Marrying Mari Read Online Free Page B

He poured Gabriel a glass. Other staff members set down small plates of mixed olives, cornichons, bite-sized croissants, three silver saucers of what looked like soft cheese or dip and fresh curls of butter. All of them ignored the wadded money, keeping blank looks on their faces.
    She wondered what they’d say once they were back in the kitchen.
    Ethan sighed. He scooped up the crumpled bills and smoothed them, then folded them together. He picked up her purse from where it sat next to her wineglass and opened it.
    Mari gaped at him.
    He smiled at her like a wolf and inserted the neatly folded bills inside. He closed it and laid it back, next to her hand. “Now,” he drawled, “explain hinky.”
    She shook her head. “I can’t stay for dinner. I only came to return the money—”
    “Do you have a date?” Gabriel asked on her right.
    “Maybe,” she said.
    Ethan smiled as he bit into an olive. “No, she doesn’t.”
    She flashed back to him on her left. “How do you know?”
    “Too late for a date on a work night.”
    “Have you had dinner already?” Gabriel asked.
    “No—”
    “And you came to Insatiable not intending to eat, despite all the buzz?” Gabriel’s voice was mocking. He clicked his tongue. “Ridiculous. You must at least try these.” He buttered one of the tiny croissants and held it to her lips.
    “I—” When she opened her mouth, he ruthlessly shoved it in. Oh. My. God. She nearly swooned. She did moan in delight.
    “What was that?”
    Gabriel smiled. “Blue cheese and rosemary. Good, isn’t it?”
    “Back to hinky,” Ethan said smoothly.
    She turned to him—and stopped. His eyes glittered with arousal. The dark blue was molten. She dropped her eyes to his mouth. He had firm, masculine lips that tightened now as she watched. “Mariella.” Her name came out in a growl, a warning. His hands were fisted on the tablecloth.
    “Mmm?” She stared at his lips.
    “Don’t move too quickly, beauty, or you won’t get your dinner.” His voice was thick. “You might just be dinner.”
    Her eyes shot to his and she couldn’t breathe. He dropped his eyelids for a moment, and she gasped, only to freeze when his lids lifted again and Ethan stared at her body. She made as if to scoot back, only to find Gabriel’s hands on her shoulders again. His warmth burned against her back as he smoothed her raincoat down her arms.
    Gabriel’s touch sparked fine tremors throughout her body. With the coat gone and both men’s eyes on her, she felt almost naked in the conventional V-necked sweater. Her nipples tightened. She hoped Ethan couldn’t see it, but she knew he did when he drew in a sudden, sharp breath of his own.
    Gabriel’s finger flicked the ends of the velvet ribbon at her throat, drawing her eyes to him. Without looking at her directly, he moved away slightly, handing her coat to a staffer who had laid three more small plates, this time sizzling ones, on the table.
    When the staffer was gone, Gabriel looked at Ethan. “Maybe we’d better eat and talk. First.”
    Mariella glanced back and forth as something passed between the men.
    “Back to hinky.” Ethan sounded smooth and cool again. In control.
    She considered that, even as Gabriel spooned something from each plate onto a clean one. Added cornichons and olives. For her. “Okay,” she agreed. “Hinky. Like no one pays one thousand dollars just to have a single, practically weightless envelope delivered. No one who’s not doing something hinky, I mean.”
    “So hinky means…” Gabriel asked.
    “Illegal. Immoral. Dangerous. Wrong stuff that could get me in serious trouble with cops and/or my priest. That’s what hinky means.” She stared at each man.
    “The envelope was not hinky, in that case.” Ethan looked her in the eye.
    She looked back and conceded. “Okay. Then you were trying to buy something not for sale.” Her chin went up again. “You asked for me specifically. Why?”
    Another look zoomed between the