Bait & Hook

14. Analysis

Oh, Dios mío! There's the warming again. I adjusted in my chair, pressing my thighs together and doing a series of kegels to intensify it. Then moaning again, I enjoyed both those sensations and the ones in my mouth.

Wish I was hooked up to an EEG – this would demonstrate further the connection between food and sexual arousal. It's now all but conclusive. We have no higher desires than eating and reproducing, and their dopamine levels are similar.

"You appear to be deep in thought, Roxy."

"Wallowing, Xander. Wallowing in ecstasy. I've never before had such a marvellous combination of sensations."

Then seeing his eyes fixed on my breasts, I glanced down, feeling my face warm. Top's too stretchy for this bra. He's seen them, so no sense hiding. "Certainly shows the link between great food and sexual arousal, doesn't it?"

"There's a link?"

"Oh, indeed. Research increasingly demonstrates it."

"You seem very familiar with this, Roxy."

Oh, darn. Too much information again. But not personal. Is it safe to tell him? I've not worked at it since I quit and took off sailing. Flooded the field with CVs, but no positions available – at least not on the coast. Anyway, he'd never find me stuffed away in a dating site office. "I'm a psychophysiologist."

"Hunh? What's that?"

I shrugged. "It's the branch concerned with the physiological bases of psychological processes. Among other things, we devise tests and analyse the results of electrophysiological methods."

"Ummm! I'm lost. What sort of methods?"

"Things such as EEG, MRI and PET. But it also involves neurochemistry."

"Oh, those. So, you're a doctor."

"I am."

"Add brilliant and accomplished to exquisitely beautiful, talented and adventurous. You've undersold yourself on your profile, Roxy, and I'm delighted you have; otherwise, someone else would have plucked you."

Ummm! The buttering up again. Ready to make his move? Too soon, though. I want to milk this. "As you've undersold yourself, Xander."

His shrug and raised eyebrows convinced me to leave the topic there while I wallowed in another bite of foie gras and icewine. Then too soon, my plate was empty, and I glanced across the table to see his was, as well. "I'm trying to imagine what's to follow, Xander."

"We could go down to the marina, to Tastevin and explore." He chuckled and grinned at me. "Unless you meant with the dinner."

I laughed. "A possibility. But I did mean with dinner."

"I love possibilities. But to here; they'll likely serve an ice or suchlike to cleanse our palates. Otherwise, too much residual sweet and savoury for the fish course."

Soon after our plates and glasses had been cleared, the waiter arrived with small crystal bowls nestled in intricately-folded napkins resembling roses. "Minted grapefruit sorbet," he said as he set them in front of us.

From the first cool, refreshing taste, it began clearing not only my palate but also the tension which had built. My concern that he might see my flirting as phoney melted like the sorbet on my tongue.

He seems convinced my attraction is genuine. And thank God the girls perked up at the right time. Hope I didn't dissipate that by explaining the actual cause.

But was it the real cause? Of course, it was – not near enough time for a deep emotional bond. And why would I want one with him? Hmmm. Oh, God! For everything – everything except for his being a predator.

Why does he have to be? Surely, I'm not drawn to that – like Wattpad schoolgirls drawn to bad boys. No. No, I'm not.

No, it was the superb wine and food matches. I've created close to this quality, but the wines are far beyond my experience. It's the mutual complementing, though. Each enhancing the other. That's the –

"You appear to be lost in thought, Roxy."

"Umm, yeah. Sorry, just thinking how everything fits so well together."