Brandan ignored the curious glances cast his way as he leaned against the wall outside the women’s restroom, arms crossed, and waited for Leila to come out.

      He glanced down at his watch, impatient.

      She’d been in the bathroom for nearly twenty minutes, and the longer he waited the more he wondered what Mateo had said that sent her flying from her chair.

      He’d not been able to see her expression from his distance away, but the hurried way she stood, her chair almost toppling in her haste to get away, and the long strides that had taken her across the restaurant in less than a minute had been telling.

      Just as he glanced up, the door opened, and although he’d been waiting for her, expecting her to come out, he was caught by surprise when she opened the door and took halting steps, her head down, a deep frown crossing her smooth forehead.

      She would have walked past him had he not pushed away from the wall and stood in her path. With an “umph” she bumped into his chest, and he reached his hands out to steady her.

      She looked up at him, an apology on her wide, sensual lips, before her eyes widened and she realized who she’d walked into.

      “Wha—what are you doing here?”

      “Enjoying your dinner date?” he murmured, ignoring her question.

      He slowly ran his hands down her arms, ending at the tips of her fingers. So close to her, Brandan saw her response to his touch, feeling the rush of small bumps flash across her smooth honey-colored skin.

      Despite her height, coupled with the heels she wore, she still had to look up to meet his eyes. Just barely, but enough for Brandan to notice her small breasts rise with the sudden breath she took, and her nostrils flare at the tips.

      Her wide-spaced light brown eyes stared at his mouth.

      His cock jumped in response to her reaction to him.

      Shit.

      What was it about this woman that had his body acting like a randy-ass prepubescent boy, he wondered.

      When she tugged her arm away from him, he reluctantly allowed her to go.

      “Yes, it’s a beautiful restaurant. But you didn’t answer my question. What are you doing here? I thought you had a date with Tiffany,” she said, a frown creasing her forehead, her brows puckering.

      “Angela,” he corrected easily.

      She knew what the woman’s name was, of that he had no doubt. She was a sharp woman—he’d found that out from their interchanges over the last few months.

      She’d been irritated that he’d had a date. And although that shouldn’t please him, shouldn’t matter one way or another, it did.

      “And you didn’t answer my question. Are you enjoying your dinner date?” he murmured, his eyes trained on her lips. She wore no color on them, none that he could detect this close, nothing but a shimmering of gloss, but they were a soft light pink color. His gaze followed her tongue as it snaked out and made a quick swipe across the fuller bottom rim.

      Just then a large woman walked past them, brushing against him before issuing an apology. Brandan used it as an excuse to push her gently against the wall while he boxed her in.

      When she simply looked at him, not saying more, he pressed closer, both physically and mentally. “Why did you go out with him? Why not me? I was the one you came to see, the one you want…to talk to about your business.”

      “Like I said, you had other plans. And I don’t want you, I just want you to leave my business alone. Nothing more, nothing less,” she insisted, her tone cool. But her body was telling him something else.

      Without touching her, he felt her body heat reach out and sear him as her chest sharply rose up and down as she took short shallow breaths.

      Yeah, she wanted him as badly as he wanted her.

      “Keep telling yourself that, maybe you’ll start to believe it.”

      He raised a hand to touch her cheek, wondering if it was as soft as it appeared, before he could stop himself. He never pressed a woman like this. He wanted a reaction from her. And damn if he had any intention of stopping.

      She placed her hand on top of his before he could make the connection and stared at him with an intensity that stole his breath. She shook her head as though to clear her thoughts and shoved his hand away.

      “I don’t need to remind myself of anything, Mr. Walters. Our only connection is Aunt Sadie’s Café. Now, it’s time for me to go back to my dinner date. If you’ll excuse me…”

      Leila brushed past him, making sure she put as much swagger into her stride as she could as she strolled away, plastering what she hoped was a confident half smile on her face as she approached Mateo.

      She felt Brandan’s eyes burning a hole in the back of her head, but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of turning around.

      She finished the dinner with Mateo, but feigned a headache when he suggested they have a nightcap. She agreed instead to call him about setting up a meeting to further discuss their situation, and the current stalemate that she, he, and his partners were facing.