Courting Trouble. Kimberly Dean

liked the throwback feel more, especially if it was accompanied by a tall cool blonde with expressive blue eyes.

      He didn’t see her as the hostess led him to a table. A waitress came up to ask for his drink order, but she was a sunshine blonde. Not an icy heartbreaker.

      She took a cautious step back when he looked at her. ‘Is … is something the matter, sir?’

      He stopped just short of grumbling. The delicate ones put him on edge, making him feel like a bull in a china shop. ‘Do you have any other blonde waitresses working here?’

      The woman’s hand went self-consciously to her hair. ‘Blonde?’

      ‘She worked at the Smithsonian a few weeks back.’

      ‘Oh, the catering event.’

      Sunshine looked around the restaurant. ‘There’s Sally.’

      He followed her gaze. ‘No.’

      He wasn’t looking for a tomboy with a short shock of hair. ‘Her hair was white blonde, and she was taller.’

      ‘Oh, Sienna.’

      Sienna. Jason mulled it over. The name shouldn’t fit her, but it did. It sounded cool, but it could be a fiery colour when hit with heat. She’d interrupted his discussion with Senator McHale on purpose the other night, even though she’d acted calm and unaware. That had taken spunk, and he’d seen it in her eyes when he’d turned on her.

      That spark. It had made his knees nearly as weak as his bad ankle. He knew she’d felt it too.

      ‘Sienna what?’ he demanded, tapping the corner of his menu against the table.

      This time, the waitress knew she shouldn’t divulge any more. Her lips zipped, but he could see the gears turning in her head. ‘I don’t know,’ she finally answered. ‘I’m relatively new, and she quit a few days ago.’

      Quit? Well, hell.

      Sunshine stepped back when she saw the disgruntled look on his face. ‘I’ll give you some more time to look at the menu.’

      Jason sank back against the cushions and for a moment stared at the cars going by on the street outside. Shit, he didn’t know what he’d expected. What would he have done if she’d been here? Would she have even recognised him?

      Hell, Don Juan he wasn’t. He might be known as a tough negotiator, but women were the queens of manipulation. He didn’t know why he thought this one might be any different.

      The truth was, he hadn’t been thinking. It had been the head in his pants that had led him across the street. He was probably lucky he’d missed her, and she was even luckier to be long gone.

      He dropped his menu onto the table. Still, he wondered where she’d headed off to. New job? New city? A boyfriend?

      He was frowning when a waiter with a receding hairline stepped up to the table, pad in hand. ‘Good morning, sir. Can I take your order?’

      Jason smirked when he saw Sunshine on the far side of the room. OK, yeah. He was too intense. Too scary. He got it.

      ‘Give me a club sandwich and an iced tea.’ And while he was at it, a smack upside the head would be good.

      His ice queen had been in his head for a while now, but that’s all she was. Pure fantasy.