He stared at me.“Do you want to tell me your idea?”
I shook my head,half mesmerized by the mysterious look in his eyes. It was warm and tender andfamiliar all at once. “Not really.”
He lifted one shoulderin a slow shrug. “Then I’ll wait for the big reveal.”
His answer made medoubt his sincerity. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Why would I bekidding?”
Because you’re acompletely adorablecontrol freak.“You really trustme that much? I’m painting an entire wall, Ezra.”
“In matters likethese, Molly, I’m beginning to think I trust you more than anyone else I know.”
What was I supposedto do with that? Besides memorize it and the way he looked right now and theway his words made me feel safe, and important, andseen. I wanted to bottle this moment and keep it with me forever soI could pull it out every time I felt insecure or less than. So I could remindmyself of what it was like to feel respected.
Because I did feelrespected. For whatever reason, this super successful restaurateur had decidedthat I was a peer. Where my entire office failed to put any faith in me, he hadrisked his entire empire on me and my taste. He trusted me. When my boss shotdown my ideas and dismissed my vision and groped me, this man had asked me tohelp him, put his full trust in me.
And he’d given mecomplete autonomy to do what I thought was best.
Ezra had no ideahow much that meant to me, how much he had changed every single thing Ibelieved about the world and being a grown-up and having a job.
“What do you needfrom me?” he asked when I hadn’t said anything after a while.
“Nothing rightnow,” I told him. “Will it be okay to put up the screens? I’m hoping to get agood start Saturday, but I don’t want to be too intrusive.”
“You’ll be fine,”he promised. “Let me know what I can supply you with and I’ll have it here foryou.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you hungry?”
“What?”
He’d somehowmanaged to close the space between us. “Are you hungry? Have you eaten?”
“Uh, no.”
“Do you want tojoin me for a quick bite?”
My heartbeattripled. “Like right now?”
One half of hismouth lifted in a smile. “Yes, like right now.” The smile disappeared. “Unlessyou have somewhere else to be.”
An irrational needto see his smile reappear prompted me to say, “No, I don’t have anywhere to be.So sure, dinner sounds good.”
“Okay, great. Havea seat over… here.” He walked me to a two-person table near the kitchen. “Ihave to go check on the kitchen before I sit down, but I’ll have Sienna bringyou a menu.”
He pulled the chairout for me with a swift tug of his arm and suddenly I was beyond nervous. Whatwas this exactly? An obligation? A working dinner?
“Thank you,” Irasped, barely getting words out of my dry mouth.
He motioned forSienna the hostess to come over with an elegant flick of his wrist. She hoppedinto action, scurrying through the restaurant to see what he needed. Either shehad a high school crush on him or he was a terrifying boss that she waspetrified of pissing off.
Or a mixture of thetwo.
Not that I knewanything about that.
“Can you bringMolly a menu,” he asked her. “And a glass of water.” He looked at me. “Do youwant anything else? A cocktail? Wine?”
