Where the Sun Hides (Seasons of Betrayal #1)(41)

But as she stared at him from the side while he locked the Range Rover, she knew somehow that she probably wouldn’t have to try at all if she wanted him to kiss her again. She probably just needed to grab him and pull him closer …

Kaz cleared his throat, making Violet’s attention snap from his mouth to his eyes in a flash. “Food, right?”

She rapped her fingernails against her thigh. Why did it sound like he was offering something else? Like all she had to do was ask, and he would follow through.

“Food,” she agreed.

The inside of the diner was slightly better than the outside. It almost seemed like a throwback to the fifties diners in design with booths lining the walls, a main bar across the front crowded by stools, and the white and black checkered floor and walls.

An older couple ate at the far corner booth in the right, while a younger couple chatted animatedly on a pair of stools. Only a woman wearing a white-and-yellow ensemble stood behind the cash register, counting money. She didn’t even look up as Kaz and Violet approached.

“Food or coffee?” the woman asked.

“Food,” Kaz said.

“Find a place to sit. I’ll be with you in a second.”

Violet turned to find which booth she wanted to sit in—one that wouldn’t put them directly in the view of the windows—but she stilled in place when Kaz’s hand slid into hers. She hadn’t been expecting the gesture, and he didn’t give her much time to think on it before he was pulling her along at his side.

“I like to sit back here,” he said, directing her to the exact opposite booth from where the older couple were sitting.

It was tucked away in the corner where the lights were a bit dimmer and they had more privacy from the few diners. Kaz let Violet slide in so that her back was to the wall. She expected him to sit across from her, but he surprised her by tipping his chin as if to ask her to move over.

Violet did, laughing when he slid in beside her.

“Always sit here, huh?” she asked.

Kaz shrugged, pulling off his suit jacket and tossing it into the booth seat across from them. “People don’t usually like to sit in the darker spot of a restaurant unless they’re going for that kind of mood.”

“And you like your privacy.”

“You don’t?”

Violet wet her lips, nodding. “I do. I’m just not given very much.”

“Ah, point taken.”

Kaz quieted as the woman dressed in yellow and white approached with a smile on her face like she recognized him. Violet wondered how often he actually came here to eat.

The woman held no menus in her hands. “The usual, Kaz?”

He flashed a smile.

Violet ignored the pinch of jealousy flaring up in her middle. It wasn’t the time, and the waitress wasn’t exactly anything to be concerned about, considering she was a good fifteen years older than Kaz at least. Maybe it was the fact that the woman seemed friendly with him, as if she knew him.

And Violet didn’t.

“Usual for me,” he said. “Same for her.”

“About twenty minutes, okay? Daniel is just getting off his break.”

Kaz waved a hand. “No problem.”

When the woman was gone, Violet asked, “What’s the usual?”

“Something you can’t go wrong with. Burgers. Fries. Coke. I can change it, if that’s not—”

“It’s great,” she interrupted quickly. “How often do you come here?”

“Are we playing twenty questions now?”

Violet glanced away from the teasing, light grin he sported. It didn’t help the walls she was trying to keep up. At least if she tried to keep them up for a while, it might be harder for this man to tear them down.

Her father had always said she made friends too easily, and without care.

“Hey,” he murmured.

Violet kept staring at her hands on the table. It was only when she felt a finger slide under the line of her jaw, stopping at her chin and pressing a little to make her turn her head, did she look at him. “What?”

“You’re acting stiff. Why?”

“You’re not worried, not even a little?” she asked. She wasn’t ready to admit that she actually thought she liked him—not even to herself.

Withdrawing his hand, Kaz seemed to study her before giving an answer. “I’m cautious by nature, Violet, but that doesn’t mean I’m foolproof. So of course, there’s a part of me that wonders what will happen if someone walks in here, but what is life without risks? I’m willing to risk it.”

And more, Violet thought. While she wasn’t completely sure of what her father was capable of, she knew if he ever caught her with Kaz, it wouldn’t end well for him.

“Are you telling me to relax?”

Kaz winked. “Live a little, krasivaya.”

Violet couldn’t help but notice how that Russian word seemed a lot more affectionate than the one he had called her earlier—whatever it was.

“What does that mean?” she dared to ask.

For the first time, he managed to look slightly uncomfortable. “It’s a term of endearment.”

“That doesn’t tell me what it means.”

Kaz chuckled. “Good, you’re quick, too.”