breasts, the contrast between the scarlet of the dress and her pale skin. For the last forty minutes, he’d hardly looked away from her eyes. They were brown, not a particularly memorable shade, but with their passion and subtle drama they’d held him captive.

Jesus, the longer he was with her, the more he wanted her. Although he couldn’t help wondering if this level of attraction would have been there if he hadn’t been living like a monk for such a long time.

“I’m full,” she said, facing him again. “And glad we did this.”

“You’re not throwing in the towel yet, are you? It’s still early.”

“Maybe for you. But I’m very dull. By ten most nights I’m already in my PJs watching TV.”

“There’s nothing good on, trust me. But it is a great night out. What do you say we go for a walk?”

“In these heels?”

“Oh, right.”