“Damian, it’s great to see you in person. Please, sit, sit. Both of you,” the man says, rising out of his chair to greet us.
“Thank you for inviting us,” he says.
Damian pulls my chair out for me. I sit as properly as I can in this short dress as he tucks me into the table. His every move is filled with confidence and elegance. I rub my hands down my dress again, careful to make sure my smile doesn’t crack.
“Hi, I’m Brielle.” I reach over and shake Pam’s hand, then Leon’s.
Pam introduces herself and Leon for my benefit. I see her eye Damian, and I can’t help but think that she is unimpressed with his manners, or lack thereof.
“This place is beautiful.” I smile, pulling her attention back to me.
“Have you not been here before?” she asks.
“Oh, no,” I chuckle. The idea of it strikes me as completely laughable. Until Damian puts his hand on my knee and discreetly squeezes.
Shoot.Of course my very successful, very rich boyfriend would have brought me to nice restaurants before. Panic rises as I think of how to recover from that slip.
“Brielle and I prefer to stay in,” Damian says. His lips tip up in a knowing smirk, and I can feel the blush rushing to my face.He did not just insinuate that we’re just locked in his apartment doing the deed every day!I look at him lovingly while simultaneously trying to set him on fire. He gives me a warning look right back, and I turn to the table with a shy smile.
Luckily, no one seems to notice our little exchange.
Damian changes the subject, getting right into business. “Tell me about the adventure tours you’ve been running. Is that where you see the business going?”
Leon launches into a series of stories the adventures he and Pam have gone on.
“These experiences mean the world to us, but a lot of people don’t even know where to begin when planning for something like this.”
“Sure. And you cater to a variety of skills? Or do you prefer more experienced adventurers or more amateur ones?” Damian asks. He might as well have a notebook with the way he asks questions. It’s like he’s interviewing Leon rather than having a normal conversation over dinner.
“All skills, all levels, all the folks,” Leon shouts, unconcerned with Damian’s dry approach. “My tours have something for everyone. The ones we’ve got up and running already have been great. Real great.”
The server comes to our table just then with a bottle of wine. I follow Damian’s lead since honestly I have no idea if the wine is any good. I was more of a shots girl in my early twenties, and now I often stick to the hard seltzers you can find in a can.
Damian defers to Leon to make the call, but he is already waving the server away.
“I’m sure it’s fine. Fill ’em up,” Leon says to the server. He smiles at Damian and me. “I wouldn’t know the difference between a twelve-dollar bottle or a twelve-hundred-dollar bottle.” His laugh is infectious. It’s a whole-body experience, from his belly to his shoulders to his face.
I take a sip after the server fills our glasses, immediately choking on how dry the wine is.
Damian takes it from my grip, setting it on the table.
“A water, please,” he says to the server. Although his request is polite, in his low voice, it sounds more like a command.
“Sorry. I’m good. Just went down the wrong pipe,” I choke out.
Damian doesn’t say anything, his dark eyes staring into the server until he bounds away to get a glass of water for me.
As soon as he’s gone, Damian starts on how much CreativEdge can do for their business, in its current state and any future upscaling they may see. My water comes a few minutes later, and as I take a sip to sooth the scratch in my throat, I can’t help but notice Pam’s eyes tracking him, bouncing between Damian and me as he focuses his attention on Leon. Her shrewd gaze causes uneasiness to unfurl in my stomach. I adjust my smile and reach out to rub my hand across Damian’s shoulder. He tenses beneath my touch, and I see a flicker of emotion light up behind his eyes.
Is it frustration? Confusion? Interest? I can’t really be sure.
“Babe,” I start. “Maybe leave the work talk for a minute. It’s Valentine’s Day, after all.”
The look he gives me makes my insides wither just a little. I talk with my eyes, telling him to back off the hard sell and get to know them as people.
He turns from me without a word, but his hand slides across the back of my chair, his fingers brushing across my upper back. Sparks lit up my skin like pinpricks of electricity. My breathing gets faster. My dress feels tighter around my ribs.
Pam says something, but I completely miss it, too focused on the sensation of Damian’s touch on my skin.
