He tilted his head, studying her. “That’s a fair point. And I would have told you . . . if I was actually dating her. But I’m not. Where did you get that idea?”
“From the magazines? The tabloids? And every other word out of Daphne’s mouth about how she’s staying clean because you want her that way?”
His brows drew together, and for a moment he looked really, really confused. “But where are they getting that information? I’m not dating Daphne. I haven’t even seen her since last week. She’s texted me a few times, but I’ve spent all of my time talking to you.” He raised his brows. “You probably see her more than I do.”
“She texted you, huh?” Kylie asked, then wanted to bite back the words. They sounded jealous as hell.
“We’ve texted in the past,” Cade said. “But the only one filling up my phone with love notes this last week was you.”
Kylie snorted, feeling defensive. “Mine weren’t love notes.”
“A guy can dream, can’t he?” He pulled out his phone, tapped the screen, and began to thumb through a few things. Then he offered it to her. “Here. Take a look.”
She knew she shouldn’t be as suspicious as that. She knew she should just turn it down and say she trusted him and let it go. But because she was small and petty and couldn’t really believe that a guy like Cade preferred her to megastar Daphne, she took the phone and peeked through his text history. He wasn’t lying; everything was from her. There were a few short messages to Daphne, but nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that screamed “we’re dating.” And because she was nosy, she swiped over to his phone records. Daphne’s number wasn’t in the last couple of weeks.
“Find anything good?” Cade asked, grinning.
She handed the phone back to him. “No. I’m sorry if I got all suspicious. But, Cade, you know that we shouldn’t go out.”
“Actually, I don’t know anything of the sort,” he told her, moving a little closer. Heavens, he was standing so close she could smell his aftershave, and he smelled amazing. He leaned in and murmured, “Why not go out with me? Just tonight. We’ll go to dinner, have a glass of wine, see if we still click. If we do, great. If we don’t, I’ll leave you alone.”
He made it sound so simple. Kylie hesitated, then glanced down at her feet. She wiggled her toes in her green flip-flops. She could use her clothes as an excuse to get out of this. “I’m not really dressed to go out.”
“Then we’ll keep it someplace casual,” he said, turning and opening the limo door.
“I should go upstairs and change,” Kylie hedged.
“Absolutely not. You’re not getting out of my sight again until we have a date,” he said, and gestured at the open-and-waiting limo door.
It was like he could read her mind. Instead of being annoyed, though, she was amused. She paused for only a moment longer.
“Someone might see you out here with me,” Cade teased. “It’s safer in the car.”
“Damn it,” Kylie said with a laugh. Then, clutching her potted flower, she crawled into the limo.
No sooner had she sat down than Cade got in behind her. The look he gave her was an intense one, and he gazed at her up and down. “You look great.”
Like a silly girl, she put a hand to her hair and tried to finger-comb it. She was wearing old jeans, a faded T-shirt, and her hair was a mess. Her roots were even starting to show. It wasn’t like she’d planned on going out, of course. Jesus, she was even wearing granny panties. But now that she was here with him, it seemed silly to put up a fight. “Thanks. You look pretty good, too. I’m sorry I canceled on you.”
“I’m sorry you canceled on me, too,” he said, grinning to take the sting out of his words. “Any place in particular you want to go tonight?”
“You pick,” she told him. She didn’t care where they went as long as it was private and she could spend time talking to him. Heck, she didn’t mind if he did all the talking and she just got to stare at him. He was so gorgeous she didn’t even care.
“Well, this is Vegas,” he said. “There’s bound to be someplace open.” He was smiling at her, and her heart pitter-patted at the sight.
“Let’s go someplace quiet and low-key,” she told him. She knew Daphne’s crew was hitting the town and the last thing she wanted was to run into them at one of the better-known nightspots.
“All right. Do you like . . . seafood? I know a great place that has an amazing wine list.”
An “amazing wine list” sounded fancy. In jeans and flip-flops, she wasn’t prepared for that. “Think more casual.”
“Do you like . . .” He thought for a minute. “Fondue?”
“Never had it,” she told him.
“Then that’s what we’ll have. Fondue.”
“And what exactly is fondue?”
“Cheese and little pots?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. It was the first thing that came up in my list of the area’s restaurants . . . after the seafood place.”
She laughed. “You googled the area? Don’t you know Vegas?”
“Not as well as you’d think. My friend Reese knows it better than me. I’m afraid that I know more about the area hospitals and medical companies than the night life.”
“Sounds . . . exciting.”
“Oh, there’s nothing more exciting than talking about the materials of a particularly revolutionary colostomy bag, let me tell you.”
She giggled again. “You make yourself sound so boring.”
His smile was easy, gorgeous. “I am boring, Kylie. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I’m not exciting. I spend ninety percent of my time working. I don’t hit the town. I don’t date much. I don’t even know what fondue is.”
Her mouth was twitching with the need to burst into another round of laughter. “So you googled?”
“What else can I do? A guy needs to be prepared when he goes out on a date.”
“But . . . you’re a billionaire.” She giggled.
“So?”
That threw her for a loop. Billionaires didn’t do things that normal people did. “So I find it weird that you’re googling things for yourself. Don’t you have an assistant?”
“Yes, but I also have two hands and I’m perfectly capable of using the Internet on my own.” He wiggled his fingers at her. “Can’t I be a normal guy and do things without having to ask for assistance?”
“I guess so?” She thought of Daphne with her poor browbeaten personal assistant and her entourage. Hell, Kylie’s only job was to put makeup on Daphne before performances and press interviews. But to have money at Cade’s level was just inconceivable, so to see him acting like a normal guy . . . ?
It was nice. Surprising, maybe, but nice.
He pressed a button on the door of the limo and the partition glass separating them from the driver went down. “Fondue House,” Cade told the driver, then raised it again so he and Kylie were alone once more.
She studied him. “So what if we both eat fondue and we hate it?”
“Partners in intestinal fortitude once more?” he said with a wicked grin. “If we’re sharing a bowl, we’ll share any food poisoning as well. And like I said, I know every hospital in the area very well.”
“That’s a rather terrible way to view dinner.”
“Yes, but if it gets us in adjoining beds in a hospital room, I’ll take my chances,” he said, taking her hand in his and tracing the veins on it.
“You shouldn’t be thinking about hospitalizing a girl post-date,” Kylie said, amused. “It puts a pall on things.”
His fingers played against her skin, sending shivers through her body. “I thought about you all week, you know. It nearly drove me insane that you canceled on me and I couldn’t figure out the reason why.”
Well, now she felt guilty. “Don’t you read Celebrity! or any of those magazines?”
“Not if I can help it. I don’t have a very positive view of that sort of lifestyle.”
No, she supposed he wouldn’t if he was friends wit
h Daphne. Kylie knew her own experiences with megastars had soured her on them as well. “It’s got an article about you and Daphne being together.”
“Might be publicity from her team,” he said, still tracing the veins on her hand. “It’ll probably quell some of the rumors about her actions if she seems like she’s in a stable relationship. Do you want me to get my people to issue a statement on the situation?”
It was hard for Kylie to concentrate with those featherlight touches on her arms. It took her a moment to process, and then she shook her head. Making a statement would just make things worse, she imagined. Daphne would get upset if Cade publicly declared they weren’t dating. It would draw more attention back to things, and somehow Kylie suspected that would be the last thing anyone wanted. “Nah.”
He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “Just . . . if you hear anything crazy come out of Daphne’s mouth, check with me first, okay? I will always be honest with you.”
Kylie nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”
“We don’t know each other well enough yet,” Cade said. “It’s understandable.” He glanced over at her. “But make no mistake, I intend on getting to know you extremely well.”
She shivered at the pulse of heat that flared through her body. “Are you always so forward with women?”
“Just you,” he admitted. “Normally I’m content to let things fall by the wayside, but the more you try to get away from me, the closer I want to pull you.”
“I suppose I should be flattered.” Her voice had a light, fluttery note to it that she wished would go away. She blamed his light caresses of her hand. His fingers were making it so hard for her to concentrate.
“I don’t want you to be flattered,” he murmured, and then lifted her hand to his mouth. “I just want you to say yes.” And he kissed her fingertips.
“Y-yes to what?”
The look in his vivid blue eyes was sultry. “Whatever I ask.”
Oh, mercy. She needed a fan right about now. “So . . . what are you asking me?”
“Nothing yet. But the night’s still young.”
Definitely needing that fan.
The fondue place was just around the corner, and as they got into the restaurant, Kylie was relieved to see that it was extremely dark inside, and not all that crowded. Perfect. They could hide in here and still enjoy themselves tonight. A surge of guilt rose at the thought of lying about where she was to Daphne, but this was just a date to catch up. It wasn’t going to be anything serious. They’d talk, get whatever they had out of their systems, and then they’d move on with their lives. He’d go back to Daphne and she’d go back to . . . well, her makeup brushes. Still, she got a little melty when she thought of the potted flower he’d brought her so she wouldn’t be so lonely on the road. It was so thoughtful. He was the only one that had bothered to ask if she was lonely while on the road. No one else ever cared.
But she couldn’t get sidetracked. She had duties. She had burdens that could only be made worse by flirting with a man her boss thought was her property.
Cade’s thoughtfulness kept distracting her, though. He was asking all the questions that she had to keep buried or she’d snap. He kept poking at her worries, her fears, her insecurities—and making her feel good about them. That she was doing a good job somehow.
And that was what kept throwing her off guard. What kept making her vulnerable.
Cade talked to the hostess for a few minutes while Kylie waited nearby. She saw him point at the seating chart a few times, and he kept using that megawatt smile that made Kylie’s panties melt, so she could only imagine how dazzled the restaurant hostess was. Cade seemed pleased when the woman eventually nodded and grabbed two menus. “Right this way.”
As Kylie walked forward, Cade put his hand on her back in a move that felt a little possessive and a lot right. She was blushing as they moved to a booth in the back of the restaurant. The booth was tucked in between four others that were all empty, and as the hostess led them, she lit a candle on the table and then set it inside a lamp. “You two enjoy.”
Cade gestured that Kylie should sit first, and so she picked a side of the booth, sliding in.
To her surprise, Cade slid in right next to her. His arm brushed hers, and he grinned. “Hello again.”
She was suddenly thankful for the dim lighting, because her blush had returned fiercely. “You don’t want to sit on the other side?”
“Not if it means missing out on being next to you.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “What if I’m right-handed and you’re left-handed?”
“Then we’re just going to end up hitting each other a lot as we go for the cheese pot,” Cade said easily. “But it’ll give me an excuse to reach for your hand.” And he brushed his fingers over hers.
And Kylie knew she should pull away, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. When his fingers laced with hers, she ran her thumb along his, enjoying the feel of his hand in hers. “I guess it’s a sacrifice we’ll have to make.”
“Guess so,” he murmured.
The waitress appeared a few moments later. “Hi! Welcome to Fondue House.” She handed Cade a menu card. “This is tonight’s wine list, if you’re interested.”
He looked over at Kylie. “Like wine?”
She shrugged. “As long as I’m not driving, I like a glass. But I’m fine with drinking water, really.”
“Don’t even try it,” he said, and handed the card back to the waitress. “The white at the top, please. Bring the bottle.”
The waitress beamed. “Be right back with your drinks.”
Cade gave Kylie a small, mock-disappointed shake of his head. “Water? Really?”
“Water goes with everything,” she retorted. Plus, water was cheap, and Kylie tended to eat cheap lately. Nana Sloane’s care was the best that she could buy, but it was also tearing through Kylie’s savings. “Besides, you never know when you have to drive a drunk billionaire home.”
Instead of being wounded at her needling, he just smiled that slow, gorgeous smile of his. “I’ll have you know that was the best night I can remember in a long damn time.”
It was for her, too. She stared down at their joined hands and then carefully pulled hers from his. Maybe that was what made this so hard. “Cade. I really only came out because I wanted to tell you that we can’t date. We really, really can’t. I need my job, and you know Daphne’s going to be furious if she finds out we’re dating. It’s just not smart for me to be out with you.” Even though everything in me wants this to go on forever.
“And I told you, I’ll handle Daphne.”
Thing was, Kylie wasn’t sure Daphne could be handled. But she didn’t disagree again. The waitress arrived with the wine and a silver bucket full of ice, and made a big show of uncorking while chattering about the menu and tonight’s specials. They were both quiet as wine was poured. Then they took their glasses, gave a tiny, awkward toast, and sipped.
It was utterly delicious: rich and full-bodied and just a hint of sweet. She took another sip just because it was so good. “This is lovely.”
They ordered surf and turf since neither one of them was familiar with fondue, and the waitress eventually set down a pot on a burner in front of them, filled it with cheese, and gave them an assortment of breads and vegetables to dip, and several skewers for them to use.
Kylie tried to skewer a baby carrot and failed. “I . . . don’t think I’m very good at this.”
Cade chuckled and speared a piece of bread, dipping it into the sauce. “How about I just feed you instead?”
She squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. The hot guy feeding the fat chick? How was that going to look? Ugh. She glanced around and for the first time noticed that this entire side of the restaurant was deserted. “Boy, they’re not very busy tonight, are they?”
“I offered to pay a premium if they left these tables empty,” Cade said, dipping the bread into the cheese and then lifting the entire thing toward Kylie?
??s mouth. “Now, open up.”
“Cade,” she protested, “really—”
“If you don’t, I won’t fund an orphanage in China.”
She began to laugh despite herself. “Do you use that line every time?”
“Yes. Now open up.”
Obediently she did, and to her surprise, he plucked the bread off the skewer and placed it gently between her lips, his fingers brushing against her mouth. Okay, that was sexy. Just like that, she felt another charge of desire ricochet through her. She swallowed and then quickly reached for her wine again. She shouldn’t be doing this. Really, really shouldn’t. When he attempted to feed her another piece, she waved him off and pretended to focus on her wine . . . which wasn’t so difficult, since it was rather yummy. “This wine is incredible.”
“I’d hope so at five hundred a bottle.”
Kylie choked, just a little. “Did you say . . . five hundred?” Jesus. No wonder it was so heavenly. She eyed the bottle. Cade’s glass was still nearly full and he wasn’t drinking much. She’d feel like an ass if they didn’t drink all of it, so she picked up the bottle and refilled both of their glasses. “You have to drink with me, then.”
He lifted his glass to her. “Bottoms up?”
“Sounds good.” She clinked her glass to his and took another healthy sip.
“So,” he said, after taking a drink. “How is the tour going?”
“Onstage or offstage?”
“The fact that you have to qualify that makes me worried.” Cade’s handsome face drew into a frown. “Has she been sick a lot, then?”
“Sick?” Kylie took another healthy sip of the wine. It really was delicious. “I don’t recall her being sick.”
“She smoking a lot?”
Funny . . . she didn’t recall that, either. “Not sure. Why?”
“She likes to smoke when she’s trying to wean herself off the drugs. Has her personal doctor been in to check on her?”
Kylie shrugged. “I’d have to ask Snoopy.”
“Snoopy?” Cade’s lips twitched. “Is that really her name?”
“Not exactly,” she said. “Do you not know about Daphne’s nicknames for everyone?”