He pulled her chair out, and she belatedly hurried to take her place on the table.
"You look different."
"Different good or different bad?"
"Just different."
She had feared and hoped at the same time that he would close to her. And he actually did, which left her feeling terribly self-conscious and excited. But when their first course arrived, and she had her first sip of her soup—
Wow.
Hope took another spoonful, aware of his gaze still on her. "This is amazing. Is everything in this soup..."
Colin nodded. "Homegrown. And the meant, plant-based."
"I need to correct myself then. I thinkyou'reamazing, too, with everything you've created. Your groundbreaking work in sustainable farming, the advancements in—" Hope broke off upon noticing how Colin was staring at her. "Did I say something wrong?"
"You're saying everything right," he drawled, "which is not what I expected. Most women would only care to know about my net worth."
"I'm not most women," Hope said lightly.
"Clearly."
The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable, but it was charged with something Hope couldn't name.
"Tell me about your job in Michigan," Colin finally said, cutting into his steak.
"It was mostly administrative work for a plumbing fixtures company. Nearly two decades updating spreadsheets about toilets."
"You never thought of changing jobs?"
"It paid the bills. That was what mattered most."
"So you seemed to prize stability over pleasure. And yet you left for this." Colin gestured around them. "A temporary arrangement with a stranger."
"You're forgot 'highly compensated'."
"Is what I'm paying for truly enough, considering you'll have to carry a divorced tag for the rest of your life?"
Having him talk about the end of their marriage within hours of meeting hurt more than she expected, but she reminded herself that he was simply being honest.
"It is what it is," she said with a shrug.
"What about other men? Is there someone who will likely care that you're suddenly married?"
Hope shook her head.
"When was your last serious relationship?"
Hope focused on cutting a piece of asparagus into unnecessarily small pieces. "Define serious."
"Intimate."
The blunt word hung between them. Hope's face burned, but she refused to look away. "Not in a long time."
Colin set down his fork, his full attention now on her. "How long?"
Hope's fingers tightened around her knife. "Quite long."
