Reluctantly, I stumble behind and somehow make it into the contraption, wondering why the hell I’m agreeing to this. Note to self: never say yes to Eli without knowing all the facts.
“Here, let me help you,” Eli says as he climbs in behind me. Grabbing the shoulder straps on each side of my seat, he helps weave my arms through, then buckles me in. Having him this close is doing bad things to my psyche. My willpower is hanging by a thread.
Taking off scared the crap out of me, so the death grip on Eli’s hand didn’t even register until after we were in the air. But when I felt his other hand caressing mine, I pulled it back like it was on fire, turning toward the window in embarrassment. The minute I looked out, I was in absolute awe at the city below.
“Eli, this is amazing! It’s so different than an airplane. Seeing everything up close through the large windows—it’s crazy.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Does it not faze you anymore since you’ve done it so often?”
“Oh, I’m fazed… just not by the flight.”
I shake my head and focus on the outside again instead of the man beside me, because if I look or talk to him anymore, my defenses will keep weakening.
Landing wasn’t as nerve-racking as taking off, and once we exited the death trap, there was a black SUV waiting to whisk us away. This lifestyle, it’s… wild. I don’t know that I have any other word for it than that. Sometimes I forget how much money Eli has, because when we’re together, it’s simply… us. He’s not pretentious; he doesn’t flaunt it, do anything over the top, or make me feel like I’m any different than he is. And howisthat? He grew up obscenely wealthy, so it surprises me that he isn’t as pompous as one would expect. Now that I think about it, he doesn’t have an ostentatious bone in his body.
We’re driven not far to a restaurant downtown, and when we arrive, we’re the only people here. At least he was being straight about it being closed for today. I’m still questioning the rest. We’re greeted by Chef Antonio, who appears to be more than just an employee when he and Eli embrace as if old friends.
“Cici, I’d like you to meet my good friend Antonio, chef and owner of this fine establishment. He’ll be walking us through the menu today. Antonio, this is Cici, another good friend of mine.” Eli’s fondness for the man is apparent, and Antonio’s look of surprise doesn’t go unnoticed when Eli introduces me as a “friend.”
“It’s good to meet you, Antonio.”
He reciprocates as I reach out to shake his hand. “You must be something special for Eli to have brought you all this way to meet me.”
I’m confused by the statement since I thought we were here by request to run through a tasting, so I give Eli a questioning look, which he, of course, ignores.
Eli looks at Antonio pointedly. “Come on, you know I didn’t want to go through the new menu by myself, and I figured Cici herewould be less biased, not to mention better company, than you. Don’t you think?” he asks Antonio.
Antonio goes from confused to enlightened within two seconds flat, confirming my earlier suspicion. Whether the whole thing was a setup or only part of it, I’m not sure, but something doesn’t add up. Rather than ask him right away, I decide to do it later when he’s relaxed and might be more forthcoming, because I’m for sure calling him out on this.
We’ve been here sampling course after course, only small samples of each, dissecting each one and giving our feedback. It’s been undeniably fun and beyond filling. My stomach feels as though it’s about to burst. They’re giving us a slight break before bringing out a dessert sampler, which allows time to chat about something other than food for the first time tonight.
“So how do you like working for the family company of your own free will versus being forced into it?”
“I don’t know that I’m here by my own free will.” I scrunch my face in consideration.
“You could have said no.”
“Really? Could you have turned down Sebastian if he needed you?”
He chuckles and raises his hands in defeat. “Yeah, okay, you win. You were forced. But does it feel different coming from your brother than your parents?”
“Absolutely. But that’s my problem, right?”
“Not necessarily. There are a lot of reasons why it might bother you coming from your parents. Maybe it’s their tactic. That would be their problem for going about it the wrong way. It could also be that their expectations were way out of line, which would justify your reluctance. You accepted their parameters for helping you financially and decided to go a different way. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’tbe proud of you for the direction you took, so I can see why you’re upset about their lack of support, and I don’t mean financial.”
Could this man be any more intuitive? I feel like he knows me inside and out. I’m so blown away by his wisdom and the understanding to go along with it that I’m at a loss for words. It’s a good thing, then, that dessert is served, saving me from the humiliation of asking him to marry me tomorrow. Just kidding. While my heart may have those sentiments, my head is running for the hills.
“Okay, Mr. Know-It-All, tell me how you do it. Your twin brother basically heads the company, and you’re there to what—fill space?” Okay, maybe my question came out in defense mode because he hit so close to home on his assessment, but I needed to make up some ground. I take a bite of chocolate mousse to hide the shame, and it’s so good, I all but moan in ecstasy.
He laughs, instead of getting defensive as expected. “I’ll let you in on a little secret. That’s what we like everyone to believe… gives us an edge when I come in to play. Because really? While Sebastian’s the instrument, I’m the force behind it, and I don’t settle for less than perfectly executed music. We simply use very different strategies to make things happen, and mine aren’t so outward.” The tone he uses makes his point loud and clear.
“Hmm. I would’ve never guessed that. You do well at hiding that side of yourself.”
“There’s nothing to hide. I’m a good guy, making good decisions for good reasons. Just because I know how to get what I want doesn’t mean I’m the villain. I rather think it makes me the hero.” His smile lights his face, and I can’t help but agree with him, knowing he could never be the bad guy.
The next thing I know, his thumb is wiping the corner of my mouth before bringing it to his. His moan of ecstasy matches the one in my head and makes me clench in desire. Yeah, that reaction may be between my legs, but the entire night hits something else entirely.
