Tell Me What Is Priceless (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Online Free Page B

in to pick up lunch. You can come in if you want. Are you all right?”
    “I was just noticing how deserted this area is. What is this place?”
    “They are friends. They do a good dinner crowd and also catering for events. They have a beautiful outdoor eating area that overlooks the valley below. There are other people living in this area, but they like their privacy. Does this make you nervous?”
    “I guess not,” she replied in an unsure tone as she nervously unbraided her hair. She took a small brush from her purse and worked the tiny knots out of the strands. “I’m gonna walk around. My knees are a little stiff.”
    “I’ll be right out.” Zar headed into the restaurant.
    When he returned, she was more nervous than she had been before. Zar handed her the bag and got the bike going again.
    Blaze was tense as she leaned against his back, and when he touched her thigh, she jumped. Zar pulled the bike over to the side of the road, taking the bag from her as he got off. Blaze watched him for a moment until he turned and held out his hand. “Where we are going?” she asked. “I mean the view is beautiful, but it’s a car pull-off with some rocks to sit on. I thought you said we were going up to your house.”
    “I was going to take you there, but you are so jumpy I thought we could eat here and then go home. I can feel the tension radiating off you. I gather the idea of me taking you up to some secluded spot really bothers you. I can understand why. There are a million psychos in the world, and you don’t know me well enough to know I’m not one of them.”
    Blaze slid off the bike, considering him. “Zar? Why me? You’re a handsome, very sexy man. Of all the women in that bar last night, why choose me?”
    “If I tell you my reason, you will call for a cab. Let’s just eat and enjoy the rest of the day.”
    “I want to know.”
    He set the bag down on a rock and turned to her. “I don’t know how to explain this without sounding whacked out. That is the last thing I want you to think of me right now. I’m not a serial killer, and my mind is intact. I just have some odd qualities that unnerve people. I wanted to go up to the house because it’s a quiet place where we could sit and talk. It’s my place, and I wanted to share it with you. Sitting on the side of the road is not what I had in mind. Trust me a little? I can’t imagine that a serial killer would bother to spend three hundred dollars on lunch.”
    “You spent that on what’s in the bag? What are we eating, gold?”
    “There is a very good and expensive bottle of wine. Lunch is a tub of salad and a thermal platter of lobster with vodka sauce over angel hair. There is also some cheese and candied fruit for a snack if we get hungry later. Plus, a little surprise for you. I don’t want to eat it here, and I don’t want to talk here. Make your choice. Do you trust me or not?”
    “I don’t know you well enough to say I trust you. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt because your eyes say a lot. I like the way you look directly at me. It’s honest.”
    “Then get back on and let’s go,” he said, handing her the bag. “We are almost there.”
    Blaze shifted the bag to her hip and settled back against the sissy bar as he got on. She had to be insane to be going up into the woods with a man she had known less than twenty-four hours. She was committed to it now, and she wrapped her free hand around Zar’s chest.
    Zar turned to check the road, flashing her a smile as he took off. The trees seemed denser as they progressed up into the mountains, and when he turned off onto a side road, her heartbeat increased. He hadn’t been kidding about the place being in the woods.
    “No trespassing” signs were posted at the turnoff of a small paved circle, and Zar pulled the bike in, shutting it down. “We walk from here. It’s not that far, but the hog doesn’t like the unpaved road. They are touchy machines. Are you all right with