“Don’t be. Michael is too shrewd a businessman to hold a special table for me during lunch rush. I chalk it up to my good luck today.”
Amery didn’t buy that, but she let it go. She scanned the menu. “I’ve heard the food is fantastic. What do you recommend?”
“The salmon quinoa salad. Or the roasted vegetable pasta.” She must’ve frowned because he said, “Is something wrong?”
“Just wondering if you’re a vegetarian.”
“Because I suggested vegetarian dishes? No. I’m very much a carnivore. In fact, I’ve decided on the buffalo burger.”
“I was looking at that too.”
Once the waiter took their order, Amery handed over the menu and felt Ronin’s eyes on her again. “You’re staring at me. Do I have helmet hair or something?”
“No. I just like looking at you.”
“Well, it makes me uncomfortable.”
He shrugged, as if to say too bad.
“So that guy you talked to up front. What did he mean when he said if not for you? Did you save his daughter’s life or something?”
The change in his face was subtle, from relaxed to guarded, but she caught it. By the stiff way he held himself, she suspected he wouldn’t answer. Finally he said, “His only daughter was attacked at college her freshman year. She closed herself off from everyone and was failing all her classes. Michael signed her up for a self-defense class with me at the dojo and she worked through her issues.”
“Do you teach self-defenses often?”
“Almost never anymore.” He took a long drink of water. “Your accent . . . I can’t put a finger on it. Where are you from originally?”
Talk about changing the subject. “North Dakota.”
“I’ve seen the movie Fargo.”
She rolled her eyes. “We’re not all like that, doncha know?”
A small smile curled the corners of his mouth. “So noted. Tell me why you left the cold climes of North Dakota.”
“Because of the cold climes of North Dakota,” she said dryly.
“Why Denver? Why not California or Florida to escape the cold and snow?”
“After I graduated from the University of North Dakota with a graphic arts degree, my boyfriend at the time had a tryout with the Colorado Rockies, so I followed him. We broke up and I loved it here, so I stayed.”
“You stayed because you already owned your own business?”
What was up with the twenty questions?
He’s entitled to your background information since he’s already hired you.
“No. I worked for DeeDee Lewis of DDL Designs for three years. Then both her parents had health problems, forcing her to move back to Boston. I took out a loan for her business and the building and I’ve been working for myself ever since. Luckily I kept most of DDL’s clients and added a few of my own. Molly works for me part-time while she’s getting her master’s degree.”
“And Emmylou? Was she already renting space there?”
Amery shook her head. “When DDL owned the building the entire first floor belonged to the company. But I don’t need that much space, especially since I downscaled to being a one-woman operation. Around that same time Emmylou, who I’d met through my ex, was looking for a permanent place for her massage clients. We erected a wall between the two businesses and it works.” She didn’t want to admit that without Emmylou’s rent, she might not be able to swing the mortgage payment.
“What about Chaz? Where does he fit in?”
“Chaz worked for DeeDee when I first started. Then his freelance work started paying better, so he quit. Anyway, after my ex and I broke up, I moved in with Chaz. I didn’t know anyone in Denver besides the group my ex and I ran around with, and he got custody of them in the split. Chaz took me under his wing. After I assumed ownership of the building and company, he asked to rent the tiny room, which was the employee break room before the remodel. He doesn’t like working alone in his apartment all the time.”
When Ronin continued to stare at her, she bristled. “So, did I pass the Sensei Ronin Black business qualifications test?”
He leaned forward. “That wasn’t a business test. Have I not made myself clear that it will be more than self-defense training and business between us?”
“Why me?” she blurted. “To hear people talk, you’re some kind of martial arts god. You have that whole scary, mysterious Zen thing going on. And you are one of the hottest guys I’ve ever met.”
“One of?” he repeated.
“Okay, the hottest guy I’ve ever met, but I didn’t want to admit that because I didn’t want you to get a swelled head.”
Ronin smiled. “Thank you for the compliment. But I’m just a guy, Amery. A guy who works too hard and plays too little. And after meeting you?” His heated gaze roamed over her face. “I’m more than ready to play.”
His deep velvety voice dripped with promises of sweaty, combustible sex. And her panties started getting very, very warm.
“Are you seeing anyone?”
“No. I have a hard time finding a date.” Now, why had she admitted that to the hottest guy she’d ever met?
“You are a beautiful woman. But I’d venture a guess to say if you’re hanging out in g*y bars with your friends, then you’re batting zero on the dating front because of your choice of venues.”
Since both Chaz and Emmylou wore their sexual orientation like a banner, his insight about them wasn’t shocking after one meeting. But his supposed insight into her was wrong. Dead wrong. And she told him so.
“I’m never wrong.” Ronin cocked his head. “I’ll prove it to you.”
“How?”
“Pick a bar around here where young urban professionals hang out after work. I’ll bet you get hit on at least six times. In an hour.”
“There’s no way to prove it,” she argued. “I could just tell you I didn’t get hit on at all and you’d never know.”
He picked up her hand. “But I will know because I plan to be in the same bar. I’ll keep track of how many men hit on you. You just have to be your beautiful, charming self.”
His thumb was drawing tiny circles on the base of her hand. Sexy circles. Gentle, yet insistent. Would Ronin kiss that way? Starting out slow and then unleashing the heat that burned in his eyes?
“What were you thinking about just now?”