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“Very well,” Natalia agreed.
She gave in so easily that a warning sounded in his head, one he would have taken more seriously when he was still in the service. Unfortunately, he wanted to fuck the woman so badly that he decided to take his chances.
Seeing Chai still enclosed in the back booth that he considered his, Wizard led Natalia to one in the center of the room.
This could go wrong in more than one way. He didn’t know Chai well enough to predict how she would react to seeing him shift his attention to another woman right after he’d fucked her. If Chai made a scene, he could kiss any chance he had with Natalia goodbye. He should have told her to wait in his bedroom, but he wanted it empty in case he managed to lure Natalia back there.
Making smart decisions where women were concerned had never been his strong suit. Therefore, he decided to take the opportunity fate had handed him and hope Natalia wouldn’t recognize Chai in the crowd. He didn’t want to find out the hard way they were on friendly terms.
“What would you like to drink?” he asked politely as he slid into the seat beside Natalia, expecting her to tell him to move to the other side.
“A beer would be fine.”
Wizard stared in surprise when she easily shifted over to make room for him, and at her choice of drink. “Wouldn’t you prefer wine?”
“Do you have any?”
“I could send one of the brothers out for a bottle,” he offered. Would you prefer wine?”
“No, beer is fine.”
Raising two fingers toward Kat, who watched them from behind the bar, Wizard gazed appreciatively at Natalia. Her shoulder-length black curls fell to the shoulders of an ice-white silk blouse tucked into a black pencil skirt that molded itself to the finest ass he had ever seen. What really made his balls ache were the high black heels she walked in as comfortably as if they were house shoes.
She was so feminine it made his teeth ache. He wanted to fuck her into next week.
Unfortunately, the qualities drawing him to her were protected by the knife she always wore concealed in her belt. Many men would hesitate to make a play for her because of the risk of dying. Wizard wasn’t one of them. It only made him hotter for her.
Hell, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d courted death, although none of those occasions had involved trying to get up close and personal with a woman.
Wizard didn’t miss the way Natalia scrutinized Kat’s outfit when she brought two mugs of beer to their booth. Kat wore a tight, long-sleeved brown suede top crisscrossed over her braless breasts with thin ties, leaving her sides and the skin down to her bellybutton exposed. Matching shorts hung low on her hips, showing off her tanned skin and trim ass.
Taking a drink, Wizard followed Natalia’s gaze as she surveyed the clubhouse, pausing on each of the women.
“I see my food isn’t the only smorgasbord you guys enjoy,” Natalia remarked.
Lifting an arm to rest along the back of the booth, Wizard nodded. “We like to cater to everyone’s tastes.”
“You’ve succeeded.”
He listened for sarcasm but heard none. She was merely stating a fact.
“You never fail to surprise me, Natalia.”
She raised her beer and stared at him over the rim. “How so?”
“For one, you agreed to sit down and have a drink with me without cutting me to shreds with that tongue of yours.”
“I told you I wanted to bury the hatchet.”
“Hmm … Okay.” Wizard studied her. “I’ll have to take your word for it, won’t I?”
“I guess so.” She shrugged.
“The other thing is that I haven’t heard a single Italian word out of your mouth. Why is that?”
She treated him to a smile that forced him to shift his weight. Damn, the woman could ignite a spent match with that smile.
“I’m only half Italian. My parents were divorced. Mom was determined I would learn my father’s language, so I grew up switching back and forth between the two. At the restaurant, I speak it more frequently because it gives the customers confidence that my food is authentic. Outside the restaurant, it usually comes out only when I’m angry.”
