Scandalous (7 page)

“
Just give me a couple of moments,
”
he said as he walked back toward the weight pen.
I followed.
“
Let me get my things.
”

He trotted in front of me, and all my eyes could do was watch his butt.
Dang!
Bang!
It!
That man was fine in ways that had yet to be defined!

It didn't take long for Roman to come out with a gym bag hanging from his shoulder.
“
Lead the way,
”
he said and motioned with his hand.

We walked side-by-side, pressing through the crowd, past the skateboarders and roller skaters and tourists who stopped every five steps to take in the sights.
One of those sights was Roman himself.
I noticed the way so many people glanced our way.
I knew what it was: Roman and I were a beautiful couple.
But if I was honest
--
and like I said, I always was with myself
--
it was really Roman who was getting all the attention.
Women, and a whole lot of men, couldn't help staring at him.

I wasn't intimidated or insecure about that, though.
I loved the feeling of being with this man.
We continued to walk, not speaking, not stopping, just strolling, so comfortable in each other's presence.
As if we were meant to be.

In front of the Sidewalk Cafe, Roman said,
“
Have you eaten yet?
”
I shook my head, and he led me to the long line that twisted around the side of the restaurant.

“
You want to eat here?
”
I asked. I'd been coming to Venice beach since I was a kid, and I'd never had lunch at this eatery.
The line was always way too long for me to waste my time just for a hamburger.
“
We won't get in for an hour!
”

“
Stay right here,
”
he whispered.
He disappeared into the café, and in less than a minute, he was back, gesturing for me to join him at the front of the line.
Taking my hand, he led me past all of the waiting people.
The hostess grinned at Roman until she saw me.
With a scowl, she led us to a premier table on the edge of the boardwalk.
But before we could sit down, a woman sitting at the table next to ours jumped up.

“
Roman!
”
she exclaimed.

“
Hey, Sheri, what's up?
”
As Roman stepped forward to hug the woman, she took two giant steps back, knocking over her chair in the process.

Without another word to Roman, the woman grabbed her purse from the table and turned to the guy who was with her.
“
I'll wait for you outside,
”
she said.
She hadn't even finished speaking before she tore out of there like she was being chased by a killer.

I frowned. The man at the table frowned.

And Roman grinned.
He shrugged, then turned his attention back to me and the hostess who had watched the whole exchange.

When we finally sat down, the hostess handed Roman his menu, then she tossed mine across the table to me.

“
What was that about?
”
I asked the moment we were alone.

“
What?
Lisa?
”
He shook his head.
“
Don't pay her any attention.
She acts like that whenever I come here. She just wants me.
”

I leaned back and raised one eyebrow.
This man sure was cocky.
“
I'm talking about the girl who ran out of here.
Who took one look at you and cut like she owed you some money or something.
”

That made him laugh.
“
Sheri's just a girl I used to know back in the day.
”

Glancing at my menu, I said,
“
Seems like she doesn't want to know you now.
”

“
I guess she's still upset because I broke off the little thing we had going.
”
He sighed.
“
She was hurt when we broke up, but there wasn't any point in continuing something that wasn't going anywhere.
”

“
That's all it was?
”

“
What else could it be?
”

I nodded and turned my eyes back to my menu.
Yeah, it was clear that Sheri was a jilted lover, and that made me wonder how many hearts this man had broken.

“
So, you really eat this kind of stuff?
”
I asked, wanting to change the subject.

“
What stuff?
Food?
”
He laughed and I joined him.

“
It's just that the way you look
…
.
”

He rested his arms on the table, then leaned toward me.
“
I'm so glad that you noticed.
”

I don't know why, but I felt like I was blushing.
I couldn't remember that feeling
…
ever!
I looked down at the menu, needing a moment to get myself together.
I was Jasmine Cox.
I didn't fawn over men
…
men fawned over me.

So, I came back with,
“
Yeah, I noticed.
And with the way you look, I didn't think a morsel of food ever crossed your lips.
”

“
More than food has crossed these lips, baby.
”

“
Oh, please.
”
I waved my hand as if I was totally unimpressed with his flirtation, even though I was disturbed by it a little, and loving it a lot.
“
So,
”
I said,
“
what's good here?
”

“
Don't tell me this is your first time
…
.
”
I looked up and he finished,
“
here.
”

His bottom lip trembled again, and I had such a hard time breaking my eyes away.
I forced my gaze upward, but staring into his eyes was no better.
Those green eyes were piercing and he stared as if he was trying to get me to look away first.

But he didn't know that he'd met his match.

I said,
“
Yeah, this is my first time
…
here.
I'm a virgin, I guess you could say.
”

“
A virgin, really?
”

“
Yeah,
”
I nodded.
“
Ever had one of those?
”

The shock of my words pushed him back against his chair.

I laughed.
“
I'm talking about
…
.
”
I paused and picked up the drink menu that had been stuffed between the salt and pepper shakers.
“
I'm talking about one of these.
A virgin Pina Colada.
”

He blinked.
“
That's not what you were talking about.
”

“
Yes, it was.
I was talking about a drink.
”
I placed the menu back in its place.
“
I can't help it if your mind went somewhere else.
”

“
And I can't help it either, since you were the one who took me there.
”

“
Did I?
”
I tilted my head, but I leaned away from him.
This flirtation was helping to quash my rising stress.
But still I needed to pull this conversation back to safer ground.
This was fun, but it was dangerous
…
especially since I found this green-eye chocolate bar so delicious.

A sun-kissed waiter (who looked like the type who told everyone who asked that he was an actor) jotted down our orders.
O
nce he left us alone, I said,
“
So tell me about Roman.
”
I took a sip of my water.
I needed something to cool me off, to cool me down.

“
I'd rather talk about Jasmine.
”

“
What do you want to know about me?
”

“
Everything.
”

“
That could take a lot of time.
”

He shrugged.
“
We got all day
…
and all night.
”

That was an invitation that I so wished that I could accept.
Just by looking at him, I knew what it would be like to be with him.
I could already feel Roman on me, over me, in me.

I squeezed my knees together, sipped more water and said the right thing:
“
Did you forget I'm getting married in the morning?
”

“
Nope,
”
he said.
“
You keep telling me that over and over, so how could I forget?
”

“
I just want to make sure that you remember.
”

“
I remember, but that has nothing to do with me.
”

My surprise had to be all over my face.

He said,
“
All I'm trying to do is get to know you better.
”

“
For what purpose?
”

“
For friendly purposes.
”

I laughed.
“
That was funny.
”
I raised my glass in a toast to him.
“
But you know that's not possible.
We can't be friends.
”

“
Because you're getting married.
”

“
Right.
”

“
And because you would never cheat on your husband.
”

“
Right again.
”

“
Okay, I got it, I get it, but can you do me a favor?
”
The question was rhetorical because he didn't even take a breath.
“
There are a lot of hours between now and tomorrow.
So can we just forget about what's gonna happen in the morning?
”

Before the question was completely out of his mouth, his hand was over mine, and the spark that surged through me gave me such a jolt that I jerked my hand away, though he didn't seem to notice.

He said,
“
Now that we're forgetting about tomorrow, we can have a good time today.
So, can you please tell me all about Jasmine?
”

I was hardly forgetting about tomorrow, but I went along with his question.
Over my salad and his protein burger, I gave him the vital statistics only
--
that I'd been born and raised in L.A., that I'd gone to school in Inglewood, that I worked at Carnation, and that I hoped to one day leave the Golden State.
Then, before it got too personal, I turned the tables, and he told me all about his dreams to open up a string of fitness clubs.
That's why he danced: because it was good exercise, because the tips were more than he could make anywhere else, and because he could hand out his cards to let women know about his future business.

“
You didn't give me your card last night,
”
I said.

Roman pushed his plate aside.
“
That's because I wanted to give you so much more.
”
This man was coming at me hard, with his words, his touch
…
and his lips.
Those mesmerizing lips.

I needed to change the subject.
“
Okay, so besides working out and planning your business, what do you like to do?
”

“
My favorite way to spend an afternoon
…
is horizontally.
”