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“As long as it’s hot, gooey and cheesy, I’m all in. Anywhere in particular you’d like to suggest?”
I do but I’m not sure it’s appropriate to say because I was so ready to call Tony, the bartender from Sam’s place, have him make me one, and beg him to deliver it to the hotel. If Rafe wants to go out…not so sure how he’d feel about going to the club and since I’ve barely gotten my foot in the door, I’d prefer not to have it slammed shut on me.
“Come now surely you know where the best pizza in town is,” he teases.
How did we get to this place? I mean really, he doesn’t know anything about me but he’s teasing, almost flirting with me here, all while I’m wearing a ring that he’s already acknowledged. Suddenly, I find myself saying something I’ve never thought I’d say to anyone, “Well it depends on your sensibilities I guess.”
“What does that mean?” he says entirely intrigued by the color in my cheeks, which is odd because I never blush.
“I do know where to find the best pizza in town but it’s not exactly a place you’d expect,” I say completely ruining my chances with the company.
“As long as it’s not a sushi bar or some Chinese buffet I think I can handle pizza from just about anywhere,” Rafe states.
“What about a…never mind, there’s a good little mom and pop pizza place down from the university, it’ll do just fine,” I say losing my nerve. I mean really what was I thinking? I almost told this gorgeous hunk that I’m a cocktail waitress at a strip club, okay maybe an ex-cocktail waitress but still it’s not exactly the image I’m trying to portray here.
Thankfully, his phone rings letting me off the hook and he answers it his laughter and lightheartedness disappearing instantly being replaced by a hard, no-nonsense scowl. Yeah, I definitely made the right decision just now. He looks ready to murder someone it seems as he moves further away from me and into the bedroom he’d been using.
Did I mention we were sharing a two-bedroom suite? No, well we are, he’d requested two adjoining suites but there were none and instead took this one. So it’s easier to get work done without having to traipse down the hallway was his explanation, and I’m not worried he’s going to jump on me or anything like that. I’mnota prude as is evident by my former career, but I amonly human and he’s a male specimen above male specimens if you know what I mean.
And let me tell you this, him without a shirt on, heart stopping, drop dead on the spot, unbelievable. He is the ideal fantasy that every woman has, and if he ever lost his money, he’d make a fortune as a male stripper. Now there’s an image I won’t be able to get rid of soon.
My musings are interrupted by his return. The scowl gone, a light smile back on his face, and he stops in front of where I’m sitting in the chair, flipping through the file I know backwards and forwards.
“This unexpected place to find pizza,” he says, “it can’t be that bad. I mean it’s not a strip joint or anything, right?”
Chapter 5
Wait, hold on now, what did he just say? Did he…oh my god, he did. I have nothing, there are literally no words to be found in my brain, why, oh why, did I ever start this crazy pizza suggestion?
“That was a joke,” Rafe finally says lightly at my dumbfounded reaction.
“Yeah…of course,” I state.
Rafe sent me a look and his entire demeanor changes, laughter completely fills his being, and his shoulders shake with it. “A strip club? The best pizza in town can be found at astripclub…and you know about it how?”
“Friends,” I offer, biting my bottom lip and his gaze goes straight to it.
“You didn’t…no there’s no way you were a stripper,” he says as a half-intrigued, half-skeptical look crosses his face.
“No, I wasn’t a stripper…I was a waitress,” I blurt out, slapping my hand over my mouth absolutely mortified that I just said that to my new boss of all people who is, did I mention, gorgeous.
“Ah…that explains it,” is all he says and I’m now the one who’s intrigued.
“Explains what?” I ask cautiously.
“Your complete and utter ignorance of how men look at you,” he said. “At first, I thought it was because of the ring on your finger. That your…relationship with the man who placed it there was so strong that no one else existed for you, but a waitress…yes that does explain it.”
Again, completely vacant of words, how do you form a sentence when a man just says something like that to you?
Rafe is still staring at me, not in the way the men at the club did but with real interest,in me, not my body, or anything along those lines.
“Can I ask how…” he says stopping as though he doesn’t know how to put it politely.
“I helped out one night for a friend, discovered I had a knack for it and the money was good. I was a broke college student who didn’t want to come out of school so far in debt I’d never find my way out and when I graduated, a year early thanks to summer sessions and a few extra classes paid for using my tips, I didn’t have anything to pay off. I took a trip with my best friend to Cabo, and we enjoyed an entire week of pampering,” I explained simply.
“When did you quit? Did your husband…fiancé disapprove?”
“You’re not going to let it go until you have an answer about this ring, are you?”
