Playing for Keeps (Neighbor from Hell #1)(25)

"You would have had more luck offering me meatloaf, my little grasshopper," he informed her, catching her arm as she tried to make another escape.

Haley exhaled heavily as she pushed her glasses back up her nose. "I was going to offer that, too." She gave him a hopeful smile. "What if we go home and I cook-"
"Too little too late, my little grasshopper. Besides, there's nothing in your fridge to cook anyway."

She frowned up at him. "But I just went shopping the other day."

"I got hungry," he simply said, ignoring her adorable little glare.

"You better not have touched the last piece of pumpkin pie," she warned.

He had to laugh at that. "It was the first thing to go," he informed her as they stepped up to the maître d's podium. She sent him a glare that promised all kinds of retribution. Where Jason could eat just about anything, and often did, his little grasshopper was a pumpkin pie junkie.

"Welcome to Harrington's. My name is Elizabeth, how can I help you?" the woman asked them both as she sent Jason an inviting look that let him know he'd be getting offered more than just appetizers tonight.

He looked down at Haley, wondering if she caught the look and what she thought, not that he wanted her to be jealous or anything. He had to smile when he caught Haley gazing longingly at the exit sign.

"It won't be that bad," he said, taking her hand into his, mostly to keep her from bolting again.

"Yes, it will," she sighed pathetically.

Jason turned his attention back to the woman who was now frowning unhappily at their entwined hands.

"We're joining the Blaine party for reservations at six," he said, tightening his grip on Haley's hand when he felt her trying to pull away.

"Right this way," the woman said with a tight smile.

As they followed the woman through a richly furnished sitting room Jason couldn't help but wonder why Haley settled on the losers that she did when she was clearly used to so much better. He'd seen some of the losers she'd dated over the years and doubted they'd pulled out their wallet for much more than Denny's and even then only if they had a coupon.

She should be dating someone who was willing to bust his ass to show her how much she meant to him. He'd have to work on it with her, but that was for later. Right now he had to focus on dragging her alongside him.

**************

"What are you doing?" Jason asked, smirking as he glanced down at her.

"Nothing," she said quickly as she tried to discretely shift so that Jason was blocking her from the left side.

"Doesn't look like nothing," Jason noted, quickening his pace, probably to annoy the hell out of her.

"It is nothing," she bit out between clenched teeth even as she hurried to keep up with Jason again, angling a little to the right so that her entire body was blocked by Jason's massive body.

She dared a peek behind Jason's back and nearly cried in frustration when a pair of smoky gray eyes that she was all too familiar with met hers. She sent him a polite smile and did her best to ignore the determined glare he sent her way.

"Who's that?" Jason asked as they continued to follow the hostess through the spacious aisles and around larger tables that surrounded the small dance floor.

"No one," she lied. Tonight was going to be difficult enough. She didn't want to get into the drama of ex-boyfriends who still took her refusal to sleep with them as a challenge, one that Robert seemed hell bent on winning no matter how many years passed.

The man was a self-professed playboy and truly believed he could have any woman he wanted. He hadn't always been like that. When they started dating at fifteen he'd been shy, sweet, and down to earth. It wasn't until their senior year when his skin cleared up, he put on some muscle and of course he inherited about thirty million dollars from his grandmother that he started to change.

He went from the sweet guy she could watch Indiana Jones movies with to the guy screwing around on her with every bimbo he could find. When she confronted him about it he denied it left and right until finally he broke down and placed all the blame at her feet. They parted as friends, well sort of, and since then every time he saw her he did his best to get her in his bed. Last time they ran into each other he'd ditched his fiancé two days before the wedding to pursue her.

His desperation to get her in his bed had nothing to do with love. It had to do with the fact that she was, according to him, the only woman who had ever said no to him. He'd do just about anything to get her into his bed. She really did not need this tonight. She had enough to deal with.

She was not looking forward to being embarrassed and belittled in front of Jason. Although it wouldn't be on her top ten favorite things to do on a Friday night, Haley would have gladly come tonight to keep her grandmother company and done her best to ignore all their subtle putdowns, but she couldn't stomach the idea of Jason witnessing how little she really meant to her family.

"Mr. Blaine, the rest of your party has arrived," Elizabeth said, smiling politely as she stopped in front of the large round table where her parents, sisters and their husbands sat. Haley frowned when she didn't see her grandmother.

"Thank you," Jason said, ignoring the inviting look the woman was sending him, surprising Haley. His disinterest in all the women who practically threw themselves at him when they were out always surprised her. He wasn't much of a playboy, she thought as she forced a smile for her family.