Razed (Barnes Brothers #2)(29)

*

His gaze dropped to her mouth.

And just like that, she felt her heart start to race. He was evil. He was also a hazard to the female species—why hadn’t she realized that about him already?

Grabbing her coffee, she took a sip and then another. “You said a lot of things. You didn’t ever say what you like to read, though.”

He didn’t answer.

“Well?” She shot him a look.

“You never asked.”

“You’re impossible,” she said, shaking her head. “What do you like to read?”

“See,” he said, a smile spreading across his normally serious face. “This is how we get to know each other. I ask questions. You ask questions. We maybe talk about another date.”

She rolled her eyes.

“Books.” He braced his elbows on the edge of the table and leaned forward, pretending to ponder the question. “I like urban fantasy a lot. Dark fantasy. Mysteries, suspense . . .”

Then he paused and shot her a wicked grin. “And my mom got me hooked on this one series. Fed me this line about how they were futuristic police procedurals. I got into them because the cop in them was hot.”

Keelie started to laugh. “She’s got you reading Nora Roberts, doesn’t she?”

“Absolutely not.” He waited a beat. “It’s J. D. Robb. There is a difference, you know.”

“Your brothers know you read romance?” She couldn’t stop the smirk from spreading over her face as she studied him.

“Look in Zach’s desk sometime. He used to have one of them tucked inside.”

“No way,” she said, gaping at him.

“So far, she’s hooked everybody but Seb.” He shrugged. “Seb never was much for reading. Says he spends too much time reading scripts anyway and that’s pretty much the same thing.”

Keelie wrinkled her nose. “Seb probably can’t handle reading anything that doesn’t have him as the focus. The magazines, the interviews . . . movie scripts.” Then she winced. “Shoot. I’m sorry. That’s . . .”

She sighed and looked away. “I have no brain-to-mouth filter.”

He was quiet for so long, she was almost afraid to look at him, but in the end, she made herself.

Zane was still watching her with that same faint smile, although the glint of amusement in his eyes had lessened a little. “I know my brothers, Keelie,” he said with a sigh. “Trust me, I know them—and love them—flaws and all. Seb can be a shallow bastard. He isn’t always, but . . . yeah. If the book doesn’t focus on him or relate to the job? He’s not likely to be interested.”

“He doesn’t have a focus outside of Hollywood, does he?” she asked softly.

Zane looked away, his gaze on something she couldn’t see.

When he finally looked back at her, his expression was inscrutable. “Us.” Then he shrugged. “He’s got us, and that’s more than a lot of people in that business can say, I guess. A lot of the people Zach and Abby knew growing up have already burned themselves out—they’ve already been to three funerals, and not one of them were over fifty. Seb’s got solid ties and he’s more grounded than he lets on, but he’s definitely all about Hollywood.”

Then, in a rapid-fire shift, he leaned in, stretching over the table that wasn’t much bigger than a dinner plate. “We talked books. We did some of that get to know you stuff. Now, maybe we can do something else,” he murmured in her ear.

Chills of sensation raced down her spine. Slowly, she turned her head, met his gaze. She went to speak and had to clear her throat before she could. “Okay. Sure.”

He opened his mouth, but before he could ask, she fired off a question, all but breathless with it. “So what kind of business do you have in town?”

The nerves in her eyes were so clear, and so . . . there, he decided to let it slide. For now.

He eased back, gave her some space. “Looking for space.” He shrugged and tapped the paper. “I quit my job. Going to give the photography thing a real go. Looking to set up here.”

She blinked, her gaze blank.

He braced himself, uncertain what she might say. So far, he’d faced everything from cautious optimism to outright skepticism.

Keelie stared at him for a long moment and then a smile bowed her lips. “Well. It’s about damn time.”

The calm, easy confidence in those words hit him like a bolt. Straight to the chest. He sucked in a breath, kept it steady out of sheer force of will. “Hey, I figured I’ve screwed around long enough.”

“You made the move on your own time.” She shrugged, looking more at ease.

“That’s how I roll.” He watched as she toyed with the sleeve on her coffee cup. “Keelie?”

She shot him a look. “Yeah?”

This time, he didn’t give her a chance to prepare. He closed the distance, caught her lower lip between his teeth. “I’ve asked about two hundred times, I figure. Maybe this time you’ll say yes.”

Say yes . . . she stared at him, blood rushing, all but humming in her veins. And her mouth burned from that teasing, not-quite-kiss.

He hadn’t even asked and she was ready to say yes.

“You free for dinner tonight?”