I couldn’t help but keep trying to guess where Rhett was taking me. Maybe a regular place he took his dates? A New Orleans classic? I flipped through the possibilities but came up empty.

“Where are we going?”

He glanced over at me with a smile. “Sometimes I forget you’ve been gone a long time.”

That didn’t answer my question. “And?”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Patience, Red. Patience.”

I folded my hands together in my lap, resisting the urge to tug my dress down when it rode up my thighs further as I fidgeted in my seat. When we pulled up to a stoplight in an area of old warehouses, I was officially lost.

“Where are we?”

The car in front of us laid on the horn because the truck first in line at the light wasn’t moving.

Rhett twisted to look at me. “You don’t know New Orleans that well at all anymore, do you?”

I glanced out the window, trying to place the street. I had nothing. “If you recall, I left when I was seventeen, and before that, I never had my own car. I went from home to school and church and not really anywhere else.”

Rhett drove through the green light and took one more turn before pulling into a parking lot across from a warehouse that looked like it had been rehabbed and then upper stories added with new, modern construction. The red brick that colored the surrounding buildings was missing on this one, as it was black with a giant gold logo painted between the old storeroom-type windows. The newer-looking upper stories had solid glass walls supported by thick wooden timbers.

The building was breathtaking. I’d never seen anything like it in New Orleans.

“What is this?”

“The Seven Sinners Distillery. It’s been around longer than I’ve been alive, but the family gave it a facelift and opened it to the public with a restaurant just before . . . well, just before I left town.”

My gaze traveled over the exterior, marveling at the gorgeous design of the building, marrying the old and new, and the bold logo. “It’s amazing.”

Rhett opened his door and climbed out of the Jeep. “I’m glad you like the looks of it. The food and drinks are supposed to be just as good, if not better.”

I latched my purse, which had somehow become unlatched in all my fidgeting, and reached for the door handle. Before I could grasp it, Rhett was there swinging it open.

“Wow. Full gentleman treatment.”

His smile turned wolfish and his eyes flashed. “I wouldn’t say I’m fully a gentleman.”

My mind went to all the places it probably shouldn’t, and Rhett’s had obviously gone there too. What would it be like if he carried through on all the thoughts I could see blazing in his gaze? That thought made me wish I’d tossed a second pair of panties into my purse. The ones I was wearing were a lost cause, which seemed to be a theme around him. Maybe I could just take them off . . .

“What could possibly be going through that head of yours right now?” Rhett asked as he helped me out of the car, his rough palm clasping mine with a possessive grip.

“I have no idea what you mean,” I replied, keeping my tone light and joking.

Rhett closed the door of the Jeep, but instead of leading me forward like I expected, he backed me up against it. His chin dropped so it was only an inch from my ear.

“You know exactly what I mean, Ari. I see that look on your face, and I know that incredible mind of yours is thinking something naughty enough to turn your cheeks pink. You watched me, but I watched you too. Even when I should’ve been blind, deaf, and dumb where you were concerned, I couldn’t help but look.”

“How’s that look-but-don’t-touch angle going for you?”

His palms glided down my sides before stopping and gripping my hips. “I plan on doing a whole lot of touching.”

My body was so acutely aware of Rhett that shivers started at the indent of each of his fingertips into my skin. I wanted him to squeeze harder or maybe shove my skirt up and . . .

“That. That right there. I wish I could look inside your head and see exactly what made your breath catch. I’m making it my mission to figure out every single thing that puts that look on your face.”

An involuntary shudder started at the base of my spine and shook my upper body. “Is that right?”

“You better believe it.” Rhett’s breath ghosted over my skin before his lips feathered across the same path along the edge of my jaw. “Now we’d better get inside to claim our table before I pin you against the car for a whole different reason.”

“Oh dear Lord.” I didn’t mean to say it out loud but the words escaped my lips, and Rhett’s lips curled into a satisfied smirk.

“Come on, Red, before I lose my willpower.”

At that moment, I would have been totally and completely fine with skipping whatever was waiting for us inside the building across the street in favor of whatever Rhett had on his mind, but when he stepped away and threaded his fingers through mine, I followed behind him. And not mostly because of the view it gave me of his ass in those dress pants of his. Sweet Lord, I didn’t know what that man did in the gym, but I hoped he kept doing it.

We waited for a few cars to drive by before Rhett led us across the road. I glanced back at the parking lot, which was partially full. But for such an amazing-looking place, I would have expected more patrons.

I guessed our experience would be the determining factor of that.

When Rhett pulled the door open wide for me, my heart melted. He was a gentleman, despite his claim to the contrary.

A large reception desk, whiskey barrels with a live-edge wooden slab on top, was manned by a petite dark-haired woman.

“Welcome to Seven Sinners Distillery and Restaurant. Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes, Hennessy for two.”

I couldn’t believe I was on a date with Rhett Hennessy, and he had made a freaking reservation. I wasn’t sure why that struck me as even more surreal, but it did.

“Of course, Mr. Hennessy. If you would follow me upstairs, I’ll show you and your guest to your table.”

The woman led us toward a shiny silver elevator that carried us to the top floor of the building. When the door opened, she held out an arm. “Right this way, please.”

I stepped out of the elevator to be amazed by an incredible view through the walls of glass of downtown New Orleans and the Mississippi River beyond. “Wow.”

The woman turned toward me. “Wait until the sun sets. It’s magnificent. With our solid glass walls and height, you get a three-hundred-sixty-degree view. We’re very proud of our renovated space.”

“I can see why. It’s phenomenal.”

Rhett squeezed my hand, and I knew this place would always be special to me. No matter what happened for the rest of the evening, I would remember it forever.