Read Flame of the Phoenix: Hades' Carnival, Book 6 for Free Online

would be would be. Right now, she wanted a huge dish of shrimp gumbo and this was the place to get it.
    The delicious smells filled her nostrils as soon as she entered. This was a place any working person could bring their family for a meal. Crowded and loud, people laughed and talked while music was piped in over the stereo speakers. The hostess bustled up to them with menus in her hands. The woman looked right past Tilly to Phoenix and plastered on her best smile.
    “Good evening.” The pretty brunette batted her eyelashes. Really? Tilly was tempted to ask the other woman if she had something in her eyes. Like a sledgehammer whacking her in the gut, Tilly realized she was jealous. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling. She never got jealous. Never gave any man that kind of power.
    “Table for two.” Tilly’s voice was sharper than usual, but the hostess barely glanced at her. She only had eyes for Phoenix. And, okay, Tilly could understand that. The man was drop-dead gorgeous with his amazing hair, mile-wide shoulders and washboard abs. He might be wearing a T-shirt, but it clung to his torso like a second skin, hiding nothing.
    “Right this way.” The hostess started to lead them into the busiest part of the restaurant when Phoenix stopped.
    “Can we get the table in the corner?” he asked.
    The brunette’s fingers tightened around the menus and she licked her ruby-red lips. “You can have anything you want.” Her voice was low and intimate. The double entendre more than obvious. Tilly felt like waving at the woman to remind her she was standing right here.
    “That would be great.” Phoenix smiled and Tilly was surprised the woman didn’t drop to the floor at his feet. As it was, her eyes widened and she gave him a sultry smile.
    Tilly tapped her foot, growing increasingly impatient. Phoenix put pressure on her back and she began to walk toward the table in the corner. Made sense to sit there. Less people around. They’d be able to talk.
    Phoenix pulled out a chair for Tilly and she sat, refusing to be charmed by his manners, even though she kind of was. He sat across from her and the hostess put menus in front of them. Tilly could tell the woman was reluctant to leave. But there was nothing left for her to do. “Your waitress will be with you in a minute.” She chewed on her ruby-red bottom lip for a moment and then left.
    “She wants you.” Tilly couldn’t help but point out the obvious.
    “Who?”
    She studied Phoenix and realized he had no idea what she was talking about. He really was oblivious to the attention the other woman had given him. Tilly waved in the direction of the hostess. “Her.”
    Phoenix frowned. “You must be mistaken.”
    She sat back in her seat and stared at him. Huh. In her experience, all good-looking men knew when a woman was sending out signals and took advantage of that. But not Phoenix.
    He shrugged. “It does not matter. I have no interest in her.”
    Before Tilly could follow up, their waitress bustled up to the table. “Hi, I’m Gail and I’ll be your server tonight. Can I get you something to drink?”
    Gail had her order pad and pen in her hand ready to jot down their orders. Then she looked at them for the first time and her pen fell to her feet when she got a load of Phoenix. Tilly sighed, rested her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands.
    “Are you all right?” he asked her, concern deepening his voice.
    Tilly slowly raised her head. “I can’t take you anywhere, can I?” Phoenix gave her a quizzical look. The waitress scrambled to pick her pen off the floor and shot Tilly an apologetic smile.
    “Sorry about that,” Gail said. “What can I get you?”
    Tilly ordered the shrimp gumbo and sweet tea and Phoenix did the same. But he also added some fried catfish, red beans and rice, jambalaya and crab cakes. When the waitress left, Tilly smiled at him. “But you weren’t hungry at all.”
    Phoenix reached across the table and took her hand.