“We’ll take two dozen hot wings and a dozen honey barbecue. And then some loaded fries. And one of those bacon cheeseburgers.” Etienne pursed his lips and seemed to consider adding more to their order, but then paused when he caught her staring at him in awe.

“What?”

“Who’s going to eat all that?” she asked with a laugh.

“Me,” he said with a slow wink. “And you, too. But probably mostly me.”

She was too busy reeling from that wink to grill him on how he could eat like that and maintain that ridiculous superhero physique, but she needn’t have worried. The bartender who was taking their order called him on it instantly.

“Seriously? If I ate like that, I’d blow up like a balloon,” the pretty, thirty-something woman said with a low chuckle.

Her heavily made-up eyes lingered on Etienne’s muscled chest for longer than was technically necessary, but Taya couldn’t even blame her. She would’ve been looking too. Heck, she was surprised there wasn’t a stampede when they’d walked into the little bar and grill.

“Great metabolism,” he said with a good-natured grin.

The bartender shook her head and blew out an envious sigh. “My kingdom for one of those.” She bustled off to pour the beers they’d ordered when they’d first gotten there, and Etienne tugged Taya’s swiveling stool around to face him.

“You holding up okay?”

It took her a second to remember what he was talking about, but when she did, the tight feeling in her gut returned. She was here right now because she’d been attacked and nearly killed. And Etienne was only here with her because he was a Good Samaritan.

Not to be mistaken again for her knight in shining armor. So long as she kept reminding herself of that, surely she could manage to keep herself from falling head over heels in love with him.

Couldn’t she?

She nodded her thanks to their server as she dropped off their drinks, and gave Etienne a tight smile. “I’m doing great, considering. Thanks again for taking me out.”

“My pleasure. Want to play a game of darts while we wait for our food?”

She picked up her beer and took a long gulp, relishing the icy fizz trickling down her throat, before sliding off her stool. “Definitely. I haven’t played since I was around twelve, but it’s probably like riding a bike, right?”

He stood and picked up his mug, following behind as she picked her way through the high-top tables toward the empty game room in the back corner of the restaurant.

“I wouldn’t know.” He set his mug on a table next to the dartboard and turned to face her. “I’ve never ridden a bike before.”

She stared at him, agog. “What?”

He met her gaze, a half-smile tugging at his mouth. “I’ve never ridden a bike before. My parents weren’t around much and I just never learned. I was a pretty fast…runner, though. I was able to get from place to place quickly regardless, so it didn’t matter much to me.”

But something in his face told her another story. That maybe it had mattered. She found herself leaning in to take hold of his forearm.

“If you ever decide you want to learn, let me know. I’d be happy to teach you.”

He tilted his head to the side, his golden gaze locking with hers. “I believe you mean that, don’t you, cher? You’d spend your day teaching a grown man to ride a bicycle?”

She tried not to get lost in those eyes, but it was a struggle. She swallowed hard and stepped back. “I would. Absolutely. But for right now, I’m going to kick your ass at darts.”

He let out a snort and handed her three red darts, keeping the green for himself.

“Ladies first.”

She took the darts, careful not to touch his hand as she did, and turned to face the board. How ludicrous that she wanted so badly to impress him. To send that first dart sailing straight into the bull’s eye. Her stomach flopped as she got into place and lined up her shot. She closed one eye and held her breath. Then, she let it rip.

It whizzed straight past the board and into the wall behind it, where it buried itself with a thunk.

Her face flamed as Etienne let out a low whistle over her shoulder.

“That was pretty special right there. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before,” he observed. His tone was light and playful, which took the sting out of it, but she still wanted to crawl into a hole.

“I guess it’s not like riding a bike,” she muttered, repositioning and getting ready to redeem herself.

“You want some pointers?” he asked, stepping up behind her, close enough that she could smell that mouth-watering cologne.

“Y-yeah, uh, sure,” she said with a shrug.

His hard front pressed against her back as he moved in closer, gently taking her elbow in his hand and nudging it higher. “You want to move it like a hinge, back and then forward so the trajectory is straight. Don’t move your whole arm, just from the elbow down.” His mouth was mere inches from her ear, and his warm breath washed over her, sending a shiver running through her.

She cleared her throat and swallowed hard. “Okay, got it.”

He stepped back and she instantly mourned the loss of his body heat.

She shook off the melancholy and sucked in a breath. Ready. Aim. She did just like he showed her, not letting her arm move except at the elbow. That try was a dud, but like a true gentleman, he let her go again, giving her pointers as she went.

For the next twenty minutes, he coached her, celebrating her close calls and toasting her when she finally managed to hit the board. She was feeling a warm, pleasant buzz from the beer when she lined up for what Etienne announced was her final practice shot before they had a real game.

This time, she took an extra second to mutter a prayer under her breath before letting it loose. The dart went sailing toward the board and sunk into the ring just inside the bull’s eye.

“I did it!” she crowed, wheeling around to face Etienne, so pleased, she could’ve danced a jig. “Whoohoo!” She leaned in and thumped his chest in excitement.

“You did, cher. That was an excellent shot.”

His bemused smile seemed genuine, but there was something else in his expression that had her freezing in place. The sound of customers chatting in the next room and the strains pouring from the jukebox seemed to fade to nothingness as she stared up at him. His gaze dropped to her mouth and stayed there. Beneath her hand, she could’ve sworn she felt his heartbeat accelerate. His lifted his own hand to cover hers and she nearly expired on the spot as a bolt of electricity arced between them.

“Etienne?” she murmured, surprised that her voice sounded more like a husky plea than a question.

He wanted to kiss her.

As ludicrous and outlandish as it seemed, she knew with everything inside her it was true.

This gorgeous man with the sexiest French accent this side of the pond wanted to put his mouth on hers and exchange saliva.

For a second, she wanted to run. Or curl up into a ball like a cartoon armadillo and roll away because the thought was almost too much to bear.

Instead? She lost her ever-loving mind and dove at him like he was the last wand at a Hogwarts Convention.

The blood rushing in her ears was so loud, she only dimly heard his “Ooph” of surprise as her body collided with his and she looped her arms around his neck and yanked his face close to hers.

“Taya—” he groaned in warning the second before her lips touched his. But if her boldness shocked him, it was short-lived. In fact, she’d barely tasted his mouth when he grabbed her hips and pressed her flush against him, a humming sound deep in his throat like he’d been waiting for her…yearning for her.

The room dipped as he whirled her around and pressed her backward, until her ass pressed against the wall that separated the bar and the game room. His mouth slanted over hers, taking the kiss deeper as his tongue dipped and swirled, sending a spike of need straight to her core.

It’s a kiss, her subconscious bleated, panic-stricken in the background, Just a kiss.

Then why did it feel like her whole world was being turned upside down?

The thought came and then sizzled away under the heat of his lips. She unlocked the grip she had around his neck and let one hand slide lower to explore the contours of his muscled chest as he pressed closer. Helplessly, she arched toward him, grinding her hips against his, gasping into his mouth as she felt the thick evidence of his arousal.

“Oh, hey, uh, your food’s ready. Whenever you guys are…”

The amused female voice of their server faded as Taya jerked away from Etienne in shock. She stared up into his hungry eyes and sucked in a steadying breath.

“I’m- God, Etienne, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

His hands twitched on her hips before he released her and stepped back. “Not your fault, cher. I’m the one who should be sorry. You’re not yourself today, and I shouldn’t have taken advantage.”

As she stared up at him, body still tingling from his touch, mouth swollen from his kiss, she realized he was wrong about that. In fact, she’d never felt more like herself in her whole life.

But it wasn’t the time to explain all that. His face was pinched with guilt and she rushed to reassure him.

“You didn’t take advantage. I kissed you. And really, it’s fine. It was just a kiss.”

He nodded, but she could see the doubt on his face.

“Let’s go eat, okay? Before it gets cold,” she said brightly, shoving a lock of hair from her eyes as she made a beeline toward the door that led to the bar.

She didn’t wait to see if he followed her. In fact, part of her hoped he took his time so she could get a grip. If she’d been drawn to him before, that kiss had sealed it.

She was fully and completely infatuated. And the knowledge that he was feeling something back—even if it was a little something—made her so dizzy, she could barely see straight.

She climbed onto her stool, reached for her fork and gestured to the bartender. “Another beer for me please.”

Anything to cool down, because she was on fire. The other woman gave her a knowing smile and a surreptitious thumbs up. Because even she—a total stranger—knew that Taya was the luckiest woman in the room tonight and playing way out of her league.

Normally, she would’ve let that thought settle in deep. Like a barbed hook, burrowing its way into her gullet. Testing her sense of self-worth, shaking her confidence. Today, though, it only made her more sure of what she needed to do.

Yes, she had lived through something terrible the night before, but that only made her more determined not to pass up this chance. She needed to take life in both hands and wring it for everything it was worth.

So, today she was going to seduce Etienne Beauchamp if he would let her.

Because who knew what tomorrow would bring?