Billionaire Novelist's Fiery Debutante by Nic Saint Page B

stared at the message for a second before displaying the warm smile he’d come to cherish. His stomach lurched. Whoever Frank was, he was having the same effect on her that he had.
    He decided he couldn’t wait any longer, but just when he opened his mouth to speak, a waiter showed up carrying two steaming pizzas and carefully placed them on the table.
    “Buon appetito!” the man intoned with a deferential bow.
    “Grazzie!” cried Chloe, in excellent spirits.
    “Yeah, thanks,” grumbled Josh as he reached for his cutlery.
    Chloe leaned in. “I didn’t want to tell you this before, but this is the best pizza place on Long Island.”
    “I know,” riposted Josh a little curtly.
    Chloe inched back, and her smile faded. “Are you all right?”
    “I’m fine. It’s just… Look, I really don’t know how to tackle this topic gently, so I’ll just come out and ask you, all right?”
    “Sure. What’s on your mind?”
    “I…” Oh, hell, why was he even going there… “I happened to see the message on your phone just now, and…”
    “Yes?”
    Was it just his imagination, or did he detect a slight diminution of her exuberance? Nonetheless, he decided to trudge on. “I couldn’t help but notice that a… friend called Frank called you? And…”
    Her face cleared. “You’re jealous, is that it?”
    “I—”
    She clasped a hand on top of his, her eyes shiny and bright. “You are!”
    “No, it’s just that—I was just wondering if—” Annoyed with himself, he emitted a soft grumble, then tightened his jaw and said, with controlled anger, “I would like to know if you have a boyfriend. Named Frank or Kiki or, or, whatever,” he concluded a little lamely.
    Chloe let rip a tinkling laugh that shook him to the marrow.
    “What’s so funny about that? A guy has a right to know if—if—if—”
    She bit her lip, a wonderful sparkle in her eye. “I’m sorry, Josh. It’s just that I’ve never had any man ask me that question before. It’s quite a new sensation for me. But to answer you: no, I don’t have a boyfriend. I think I told you that on the island. There’s nobody in my life right now except you.”
    “Oh.” He perked up quite a bit at these words. “Are you sure, because this Frank guy—”
    “Fifi’s just a very good friend,” she interjected.
    “Fifi?”
    “That’s what I like to call him.”
    “Kiki. Fifi. You have a lot of male friends.”
    She shrugged. “I guess I do.”
    Just then, Ricki returned to their table, and when he saw that their pizzas were still untouched, a dark frown marred his brow. “What’s wrong with the pizza?”
    “Nothing’s wrong with the pizza!” cried Chloe, her cheeks glowing.
    Josh grinned. She looked so lovely.
    “Then why aren’t you eating!” exclaimed Ricki.
    “We are! We are!” assured Chloe, and quickly took a slice and shoved it into her mouth. “See? Yum!”
    Ricki’s incandescent eye turned on Josh, and the latter felt compelled to follow Chloe’s example and tuck away a big piece of pasta. “It’s delicious!”
    The pizza parlor owner’s gaze swiveled from Josh to Chloe. “I’ll be watching you,” he warned darkly, then stalked off, his professional pride offended.
    “He takes this very personally,” mumbled Josh with his mouth full of pizza.
    “He does,” agreed Chloe, her mouth equally full.
    Then, while they were both munching like cows, their eyes met, and they had the hardest time not bursting out into laughter.
    Before long, Kiki and Fifi and Ricki were all forgotten, and they enjoyed both the pizza and each other’s company until darkness had fallen outside, and they were the only ones remaining.

CHAPTER 21

    “Don’t you have work to do, dear Sir?”
    Josh’s lips curled up into an easy smile at those words. “I’ll have you know I do some of my best work at night.”
    “What are you saying? That I’m keeping you from your work?”
    He took a firmer grip on her hand and gave her arm a short jerk,