Intimate Exposure by Simona Taylor

Author:Simona Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Elliot couldn’t understand it. All the elements of a perfect evening were there: Shani looked fantastic, and she smelled even better; the Indian restaurant she’d chosen had a kind of exotic elegance that made every spicy, perfumed bite of food an experience. Most of all, tonight he was ready to tell her he loved her. He’d struggled with the decision for a while; it was the kind of thing which, once said, couldn’t be unsaid.

Shani was so different from the women he’d known. She had a glow deep down inside her that left him in awe; her complexity, her humanity, her love for her child, her fragility, her sexual appetite, all of this combined to make a heady potion of which he’d drunk deeply. He was way past his limit, but he wanted to drink more.

And so, tonight, he’d been planning to tell her.

But something wasn’t right, only for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what. She smiled whenever he caught her eye, chatted and proclaimed the food delicious, although she didn’t eat much of it. But there was a shadow of worry in her eyes, a barrier between them made up of pained knowledge on her part, and ignorance on his. It was like seeing a mote, a movement in the corner of his eye, but every time he turned to look at it head-on, it was gone.

To make things worse, two dipsticks one table over just couldn’t keep their eyes off his date.

“Know those guys?” he eventually had to ask.

She frowned elaborately. “Who?”

“The two idiots who’ve been staring at you and nudging each other since they sat down. Giggling like morons. Don’t tell me you haven’t seen them.”

She glanced immediately over at the table in question. Two foreign-looking men, with their Euro-styled button-down shirts and pallid, hawkish faces, were putting away platters of chappatis and an assortment of curries, drinking fruit wine from brass bowls and talking too loudly. They caught her glance and broke into grins. One lifted his bowl to her in salute and slowly brought it to his lips, in what the fool probably thought was a seductive gesture.

“Know them?” he repeated.

Shani sipped on her tamarind juice, as if she was buying herself time. “I…uh…don’t think so.”

“They seem to know you.”

She lifted her beautiful shoulders. “Maybe I…served them at a party,” she managed weakly.

Maybe the Pope was taking up Buddhism. Elliot sighed. Shani had hinted there was more of the evening to come. If dinner wasn’t working out, maybe they should just move on to phase two. But before they did… He put his hand in his pocket, withdrew a small box and then slid it across the table with a smile. “Happy unbirthday.”

She opened it carefully, half smiling, throwing him inquiring glances. He leaned forward to watch her take the gift from the box, as if he hadn’t been the one to put it there in the first place. It was a fine gold chain with a polished, teardrop-shaped piece of amber dangling from the middle link.

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