Page 6 of Tiger on the Prowl

As they enjoyed their food, they continued talking about family.

“And you, Jay? Do you have siblings?”

“I’m afraid not. My parents didn’t stay together long enough to produce more than one child, though I did see my father regularly even after the divorce.” He shrugged. “But I have lots of cousins.”

She cast him a regretful smile. “I don’t know what I would have done without my sister. We’re very close, even though with her getting married soon, we don’t spend as much time with each other as we used to.” She sighed. “But I don’t have any cousins. My mother and my father don’t have siblings.” She pointed to his dish. “How is the monkfish?”

“Excellent. Want a bite?” Jay offered, and put a small piece of the grilled fish on his fork, then leaned toward her, his hand underneath the fork so nothing could drip down. “Open up.”

Olivia parted her lips and allowed him to feed her. When she took the fish from the fork and tasted it, Jay didn’t immediately draw back. His face was still close to hers, almost close enough for a kiss. That thought made her hot inside again.

“Delicious,” she said, but didn’t solely mean the fish. She was sure that Jay’s lips were even more delicious.

“Yes, I thought so myself.” The way he looked at her, she wasn’t sure that they were still talking about food. “How about yours? May I try your scallops?”

“Of course.”

She broke eye contact and cut a piece off the huge scallops on her plate. Then she mimicked Jay’s actions and leaned closer to him to feed him a piece of it. She watched him eat it with gusto, chewing quietly, then swallowing, drawing her gaze from his lips down to his throat.

“Perfect,” he murmured and met her eyes. His irises seemed to take on an even richer color and now looked more green than brown. “Even better than I expected.”

Olivia swallowed. “Yes, definitely.”

She didn’t know how she made it through dinner and dessert, without jumping Jay’s bones. He was the quintessential gentleman: polite, entertaining, and funny. His conversation was perfectly well-mannered, but the way he made eye contact with her gave his words a different meaning. Jay was flirting with her.